Lisa Nicole Lopes (May 27, 1971 – April 25,
2002), better known by her stage name Left
Eye, was an American rapper, singer, dancer,
musician, and songwriter. She achieved fame
as a member of the R&B girl group TLC. Lopes
contributed her self-written raps to many of
TLC's hit singles, including "Ain't 2 Proud 2
Beg", "What About Your Friends", "Hat 2 da
Back", "No Scrubs", "Waterfalls", "Girl Talk".
She won four Grammy Awards for her work
with TLC. On April 25, 2002, Lopes was killed in an
automobile accident in La Ceiba, Honduras.
She was driving the vehicle, when she
swerved off the road to avoid hitting another
vehicle. She was thrown from her own vehicle
and later died from her injuries. The last days
of her life were filmed from March 30, 2002
until her death on April 25, 2002, including the
accident that took her life. The footage was
made into a documentary called The Last
Days of Left Eye. It aired on VH1's rock docs
on May 19, 2007, eight days prior to what
would have been Lopes' 36th birthday. Lisa Lopes was born in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, to Wanda, a seamstress, and
Ronald Lopes, an Army staff sergeant.
She
has two younger siblings, Ronald and
Raina.
Her father has been described by
music journalist and academic Jacqueline
Springer, as an "oppressively" strict and
demanding disciplinarian. But one of the few
interests that he and Lopes shared was
alcohol.
Lopes' parents separated when she
was still at school and for the later years of
her childhood, she was raised by her paternal
grandmother.
She attended Girls' High
School. At the age of 19, having heard of an open
casting call for a new girl group through her
boyfriend at the time, Lopes moved to Atlanta
to audition.
TLC started off as a female trio
called 2nd Nature.
The group was renamed
TLC – derived from the first initials of its then
three members – Tionne, Lisa and Crystal.
