April 26, 2002, 11:35 AM. This is definitely not an obituary that I wanted to have to write for at least another fifty years.

Many of my close friends know that I am a huge fan of the band TLC. My screen name at Yahoo! was and still is "forevertbozsguy" to this day. When we started doing catalog reviews at Project X, theirs was the first band I volunteered for. Ironically, that was just over a month ago that I wrote that piece. The next thing I was expecting to write for PX related to TLC would have been a review of their fourth album, an album they were in the middle of recording.

When I heard the horrible news on television this morning about Lisa Nicole "Left Eye" Lopes, I was frozen. I had not been so affected by the news of a favorite musician dying since I heard about D. Boon of the Minutemen (ironically, also an influential three-piece group) dying (too ironically) in a car accident in 1985. That accident ended the band, although the surviving members founded another trio, fIREHOSE, several months later. Last night's accident will no doubt effectively end the group, although I sincerely hope that surviving members Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas will continue to record as a duo, because without Lisa Lopes, there is no "L" in TLC.

I tried to write my own obituary for Left Eye, but I can't. Borrowing this AP newswire article (reproduced below) will have to do for now. For more information on the band, there is still the catalog review I wrote for them last month, commemorating their tenth anniversary as a group, when things looked a lot more optimistic.

I'm sure I may have more to say about Lisa Nicole Lopes in next week's "Must We Rock?" column... right now I'm just too fucking upset to write anymore. It's hard to write something like this when you're trying to keep the tears from coming.

RIP, Lisa. Neither music nor life will be the same without you.

-- CJ Marsicano

ATLANTA (April 26) - Lisa ''Left Eye'' Lopes, the effervescent, sometimes volatile rapping member of the Grammy-winning trio TLC, was killed in a car crash in Honduras, her record company said early Friday.

Lopes, who would have turned 31 next month, was in the Central American nation for a vacation, Arista Records' senior vice president of publicity Laura Swanson said. Lopes was reportedly among seven people in the car Thursday night and the only fatality.

''No words can possibly express the sorrow and sadness I feel for this most devastating loss,'' said Arista president L.A. Reid, who helped shape the career of the Atlanta-based R&B group, one of the best-selling female groups in history.

''Lisa was not only a gifted and talented musical inspiration, but more importantly, she was like a daughter to me. My thoughts and prayers are with Lisa's family and friends. Her legacy will be remembered forever.''

The location of the car crash was not immediately determined. It was unclear whether she was wearing a seatbelt.

TLC, which also includes Tionne ''T-Boz'' Watkins and Rozonda ''Chilli'' Thomas, were the group behind such hits as ''Waterfall,'' ''No Scrubs'' and ''Unpretty.'' Their latest album was ''FanMail.''

''We had all grown up together and were as close as a family,'' the surviving bandmates said in a statement Friday. ''Today we have truly lost our sister.''

The group made its debut in 1992 with the disc ''Ooooooh ... On the TLC Tip!'' Their unique sound, which paired Watkins and Thomas' vocals with Philadelphia-born Lopes' fast-paced, squeaky-voiced rhymes, made them an immediate sensation, along with their baggy, condom-attached wardrobe.

In 1994, they returned with ''CrazySexyCool'' - Lopes was dubbed the ''crazy'' member of the group, Thomas the ''sexy'' one and Watkins the ''cool'' one. The quadruple platinum album saw the women abandon their sometimes gimmicky image to evolve into a critically acclaimed group. The disc included the No. 1 hit ''Creep'' and won them the first two of their four Grammy Awards.

But with success came enough turmoil to fill a VH1 ''Behind the Music'' special. The trio declared bankruptcy a few years ago, citing poorly structured recording contracts.

In 1994, Lopes pleaded guilty to arson in a fire that destroyed the mansion of former Atlanta Falcons receiver Andre Rison, her boyfriend. Lopes was sentenced to a halfway house and five years probation, plus a $10,000 fine.

Lopes admitted she started the fire after an argument with Rison. The mansion was valued at more than $1 million. The two later broke up, only to reunite and break up again. However, last year they announced plans to marry.

Watkins was hospitalized several times, suffering from sickle cell anemia, a serious blood disease, and infighting among group members also was reported. In 2000, after the release of the triple-platinum disc ''Fanmail,'' Lopes publicly challenged Watkins and Thomas to put out solo albums, and let fans determine who was the most popular group member.

But in an interview later that year, Watkins dismissed talk of a serious rift.

''With three women, you agree to disagree. I'm not always going to agree with Lisa and she's not always going to agree with me, that's fine,'' she said.

TLC had been on hiatus, but had recently been in the studio working on a new record due to have been released this year. Lopes had tried to release her own album last year called ''Supernova''; It was released internationally by Arista, but poor radio support for the record caused the project to be shelved in the United States.

Within in past few months, Lopes reportedly signed a solo deal with Suge Knight's Death Row label to put out a solo project under the pseudonym, ''N.I.N.A.'' (New Identity Not Applicable). She also helped start the group ''Blaque,'' an R&B trio who had the hit ''Bring It Home To Me.''

Arista spokeswoman Laura Swanson said that Lopes went frequently to Honduras to vacation.

''She just found it really peaceful and tranquil, and it was a very special place for her,'' she said.

Her manager has flown to Honduras to bring her body back to the United States, Swanson said.

Fans, friends, and family wishing to send condolences are asked to,  in lieu of flowers, make a donation to: 

The Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes Fund 
c/o The Multiple Sclerosis Foundation
National Headquarters
Special Donations
6350 North Andrews Avenue
Fort Lauderdale, Fla., 33309-2130. 

The Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes Fund should be written into the memo section of checks sent to the foundation.

I am going to be redesigning CJMarsicano.com over the next month or so, something I had already been planning on in order to incorporate my musical career as well as update the writing portions of the site.  The reopening will take place on what would have been Lisa Lopes' 31st Birthday, May 27, 2002.