How TLC Really Ended Up Losing So Much Money

May 2024 ยท 2 minute read

Fans were shocked when the multi-million-selling group, TLC, declared bankruptcy after "CrazySexyCool." Following their Grammy win in 1996, Rozonda "Chili" Thomas announced that despite selling "10 million albums worldwide," they were "broke as broke can be." The group claimed that their labels LaFace Records and Arista Records were conning them out of major dough, per Mirror. According to TLC, expenses such as travel, hotel stays, and music videos were taken out of their paycheck, leaving them with less than $50,000 a year. Additionally, they were receiving a paltry 56 cents per album.

Amid their money issues, Lopes was dating Atlanta Falcons player Andre Rison at the time and after an explosive fight, she burned his house down, XXL reported. The rapper was charged with arson and released on $75,000 bail. While she wasn't sentenced to jail, she checked herself into rehab and was given five years probation, and ended up paying $10,000 in fines. Watkins also spent a lot of money battling sickle cell anemia, which contributed to her debt.

TLC managed to get out of their contract with their manager Perri "Pebbles" Reid and negotiated a new deal with LaFace Records, which took two years, per Grunge. They eventually released their third album, "FanMail" in 1999, but that didn't come without its issues as well.

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