Lisa Lopes

Lisa Nicole Lopes (stage name "Left Eye") (May 27, 1971 - April 25, 2002) was a member of the popular R&B; group TLC. In addition to hit songs like "Waterfalls" with TLC, Lopes also did some solo performing. She was often thought of as the creative talent behind TLC who, though she sang infrequently, contributed her own, self-written raps to many of TLC's popular singles, including "Waterfalls" and "No Scrubs", Lopes was the member of TLC most inclined to pursue a solo career.

After TLC's third album, Fanmail (1999), Lopes in 2000 became a featured rapper on several singles by other musicians, including former Spice Girl Melanie C's "Never Be The Same Again" and Donell Jones' debut single, "U Know What's Up". She also sang "Space Cowboy" with N Sync, a song from their 2000 album No Strings Attached.

Lopes was also the host of the short-lived MTV series, The Cut, a precursor to American Idol in which a handful of would-be pop stars, rappers, and rock bands competed against each other and were judged. The show's final winner, which ended up being a male-female rap duo, was promised a record deal and MTV's funding to produce a music video, which would enter MTV's heavy rotation. A then-unknown Anastacia finished in third place, but so impressed Lopes and the show's three judges that she scored herself a record deal anyway.

Lopes died in a car crash in Honduras in April 2002. She had been there doing missionary work, which was something she had a passion for.