This week we’re celebrating the 25th anniversary of TLC’s FanMail. The Atlanta group’s third studio album, it took the number one spot on the US Billboard 200 for five weeks and has since been certified six times platinum! It won three Grammys and has sold over ten million copies worldwide. An era-defining album, it’s only right that this month our Artist Spotlight is shining on TLC! 

Formed in 1990 from the workings of an earlier group and christened TLC prior to completion, it was only when final member Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas joined Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins and Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes that the three adopted their now infamous monikers to align with their title.

Working alongside some of music’s most influential names, they released their debut record Ooooooohhh… On the TLC Tip in February 1992. A bombastic ride of raw, contemporary artistry, it brought together T-Boz’s love of funk, Left Eye’s hip-hop influence and Chilli’s R&B tastes. Together, the group’s style was branded ‘New Jill Swing,’ a knowing take on the male-dominated new jack swing genre which had accelerated in the prior decade. 

Ooooooohhh… On the TLC Tip was a critical and commercial success with three of its singles breaking the US Billboard Hot 100’s top ten. However, it was during their first national tour supporting MC Hammer that the trio suffered the first of several fundamental setbacks. Left Eye and Chilli discovered that T-Boz had been diagnosed with sickle-cell anaemia. Later that decade, she became a spokesperson for the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America. 

The trio continued their journey to chart domination, releasing follow-up album CrazySexyCool in November 1994. It went on to sell over 7.7 million copies in the US, 14 million worldwide, and spent over two years in the US top 200 where it was certified diamond. All four of its singles were top five hits in the US, including the seminal Waterfalls. 

For their third album, Left Eye had an idea for a project with a futuristic feel. After several months of friction with long term producer Dallas Austin, the trio came together and began work. Released in February 1999, FanMail turns 25 this month!  

The album’s title is a tribute to the letters sent to the group by their supporters. Left Eye brought the concepts together, stating on the record’s final interlude, “Communication is the key to life. Communication is the key to love. Communication is the key to us. There’s over a thousand ways to communicate in our world today. And it’s a shame that we don’t connect.”

During the recording of FanMail, TLC were offered songs from various writers. Some of the works they turned down that would eventually be recorded by other acts included Whitney Houston’s Heartbreak Hotel and Britney Spears’ …Baby One More Time.

The first official single to be released from the record was No Scrubs, which remains one of their best-selling tracks to date. “A scrub is a guy that thinks he’s fly, and is also known as a busta,” sings Chilli, cementing the Atlanta slang into popular discourse worldwide. 

No Scrubs became TLC’s third US number one, sitting at the top spot for four consecutive weeks and won two Grammys for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal and Best R&B Song. Left Eye’s futuristic theme was continued in the Hype Williams directed video which features the trio inside a titanium space station.

Follow-up single Unpretty was another anthem of female empowerment, promoting self-confidence among women in the face of pressure to conform to societal standards of beauty. It was written by T-Boz after watching an episode of talk show Ricki Lake where men called the women “fat pigs.” It topped the US Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks, and was a top ten smash around the world. 

After touring the record worldwide, TLC began work on their fourth studio album as Left Eye also started to record her second solo record. Before she could complete either project, she was killed in a car crash in Honduras in April 2002. 

After a short break, Chilli and T-Boz continued with recording and 3D was released in November of that year. Both planned an indefinite hiatus after promoting the record, but instead continued to work as a duo, releasing their fifth and final album TLC in 2017. 

With over 65 million records sold worldwide, TLC is the best-selling American girl group of all time. Alongside country group the Chicks, they are the only two female ensembles to receive a diamond certification for sales over 10,000,000 copies of a release, and according to Billboard, TLC is the second most successful girl group on their charts behind The Supremes. 

From a studio in Atlanta to global domination, TLC have overcome setbacks and tragedy to release music that stands the test of time. After twenty-five years, FanMail still sounds as vital and futuristic as Left Eye had planned, and the group’s legacy continues.