The group's best-known line-up was composed of Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas.

The group enjoyed success during the 1990s,[1] with nine top-ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including four number-one singles: "Creep", "Waterfalls", "No Scrubs", and "Unpretty".

The group, then named "2nd Nature", was formed with Jones, Watkins, and Lopes, who then began working with producers Jermaine Dupri and Rico Wade on demo tape material.

As they looked for a replacement for Jones, the two-member TLC made its first recorded appearance on a track for LaFace act Damian Dame's self-titled 1991 LP.

TLC was immediately set up to go into the studio with Reid and Edmonds, Dallas Austin, Jermaine Dupri, and Marley Marl producing their first album.

The songs on the album are a blend of funk (Watkins), hip-hop (Lopes), and R&B (Thomas), similar to the new jack-swing sound popularized by producer Teddy Riley in the late 1980s.

[1][15] Later, TLC's sound evolved from the genre,[16] but not before opening the door for similar groups such as SWV, Destiny's Child, 702, Jade, and the Lopes-produced Blaque.

[17] TLC's debut album, chiefly written by Dallas Austin and Lisa Lopes, consisted of playful lyrics, with some female-empowering songs.

A year later, the song was released as a promotional single and music video for the 1993 holiday season, appearing on the compilation album A LaFace Family Christmas.

[18] At the conclusion of the tour, TLC, who had received little monetary compensation up to this point, decided that they no longer wished to employ Pebbles Reid as their manager, in an effort to hold more control over their careers.

After another fight between the couple in the early morning hours of June 9, 1994, Lopes tossed numerous pairs of Rison's newly purchased shoes into a bathtub, doused them with lighter fluid, and lit them on fire.

TLC's second studio album, CrazySexyCool, saw the group reunited with producers Dallas Austin, Babyface, and Jermaine Dupri, as well as new collaborators Organized Noize, Chucky Thompson, and Sean "Puffy" Combs.

An R&B and hip hop soul album, CrazySexyCool featured hip-hop beats, funk, deep grooves, propulsive rhythms, and smooth production.

"Waterfalls", an Organized Noize-produced song that features an old-school soul-based musical arrangement, socially conscious lyrics criticizing drug dealing and unsafe sex, and an introspective rap from Lopes, became the biggest hit of TLC's career.

[26] TLC said that they had debts totaling $3.5 million, some of it due to Lopes's insurance payments arising from the arson incident and Watkins's medical bills, but the primary reason being that the group received what they called a less than favorable deal from Pebbitone.

[28] Both Pebbitone and LaFace countered that TLC "simply" wanted more money and were in no real financial danger, resulting in two years of legal debates before the cases were finally settled in late 1996.

The group appeared on the soundtrack album of the Forest Whitaker's 1995 film Waiting to Exhale with "This Is How It Works" (a song written by Babyface and Lopes) and was set to re-enter the recording studio the following year after signing a new contract with LaFace and with distribution handled by Arista.

Watkins began to release her solo effort with "Touch Myself", a single from the soundtrack album of 1996 film Fled; It reached the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Lopes also collaborated with fellow female rappers Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott, Da Brat, and Angie Martinez on Lil' Kim's single "Not Tonight".

Preliminary work on TLC's third studio album was delayed when friction arose between the group and their main producer Dallas Austin, who was romantically involved with Thomas and had had a child with her in 1997.

On April 25, 2002, before both projects were completed, Lopes died in a car crash while filming a documentary in Honduras, which would later be released as The Last Days of Left Eye in 2007 on VH1.

[33] After taking a two-week hiatus following Lopes's death, Watkins, Thomas, and Austin decided that they would complete the remainder of their fourth album, to be called 3D, which also featured production from Rodney Jerkins, The Neptunes, Raphael Saadiq, Missy Elliott, and Timbaland.

In June 2003, a year after the death of Lopes, at Zootopia, an annual concert hosted by New York radio station Z100 held at Giants Stadium, TLC appeared in what was announced to be their last performance.

The winner of the show, 20-year-old Tiffany "O'so Krispie" Baker, worked with Watkins and Thomas to record a new song, "I Bet", and they performed it together during a live concert finale in Atlanta.

On May 21, 2023, they performed again on the show for the first time in 11 years, singing a medley of their hits, including "No Scrubs", "Creep", and "Waterfalls", with contestant Lucy Love.

Directed by Charles Stone III, the film starred Keke Palmer as Thomas, Lil Mama as Lopes, and Drew Sidora as Watkins.

On November 24, 2013, TLC performed a highly anticipated rendition of "Waterfalls" at the 2013 American Music Awards, with Lil Mama delivering Lopes's part, including the rap segment.

[53] The album's first single "Way Back" featuring Snoop Dogg was released April 14 to all major digital music outlets and streaming services, but not to radio.

[56] It was announced in October 2020, that television channel A&E Network had greenlit a brand new two-hour documentary special chronicling the group's meteoric rise to the top.

TLC helped to pioneer a deft blend of acoustic and computer sounds that paved the way for groups like Destiny's Child, as did their image as independent women.