Lisa "Left-Eye" Lopez Dies in Car Crash

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From Yahoo! News:
Fri Apr 26, 4:04 AM ET

By Dean Goodman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, a controversial member of chart-topping American R&B trio TLC, was killed in a car crash in Honduras on Thursday, a spokeswoman for her record label said.

AP Photo
TLC's Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes Killed In Car Crash
No other details were supplied by Laura Swanson, a representative of Arista Records in New York.

Lopes becomes the second female R&B singer to die tragically in less than a year, following the death last August of rising star Aaliyah in a plane crash in the Bahamas. Arista rapper Notorious B.I.G. was killed in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles in 1997.

Lopes, a 30-year-old native of Philadelphia who provided the raps for TLC, made headlines in 1994 after she was arrested for burning down the house of then-boyfriend, former Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Andre Rison. She was fined and sentenced to five years' probation, and then entered rehab to deal with a drinking problem.

Atlanta-based TLC's most recent album, 1999's "FanMail" topped the U.S. pop album charts for five weeks, and generated eight Grammy Award nominations. The group ended up with the trophies for best R&B album and best R&B performance for "No Scrubs," a savage put-down of loser boys.

TLC, which Lopes formed with Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas and Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, burst onto the music scene 10 years ago with its debut album, "Oooooooh...On the TLC Tip." Its 1994 follow-up, "CrazySexyCool," brought the group mainstream success, with help from the multi-million-dollar video for the ballad "Waterfalls." The album also won TLC Grammys (news - web sites) for best R&B album and R&B performance ("Creep").

"FanMail" sold more than eight million copies, and secured TLC's place as the most successful female trio in history. But the band was highly combustible, with Lopes providing the fodder. She threatened to quit prior to the recording of "FanMail," and was reportedly infuriated that none of the eight songs she had written for the album made the final cut.

In subsequent interviews, Lopes exchanged insults and accusations with her frustrated colleagues. Their 1999/2000 tour was marred by poor sales in some markets and on-stage theatrics underscoring their feuding.

Arista Records is a unit of German media giant Bertelsmann AG