TLC To Reunite With a Virtual Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes
It seems like Tupac’s resurrection is leaving a mark on the music industry.
Marking their 20th anniversary as a group, Tionne “T-Box” Watkins and Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas of TLC announced yesterday that they will be reuniting this year, along with deceased member Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, who died ten years ago in a car accident.
Watkins told Essence Magazine in a new interview, “Yes, we’re going on tour; we are in negotiations now with LA. Reid, so we’ll see what happens. A lot of cool things are coming up.”
TMZ is reporting that one of the group’s representatives is saying tour dates in five major cities have already been booked, and Lopes will make her way into the shows by “projecting her image on a big screen and working her vocals into the live performances.”
Watkins says that she remembers the day that Lopes died, as well as the funeral:
“I was sitting in a rocking chair in my daughter’s room after putting her down when I got a call from Chilli. She was screaming. I had just gotten out the hospital from fighting sickle cell so I had to be careful about getting upset. Everybody was trying to keep me calm …
“I remember staying up all night and Patti Labelle and Missy Elliot calling me,” Watkins said. “Whitney Houston was at Lisa’s funeral. She sat behind me and rubbed my shoulders for two hours, while telling me, ‘It’s going to be OK, it’s going to be all right.’ Right before that, I remember Lisa played a trick where she went missing and nobody knew where she was. This was the one time I wish she was joking and doing one of her stunts, but she wasn’t.”
Intense…
Moving to a happier subject, both members were asked about the new VH1 biopic about the group, that is currently being casted. Thomas says it’s a dream come true:
“I’m really excited about it; this was a dream of mine. I knew that we would have a movie about us one day. I want to go for someone unknown to play us. I really would prefer to reach out and find someone that resembles us and who really has the acting chops and who can dance.”
This year would mark the first time TLC has reunited since Lopes’ death.