Three legendary R&B groups will share the stage for the first time on a national tour.
Grammy-winning groups TLC and Salt-N-Pepa will bring their co-headlining tour, It's Iconic,to Riverbend Music Center on Friday, Aug. 21. En Vogue will join them as a special guest.
The tour marks the first time the three groups have toured together and celebrates decades of "era-defining hits, culture-shifting influence and timeless R&B and hip-hop anthems," according to a press release.
Ahead of the Cincinnati stop, TLC's Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas spoke with The Enquirer about her decades-long career, the It's Iconic tour and the legacy of Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, a founding member of TLC who died in a car crash in 2002.
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These excerpts have been edited for length and clarity.
Q: Generations of fans have grown up with your music, and it's been more than three decades now since TLC first emerged on the scene. As you get ready to hit the road again, what excites you most about performing for audiences today?
Chilli: Just the love that we get from the audience. To see those smiles on people's faces and, with certain songs, maybe even tears.
When you hear songs, it definitely takes you back to where you were when you first heard it and what was going on in your life. So, I just love seeing the faces and the joy. It makes me happy and want to sing harder and dance harder when I see all that.
Q: What can readers expect from your upcoming Cincinnati show?
Chilli: Well, this whole collaboration with us, Salt-N-Pepa, and En Vogue is just going to be explosive in so many ways. It's such an honor for us to go out on the road with these ladies because we're huge fans of theirs, and they're just wonderful. We're just really excited about the tour we're putting together.
Q: Have you ever been to Cincinnati before?
Chilli: Now, you're supposed to know that.
Q: I tried to do some research on that earlier, but I couldn't find a clear answer. So, I thought I'd just ask to be sure.
Chilli: We have definitely been in Cincinnati before.
Within the [last] 30 years, I know we've been there on some tour. I can't tell you which one, but I know we've performed in Cincinnati.
Q: Do you have any impressions of the area or any memories that stick out to you about Cincinnati?
Chilli: When we're on tour, unfortunately, we don't have time to explore a city. That's the downside of tours a lot of times.
But the other side is, when you're in the arena and everything, and the fans, the energy is just awesome. I can't even say that one city is more exciting than the next or whatever. I just love performing and love to see everybody happy.
Q: This is the first time TLC, Salt-N-Pepa, and En Vogue have toured together. What made now feel like the right moment for these three iconic groups to come together?
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Chilli: We have done a tour with En Vogue before, but Salt-N-Pepa is definitely a first, and all of us, the way we're going to be interacting with the show, is a first.
When we got the phone call, it was a no-brainer for us. ... We were all excited to work together. It's come along nicely.
Q: Three legendary groups, three different legacies. What do you think audiences are going to experience that they've never seen before with this show?
Chilli: We've never had an integrated show before. That is going to be something new and the way we're putting it together, we hope that everybody will be as excited as we're going to be.
When I talk about this tour, I always like to encourage people [who are] coming to get your favorite TLC outfit, Salt-N-Pepa outfit, whatever that is. ... We want everybody leaving feeling like they had the best time of their life.
Q: Looking back at the '90s, did you ever imagine that decades later, you would still be selling out arenas and introducing your music to a whole new generation?
Chilli: I don't even know if I really thought about that. I just always hope that we would be able to sing and dance for as long as we wanted to and that people would want to hear us. ... It's a blessing. It really is, because it's really hard to achieve longevity in such a crazy business.
Q: What do you think is the secret to TLC's longevity?
Chilli: We always said, even when Lisa ["Left Eye" Lopes] was alive, we just said, "We're meant to be."
It's true, and we're doing exactly what we're supposed to be doing. And, again, it is a blessing to do these things and to look out in the audience and see the younger generation. I never get used to that.
Q: If Lisa were here watching this tour come together, what do you think she would be most excited about?
Chilli: Probably the creative part. Coming up with things that are so fun and different that the audience would love.
I think she would be so excited about this tour.
Q: Many artists like to talk about authenticity, but TLC has really built a brand around being unapologetically yourself. How important has that been to your staying power?
Chilli: I think it's been very important. We have always been that way since day one. It wasn't an act or anything like that. It's just who we are as individuals. So, collectively, it just works for us and putting that out there for other women and girl groups to just be your authentic self.
That's the best way anyway, because you're in your comfort zone. When you're comfortable, I feel like you do things a lot better.
Q: You helped redefine what a female group could look and sound like. So, when you see today's generation of women in R&B and pop, what makes you proud?
Chilli: I just like to see all of them be successful and do things that outside of the box, you know, because I think that a lot of times some people can get caught up in being like whoever else is successful.
You shouldn't chase somebody else's success and their look or whatever. You should do your own thing. You can be inspired because we're all inspired by people before us and even a lot of our peers. But you want to have your own thing as well. I think that's very important.
Q: What message do you hope fans leave with after seeing this tour?
Chilli: Unity and love, because that's how it is between the groups. We all have so much respect for each other. Nobody is looking to outdo the other. We're all doing the best that we can do and uplifting each other. So, I hope that people can feel that vibe when they come and see our show.
Q: The tour is called It's Iconic. What does being iconic mean to you?
Chilli: It's so funny because I was on the fence with that title. I was like, "Are we calling ourselves that or somebody else that?" I was probably looking at it too deep.
But I feel like, to be iconic is being your authentic self and being known for that and setting certain standards where, you know, people admire those things about you, and you're such an inspiration in a positive way for many people.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Chilli remembers Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes before TLC's Riverbend concert
