In the 1990s, R&B trio TLC was the most successful girl group in America, a title it still holds. Its hit albums (“CrazySexyCool, “FanMail”) sold tens of millions of copies, a feat unthinkable today. For Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas, Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins and Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, the ride was tumultuous: The three women struggled with the record industry machine, and Watkins and Thomas had publicly tussled with Lopes, who died in a car crash in Honduras in 2002, at 30.
TLC’s new Kickstarter-funded album, “TLC,” is the duo’s first studio release in 15 years, and the first made entirely without Lopes. It will also be the last: Watkins and Thomas want TLC to focus on movies and television, and on live shows, ideally a Vegas residency.
After Lopes’ death, Watkins and Thomas continued as a duo, and swore they would never replace her. Even the idea is unthinkable to them, and, as you’ll see, bordering on offensive.
TLC headlines the latest iteration of the “I Love the Nineties Tour,” which hits Ravinia on Saturday night with a lineup that includes Sugar Ray’s Mark McGrath and Biz Markie. On the phone from Canada, Watkins and Thomas chatted, first cheerfully and then significantly less so, about their new album, and their lives after Left Eye.
The following are edited excerpts from that conversation:
On making an album that honored the past but wasn’t imprisoned by it
T-Boz: (Even) when you do your second album, you have to be real with yourself and figure out, “What did we do the first time that made them love us, so we can do it again, and do it better?” But you grow, you have more wisdom, it really just comes out natural, because our sound is a TLC sound, and that will never change. … You always hope that people will like us and what you’re talking about. Thank goodness people liked it, because whew, we were nervous.
On when they stopped being nervous about fans’ reaction to the new album
T-Boz: When we came out before, there was no social media. Now we’ve got access to a lot of opinionated people, and it’s always a great thing when all the things posted are positive. You might have one or two things that make you crazy, but we didn’t hardly see anything negative at all.
On the relationship between T-Boz and Chilli
Chilli: We’re so true to who we are. From the day we met each other, we’re the same, but we’re wiser. We’re, like, silly. None of that stuff has truly changed about us. We’re spunky, we’ll fight if we need to fight. We’ll try not to do that, but if it goes down, it goes down. We’ve got that mama bear syndrome with each other. If you don’t like her, you don’t like me.
On the new song “Perfect Girls” as a sequel to early hit “Unpretty”
T-Boz: I think it sounds that way because those are the type of songs I write. Back when “Unpretty” came out, people needed to hear it, and now, with “Perfect Girls,” (a new) generation needs to hear it again. You can never tell women enough to be true to themselves, or love themselves, especially the way social media is, with the Instagram models.
On their new stage show, which places slightly less emphasis on Lopes
Chilli: Our show is different than a few years ago. I think at this point, for us, we will forever miss Lisa as our sister. Even though she’s not here, she’s still our sister, and we love her and we miss her. At this point, where we are with it, it’s more a celebration of her, making sure that her legacy lives on through us. That’s what’s important to us.
On whether their lives would have been easier if they had added a new member after Lopes’ death
Chilli: I didn’t like that (question) one bit. No, our life would not be better, it would be such a headache. There’s nobody that could ever get in this group, we would never, ever consider it. T-Boz and Chilli, that’s TLC. We will always make sure Lisa lives on through us in that group.
T-Boz: Another female didn’t push in on what we have. I think it’s a special combination. TLC, you couldn’t package that if you even tried, because it was one of those one-time things, where the chemistry was flawless. Anybody who has a problem with us because it’s different, they’re not supposed to be around, and I’m cool with that. … It was something special, it wasn’t like an average group. There’s no amount of money you could pay us to make us change how we feel.
When: 7 p.m. Saturday
Where: Ravinia Festival, 200 Ravinia Park Road, Highland Park
Tickets: $46-$102; 847-266-5100 or www.ravinia.org
Allison Stewart is a freelance writer.
onthetown@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @chitribent
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