Lisa Left Eye Lopes net worth: Lisa Left Eye Lopes was an American singer-songwriter, dancer, and rap artist who had a net worth of $500 thousand at the time of her death in 2002. She was best-known for being a member of the singing group TLC which experienced enormous success in the 1990s.

Lisa Left Eye Lopes was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and began performing as part of a trio called, Second Nature, in the early 90s. The group was subsequently renamed TLC, and they released their first album, “Ooooooohhh… On the TLC Tip”, in 1992. The album was a hit and sold six million copies. The trio’s second album, “CrazySexyCool”, was even more popular, and sold 15 million copies worldwide. Lisa Left Eye Lopes contributed self-written raps to many of their hit songs. Their third album, “Fanmail” was released in 1999, and was again a massive success. The trio had begun to splinter at that point, and Lisa Lopes began recording solo material and appearing as a guest artist on singles for such artists as Melanie C, Donelle Jones, ‘N Sync, and Toni Braxton. In April of 2002, she was killed in a car crash while driving in Honduras.

Andre Rison Fire: Lisa dated NFL star Andre Rison from 1993 to 2001. They had a rocky relationship to say the least. During an altercation in 1994 that was set off after Andre and his friends returned from a night of partying at 6:30 am, a furious Lisa put several of Andre’s shoes in a bathtub and lit them on fire. Unfortunately, the fire spread and ended up burning down the entire house. Rison bought the property in 1992 for $861,000. The home had seven bedrooms, six fireplaces and a recording studio.

TLC Bankruptcy: Although TLC was one of the highest-grossing music groups of their era, the group members were forced to file for bankruptcy. In 1995, Lopes joined the other members of the group and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, declaring debts of approximately $3.5 million. Many were left scratching their heads – after all, this was the same group that had sold millions of records with albums regularly achieving platinum status. They had just recently released the album “CrazySexyCool” which sold 14 million copies and supported an extremely successful worldwide tour.

Thomas and the other members of TLC would allege that they had signed an unfair contract with married producer/managers Perri “Pebbles” Reid and LA Reid. Perri managed the group through her company Pebbitone. LA’s label LaFace Records, distributed their albums.

The lawsuit showed how their management and record label began charging the girls for various expenses such as flights, clothing, hotels, food, and everything you might associate with a celebrity lifestyle. The more famous they became, the bigger the bill became.

After lawyer fees and other expenses, each member of the group was typically left with just $50,000 a year. Clearly, this isn’t a sum most people associate with a platinum-selling artist. The 1991 contract also stipulated that all three members would have to split just 56 cents per each album sold, which is obviously quite substandard. This is what ultimately led to the bankruptcy declaration. After two years of legal battles, they were allowed to renegotiate with LaFace for a more equitable deal.

When asked about the financial lessons she learned from this experience, Rozonda would later tell The Guardian newspaper the following:

“I have learned the hard way: sign your own checks, make sure your taxes are in shape and whatever your company is, it’s always good to get it audited. If you don’t have anything to hide, it’s not a worry.“

In the same interview Watkins relayed:

“It’s not personal. It’s business. Everyone in this industry has an agenda. Accountants, lawyers, people you think you know will keep running up the bill. You have to watch your back on every corner.“