Now on tour with a Canadian stop at OLG Stage at Fallsview Casino on Oct. 3, Watkins and Thomas open up about their days onstage and their time out-of-office.Illustration by Photo Illustration by The Globe
Off Duty is a series of lively conversations with influential people, from CEOs to celebrities, on life, work and the art of taking time off.
When TLC’s smash hit Ain’t 2 Proud 2 Beg climbed the Billboard charts in 1992, the song made contralto Tionne (T-Boz) Watkins, soprano Rozonda (Chilli) Thomas and rapper Lisa (Left Eye) Lopes instant stars. The R&B trio went on to mix hip-hop, soul, dance and pop over the course of five studio albums and four Grammy wins. TLC’s subversive style (they wore condoms on their clothes to promote female empowerment and safe sex) made as many headlines as their music. Their lyrics often explored hot-button issues such as the nineties drug epidemic, the consequences of HIV/AIDS and navigating a new wave of feminism.
While the band’s reach is undeniable, their biography has been mired in tragedy. Extensive legal battles regarding bad contracts (TLC filed for bankruptcy in 1995), health scares (Watkins was diagnosed with sickle cell anemia as a child and had a brain tumour removed in 2009) and the sudden passing of Lopes (who died in a car collision in 2002) forced the group to recalibrate. Currently working as a duo, Watkins and Thomas are intent on bringing TLC back into the spotlight.
Now on tour with a Canadian stop at OLG Stage at Fallsview Casino on Oct. 3, Watkins and Thomas open up about their days onstage and their time out-of-office.
Tionne wrote about how TLC could foresee the future. What was your last premonition?
Tionne (T-Boz) Watkins: Finishing my book [A Sick Life: TLC ‘n Me: Stories from On and Off the Stage, which was published in 2017], I had a vision that kept repeating in my mind. I saw myself at book signings in different places in the world. It came to fruition. Also: We wore a lot of mesh and now everyone does it.
Rozonda (Chilli) Thomas: When we first got started, I wish I could have foreseen what was to come before we went bankrupt. After being in the business for so long, your spirit of discernment kicks in. I didn’t have visions but my instincts stopped us from taking bad deals. All money is not good money, you know? If something compromises who you are as a person, the cheque is not worth it.
Perfect Girls and Unpretty are tracks that talk about body image before Instagram filters, Botox and Ozempic misuse were the norm. How has your relationship to beauty changed?
Watkins: Unpretty was about my own personal situation back then and I was expressing the insecurities that come with struggling to be perfect. Perfect Girls is about chasing down that perfect dream on social media. When I sing both songs, I’m hoping the fans are finding beauty within and not letting society change who they are.
Thomas: A lot of young girls today look at the beauty trends obsessively and take things to extremes and get into unnecessary surgeries. I think about how sad that is. What are these girls going to look like in 10 years or 15 years after all that surgery and all the injections? We have to keep talking about what my mom told me was the most important thing as a kid: working on being pretty on the inside.
After your first two albums dropped, did you feel your style was being reflected in fashion and pop culture?
Watkins: Oh yes. DKNY did a runway collection of silk pyjamas and other designers copied that. They looked like they were right out of our Creep video. It was a copy but it was carried out well. If anybody wears silk pyjamas on a runway or red carpet, you clearly know who really started the trend. They’re paying homage.
Thomas: Aside from fashion, I saw other groups try to emulate our style. Scary Spice had on a top that we wore in our Diggin’ On You video where strings wrap around your belly. It was identical. I love the Spice Girls but listen, we definitely did that first.
What are some of the biggest lifestyle changes you’ve made while being on the road today … as opposed to your famous FanMail Tour of 1999?
Watkins: If you know better, you do better. I fly in a couple days early to rest before a show because with my sickle cell anemia, my blood thins and I have to make sure I have the proper days off between shows. I do oxygen inhalation before and after shows and I take holistic vitamins. I can’t go to Denver or Albuquerque, N.M., or places where the altitude is too high for me. We didn’t know any of that in the nineties, we were run ragged!
Thomas: We also read food labels. When we’re on tour in our bus, I cook and eat clean. I make simple salads with a protein like salmon and I drink coconut water. We don’t drink alcohol at all.
In 1999, TLC’s Creep and No Scrubs and Destiny’s Child’s Bug a Boo and Bills, Bills, Bills were topping the charts. Why do you think these were so popular at this time?
Watkins: It was the end of the decade and women were fed up with bad men and they had been fed up for a long time. These hits finally allowed us to talk about why. This situation never gets old, it’s the same book, new characters. But honey, we’re still tired of it, okay?
Thomas: We’d always have guys coming up to us, just to say that they weren’t scrubs! No guy wants to ride on the passenger side now. That song gets passed down to generations. We were at the airport today and this lady had her baby girl and told us she plays No Scrubs to her daughter every day. It’s becoming a life lesson!
What was the last book or movie you read or saw that gave you peace of mind?
Watkins: I loved the film The Lone Survivor with Mark Wahlberg – it really moved me. It sheds a light on people trying to make a change during a war.
Thomas: I finished reading the Bible in its entirety for the second time. Whatever I missed the first two times that I read it, I will get in the next read.
TLC’s gone through so many stylists and makeup artists. Which ones really understood what you did the most?
Watkins: Kevyn Aucoin and I built a strong relationship before he passed. Everybody wanted to be in his book, Making Faces, and he asked me. Once he did my makeup for it, I looked in the mirror and thought I could’ve been Josephine Baker in another life.
Thomas: My favourite makeup artist was Paul Starr. Paul taught me to live by the meaning “less is more” with makeup.
Which song would you say that Lisa [Lopes] is with you the most when you’re performing it?
Watkins: Waterfalls. That was her favourite song and it had so much meaning. During it, the audiences turns on their lights for Left Eye. It really touches your heart and it gives you this fuzzy feeling inside.
Thomas: We can keep her memory alive by incorporating her rap in Waterfalls. Our fans appreciate that. It’s heartwarming to hear her voice on stage with us. It just takes them back, just all the good feels.
What’s the next big project you’re tackling after the tour?
Watkins: We’re working on a musical about TLC. We’re close to being done the musical book.
Thomas: It’s taking a little bit of time, but we started looking for actors and actresses. You heard it here first: TLC will be going to Broadway, baby!