“Oh, yes. You know what’s funny? My son sent that to me. He was like, ‘Mom, I’ve never seen this.’ And it’s so funny. Yeah, but that was a real thing,” Chilli, 55, recalled. “We didn’t get pulled off. But I’m sure the label was not happy that we said that, but it was the truth.”<\/p>\n
“Hilarious. Yeah, it was the truth,” T-Boz, 55, added.<\/p>\n
“We hope that our story was helpful to many other artists,” Chilli said. “And obviously, we’ve learned so much and we are definitely very much in control of our business. So we don’t play those games.”<\/p>\n
![\"T-Boz](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ead5d1e7d1a8e9b83a27373a9fdb787e.jpeg\"\/)
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T-Boz and Chilli at the 2023 iHeartRadio Music Festival
Credit: Jeff Kravitz\/FilmMagic<\/p>\n
At the time, TLC spoke at the Grammy Awards press conference about reaching incredible levels of success, but not seeing that reflected in their paychecks.<\/p>\n
“I can say this, everything’s not going the way we so-called ‘would want it to be’ or ‘how it should be,’ ” T-Boz said.<\/p>\n
“We’re not gonna sugarcoat anything anymore,” Chilli responded. “Well, I’ll put it to you this way. We are the biggest-selling female group ever, 10 million albums worldwide. We have worked very hard. We have been in this business for five years. And we are broke as broke can be.”<\/p>\n
Chilli added that they weren’t trying to be a “sad story” and that “it might be hard to believe because we’ve sold so many albums, but it is possible. That’s the deal here, and we’re not happy at all.”<\/p>\n
A reporter in the audience then called out to TLC’s late member, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes<\/a>, who died at age 30 in 2002 from a car crash, to come up to the mic to speak at the press conference.<\/p>\n “I can’t go into everything right now, but trust me, you can sell 10 million albums and be broke if you have greedy people behind you,” Left Eye said.<\/p>\n TLC at the Grammy Awards in 1996 Chilli then stepped in for Left Eye. “They’re thinking that you’re on top of the world,” she said. “When you’re quiet like that, no one knows, so that’s why we’re telling it. We’re not telling it to get anybody in trouble.”<\/p>\n While at the recent iHeartRadio Music Awards, Chilli and T-Boz performed a medley alongside Salt-N-Pepa and En Vogue, including some of their biggest hits like “No Scrubs” and “Waterfalls.”<\/p>\n The three bands will be heading out on the road for their “It’s Iconic” Tour, which kicks off in Franklin, Tenn. on Aug. 15.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like this is going to be the most fun touring experience I\u2019ve ever had,\u201d Cheryl \u201cSalt\u201d James said in a video<\/a> announcement. \u201cAnd I feel like we\u2019re going to feel the queens is in the building. We\u2019ve earned this seat \u2026 This show is going to be crazy. We\u2019re doing the whole mixtape vibe, coming in and out.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe music from the Nineties, it\u2019s just \u2026 the lyrical content is great,\u201d Chilli added. \u201cYou can put on a song no matter how you\u2019re feeling. Once you hit the 2000s, the lyrical content just changes. The beats are crazy, but it\u2019s just different. And it\u2019s crazy to see eight-year-olds sitting in the audience singing all of the songs.\u201d<\/p>\n Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/a> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer\u200b\u200b, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/p>\n The tour will take place in cities across the U.S., and will end on Oct. 11 in Concord, Calif.<\/p>\n![\"TLC](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1b50b98fbc35faa0bc73295e23e1a891.jpeg\"\/)
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Credit: Ron Davis\/Getty<\/p>\n