TLC’s Final Public Moment with Lisa ‘Left Eye’ Lopes Was an Unforgettable Performance of ‘Waterfalls’ for MTV’s 20th Anniversary

From the outfits to the energy, the 2001 performance is looked back on as one of their best

NEED TO KNOW

• TLC, formed in 1990, consisting of Tionne ‘T-Boz’ Watkins, Lisa ‘Left Eye’ Lopes and Rozonda ‘Chilli’ Thomas
• In 2002, tragedy struck when Lopes was killed in a car accident in Honduras at the age of 30
• The group’s final performance together was 25 years ago, in 2001, at MTV’s 20th anniversary celebration

TLC’s last performance together featured a special moment for Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes.

The R&B girl group was among many who performed at MTV’s 20th anniversary special, called MTV20: Live and Almost Legal, on Aug. 1, 2001. What no one could have known on the night of that performance was that it would be the last with the group’s original lineup — Lopes, Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins and Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas.

The night featured TLC performing their hit, “Waterfalls,” while wearing fitted cropped blazers, dress shirts and ties, paired with maxi-length skirts that carried messages aligned with the group’s song and overall ethos — stop the violence, spread love, say no to drugs.

At the time surrounding the performance and in the months that followed, rumors of a feud between the members surfaced after Lopes challenged the group to see which of their solo albums would sell the most copies. Despite those rumors, Watkins and Thomas remember their final months working with Lopes as positive ones.

“No matter what, everyone will go through a disagreement — that’s what makes us all different. So it’s unrealistic to tell anybody that we all agreed with everything that everyone did or said. That doesn’t happen in a real relationship. At the time, she just didn’t agree with what the record company was doing with the project, so she felt strong about standing up about it. It had nothing personal to do with the group members. I didn’t have a problem with that,” Watkins told Essence about the time in 2012.

“It was actually very good; we had started working on the last album. We all had solo deals. I was just like, ‘We have to do another record’ — I was willing to put everything on hold,” Thomas said.

She added, “That was the last time we got to spend quality time together before she passed. The relationship was good; she was acting silly again, playing pranks on people. Her death was very devastating for us, but I can look back and say I was happy about what our relationship was like, at that time.”

On April 25, 2002, Lopes died in a car accident in Honduras doing charity work for a child development center. She was the only fatality in a crash involving a car carrying seven people. She was 30.

That August, Watkins and Thomas made their first public appearance at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards to honor Lopes and to present the award for Best Group Video. Watkins began by thanking Lopes’ family, MTV and TLC’s fans for their support as they navigated this tragedy.

“This is so hard because it’s a reality check that there’s only two of us up here,” Thomas said through tears. “She’s so missed. We want to thank everybody for their support and for being there for us. We thank you and we know that Lisa’s smiling, and we hope that she’s proud of us right now.”

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In 2021, Thomas, now 55, and Watkins, now 56, looked back at the aftermath of Lopes’ death, which included pressure to continue on without her from their label.

“We did not get the chance to grieve properly,” Thomas told Detroit’s Metro Times. “The label wanted to put out a greatest hits and we were like, ‘Our sister just passed away.’ It really was tough.”

The two particularly struggled with live performances where they would put photos and videos of Lopes on the screen as her verses were played.

“Her parts would come, and the screens would come up, we could never look at the screens,” Watkins told the outlet. “I remember we performed, I believe at the American Music Awards … I remember I saw the screens and I had to hurry and get off the stage because I broke down. It’s one of those things that time helps, but you would have those moments where it just hits you and it hits you very hard.”

In the years since Lopes’ death, Thomas and Watkins have kept the legacy of TLC alive with tours, albums, a Lifetime original movie and more.

Most recently, it was announced that the R&B group’s story would be translated into a musical — CrazySexyCool – The TLC Musical. In February, Holli’ Gabrielle Conway, Jade Milan and Stoney B. Woods were announced as the principal cast, playing T-Boz, Left Eye and Chili, respectively. The musical is currently running at the Kreeger Theater at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. through Aug. 9, 2026.