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TLC was honored at Variety’s Power of Women event this year. Other awardees included Rosie Perez, Judy Blume, Natasha Lyonne, Kelly Ripa and Michaela Jaé Rodriguez. TLC received the Legacy Award and Chilli Thomas was on hand to accept the award and represent the group solo since T-Boz was home with a sinus infection. In Chilli’s acceptance speech (which seemed pretty off-the-cuff) she reflected on the group’s past, their plans for the future, and the difficulties they faced being women of color. Apparently, Rolling Stone didn’t put them on the cover at the height of their career because the magazine thought Black covers didn’t sell well.
TLC soared to unthinkable heights with the success of timeless hits like “Waterfalls” and “No Scrubs,” leading the trio to sell over 85 million records worldwide as the best-selling girl group in America. But the climb to the top came with its own set of obstacles.
During her acceptance speech for TLC’s Legacy Award on Tuesday, Chilli got emotional as she recalled some of the group’s hardest moments and their biggest triumphs as women of color in the music industry.
“When you are a woman of color, it’s real hard — it’s a huge struggle,” she told the audience of tastemakers and breakers at Variety‘s Power of Women luncheon. “I’ll always remember when ‘No Scrubs’ came out and it was actually our first number one…I always wanted to be on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine…we didn’t get the cover. I won’t say who [got the cover], it’s okay because he deserved it too but we also did. The message was ‘the last time we had someone Black on the cover, it didn’t really sell well.’”
She continued, “I have to say that just because you hear many ‘nos’ does not mean that you don’t have the talent because you do — we never stopped believing in ourselves and each other.”
Chilli then pivoted her speech to give thanks to TLC’s longtime manager Bill Diggins, who was spotted getting tear-eyed in the crowd. She went on to highlight his loyalty after the death of Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes in 2002 when the group was overwhelmed by grief and financial burdens.
“Bill Diggins believed in us when we were on top of the world,” Chilli said, getting emotional herself. “And when everything happened — losing our sister — and no one believing in us anymore, thinking that it was over…he never felt like that.”
In her closing remarks, Chilli said she and bandmate T-Boz (who was not present at the event) “forever keep our sister Lisa ‘Left Eye’ Lopes’ memory alive through everything that we do.” Addressing the rumors that the band had always been on the lookout for a replacement, Chilli joked, “We never ever even thought about replacing — even after she burned the house down…by the way it was an accident!”
Chilli, of course, acknowledged the late Lisa “Left-Eye” Lopes and made a couple of cute jokes about their past and about her missing groupmate, T-Boz. So “No Scrubs” came out and it was at number one for weeks and TLC was hoping to cover Rolling Stone, however the magazine claimed last time a Black artist was on the cover it didn’t sell well. So they put a white guy on the cover instead. It’s a tiny blind item, where only Rolling Stone is at fault, but I got curious. “No Scrubs” was released ~February 2, 1999. Rob Zombie covered the February 4 issue that year, so probably too early for it to be him. Lauren Hill covered the February 18 issue and was the only Black person to cover the magazine that year. Jennifer Aniston was the early March 1999 cover, and then Mark McGrath aka Sugar Ray on March 18, 1999. Anyway, TLC stays busy — they have a documentary called “TLC Forever” coming out soon and they’ll be touring again starting on June 1. (Also, according to her speech, Chilli is a big Kelly Ripa fan, who knew).
photos credit: Neil Matthews / Avalon, Getty and via Instagram
She told no lies. My girl stay slaying. She looks amazing.
TLC had the talent and truly produced some legendary songs. But they also exposed how dirty the music business was to new talent. Lisa, Left Eye, broke down how much money they earned in an interview. They weren’t the first to get a bad deal & unfortunately not the last. But they took a risk to talk about it and take legal action.
Black AND female-twice as good!
Loved TLC-Lisa was my girl.
Give me my TLC Rolling Stone cover! Now! I would have bought the sh*t outta that back in the day!
Rolling Stone, being their misogynoir selves.
What a big surprise.
And it’s sad to see and enraging at the same time that nothing much has changed, nearly a quarter of a century later.
If you’re trying to figure it out, I wouldn’t place the date around when the song went #1; covers take months to coordinate. From her wording, it sounds like a man got it instead but the “deserve” part makes me think it was also probably a black man. DMX’s cover was April 13, 2000. Meanwhile, Lauryn Hill had a cover the prior year, which was probably the one that sold poorly.