‘A walk down memory lane’
The story of TLC has been well covered by the press and even the musicians themselves with a 2013 VH1 scripted series based on the Atlanta trio’s career.
But there has not been an official documentary — until now. Lifetime’s “TLC Forever,” set for release Saturday, chronicles the group’s journey from its humble roots in the early 1990s to its current-day nostalgia-based touring mode.
The two surviving members of TLC, Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas, 52, and Tionne “T-boz” Watkins, 53, said that after more than three decades, it seemed like as good a time as any to look back at their travails and accomplishments, and assess their careers.
“What we’re most proud of is we’re still here to tell it ourselves,” Chilli said in a Zoom interview from Los Angeles the day after performing on the season finale of “American Idol.”
“From us,” added T-boz.
“That is the most important thing. I don’t want to be gone and someone slaughter our story.”
The documentary highlights the powerhouse, groundbreaking success of the group in the 1990s with legendary hits like “Waterfalls” and “No Scrubs,” which paved the way for the likes of Destiny’s Child in the 2000s. It also doesn’t shy away from the conflicts with management, the financial upheavals, T-boz’s health issues and tensions within the group that led to its breakup in 2000.
It’s also a love letter to TLC’S sassy third member,
Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, who died in 2002 in a car accident while shooting a documentary in Honduras. She is heard frequently in archival video.
“It was a walk down memory lane,” T-boz said. “It reminded us of the good times we had together.”
In fact, the producers had the two women watch vintage clips of the trio.
“We watched a lot of things I had totally forgot about,” said Chilli, who teared up when she saw a 1999 clip of Lopes hugging the two of them on stage after they won a Lady of Soul Award.
She also laughed at scenes on an airplane of the three of them goofing around. “I used to keep a camcorder or camera around my chest and film everything back in the day,” T-boz said.
The long-standing conflict with Perri Arlette Reid, better known as Pebbles, who helped found TLC, is addressed, but not surprisingly, Pebbles did not participate in the documentary. (Pebbles filed and settled a lawsuit over what she perceived to be an unfair portrayal of herself ” in the VH1 movie.)
“Things will never be copacetic” with Pebbles, T-boz said. “And she only managed us for two years. The biggest part of our career, she wasn’t even involved. But she helped us get our start. We appreciate her for that.”
They are also working on a TLC Broadway musical.
“We may have found the right writer,” Chilli said. “The rest of our team is solid. That was our missing link.”