Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes

 

Lisa Nicole Lopes was born in Philadelphia on May 27, 1971.  Her father was a U.S. Army staff sergeant who was also a talented musician.  He regularly played the harmonica, clarinet, piano and saxophone while running a very strict household, one Lisa described as like living in boot camp.  It wouldn't last long however, as Lisa would spend the remainder of her childhood years with her grandmother following her parents divorce.

Despite having a rocky relationship with her father, Lopes shared his love of music.  By age ten, she was already composing her own songs and had formed her first group, The Lopes Kids, comprised of her and her siblings.  The trio performed gospel music at local churches and events.

In 1990, when she was just 19 years old, Lopes received word of an open casting call for a new girl group in Atlanta.  She got the job, joining TLC, whose named was derived from the trio's initials (Tionne Watkins, Lisa Lopes and Crystal Jones).  Jones didn't work out however, and she was soon replaced by Rozonda Thomas, who assumed the moniker of "Chilli" so as to preserve the TLC name.  Ah, the intricacies of show business.

TLC

It was at this time that Lopes earned her nickname as well, that of "Left Eye."  She assumed it after receiving a compliment from New Edition member Michael Bivins, who noted that her left eye was more slanted than her right, a trait that he found rather attractive.  The more you know!

TLC released its first album in 1992.  It was a runaway success, selling more than six million copies worldwide.  The album produced four hit singles (Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg, Baby-Baby-Baby, What About Your Friends and Hat 2 da Back).

Two years later, TLC released their follow-up album, CrazySexCool.  It outperformed the first album by 400 percent, making TLC a household name in the process.  Among the hit singles from this project was Waterfalls, which came to be the group's signature song.  

In 1999, the group produced its third album, FanMail.  It sold over 14 million copies, but its production was difficult, to say the least.  Lopes was becoming more and more conflicted with her bandmates.  In an interview with Vibe Magazine, she stated "I've graduated from this era.  I cannot stand 100 percent behind this TLC project and the music that is supposed to represent me."  A public shouting match ensued.  Although the three would eventually come to terms with their disagreements, FanMail was ultimately their final album together. 

Lopes embarked on a solo career next, releasing the album Supernova in 2001.  It had one hit single, The Block Party.  It's um, different.  It also included a song called A New Star is Born, which Lopes dedicated to her late father.  Finally, the album included a tribute to Andre Rison, her small way of saying sorry I burned your house down (see Trivia below).

In 2002, Lopes was traveling through Honduras, where she planned to establish two educational centers for young children.  She brought along a camera crew from VH1 to document the experience.  

On April 25th, she was driving a rented SUV through the town of La Ceiba when she made a series of evasive maneuvers to avoid colliding with oncoming traffic.  As a result, the SUV hit two trees and rolled over several times before finally coming to a stop.  Lopes died instantly, the coroner attributing it to a fracture at the base of her cranium and open cerebral trauma.  She was just 30 years old.  Her sister Reigndrop and a cameraman, both of whom were passengers in the vehicle, survived the collision.

I hope she got the rental insurance.

She was buried at Hillandale Memorial Gardens in Lithonia, Georgia.

Rest in peace.

Trivia

• As mentioned above, Lopes took a camera crew with her on that fateful trip to Honduras.  Without even realizing it, she was chronicling her final days.  The resulting footage was used in a VH1 documentary called Last Days of the Left Eye.  You can watch it in its entirety on Youtube.
  
  
• In 1998, Lopes hosted a short-lived MTV series called The Cut, which promoted up-and-coming talent.  You can watch the first episode in its entirety on Youtube.
  
  
• Lopes had a contentious relationship with NFL wide receiver Andre "Bad Moon" Rison, with whom she shared a mansion in Atlanta.  After a night of fighting, in which Lopes claimed he had beaten her, she retaliated by setting fire to his sneakers, a blaze that spread throughout the entire mansion.  The house was a total loss and Lopes was sentenced to five years probation. You can watch that fire here.
  
  
• Two weeks prior to her death, Lopes was involved in another Honduran car accident that resulted in the death of a ten-year-old boy.  In this case however, Lopes was a passenger in the vehicle, which was being operated by her personal assistant.  After they struck the child, Lopes and her entourage took him to a nearby hospital, but it was already too late.  Lopes paid the hospital bills and all funeral costs.
  
  
• After Lopes died, her family created the Lisa Lopes Foundation, a charity designed to improve the lives of the young and disadvantaged.  It borrows from Lopes her personal motto, "Energy never dies....it just transforms."