In 1990 in
Atlanta,
Georgia,
Tionne Watkins's friend Marie Davis persuades her to audition for a girl group Ian Burke is forming for
LaFace Records. Although reluctant, she brings Crystal Jones, the group's founder, to meet her rapper friend
Lisa Lopes. The trio performs "
Meeting in the Ladies Room" in January 1991 for
Perri "Pebbles" Reid and her husband
Antonio "L.A." Reid, co-founder of LaFace, who approve Tionne and Lisa. Lisa calls her family in Philadelphia but learns her father Ronald has died. Later that year,
Rozonda Thomas, a backup dancer for
Damian Dame, notices Pebbles speaking with her dance teacher; she rushes over and amazes everyone present with her vocals. She meets Lisa, Tionne, and Tionne's longtime friend, music producer
Dallas Austin; the girls immediately bond and successfully audition with "
What About Your Friends". To preserve the name TLC, Rozonda is rechristened as "Chilli". Pebbles informs the trio that they will be monetarily compensated beyond their weekly $25 stipend once they have sold records and tickets to shows. Before departing for a meeting one day, she instructs Dallas to keep the girls rehearsing, but instead, he instigates a food fight with them and romances Chilli in a sound booth. Pebbles reprimands the quartet's behavior upon her return, suspends Chilli and announces auditions for her replacement. Dallas comforts an upset Chilli, leading to sexual intercourse. Following her reinstatement, she notices her pregnancy and undergoes an abortion. After she recovers, the trio shoot the music video for their debut single "
Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg" from their debut album
Ooooooohhh... On the TLC Tip. Midway through their successful first nationwide tour in 1992, Tionne is hospitalized following a post-concert collapse backstage. She publicizes her previously-undisclosed
sickle cell anemia, undeterred by the grim prognosis. Upon returning, the trio decides to buy Pebbles out to obtain more artistic freedom for subsequent albums. In 1993, the girls begin recording their second album
CrazySexyCool. At a nightclub one night, Lisa meets
Andre Rison, a wide receiver for the
NFL's
Atlanta Falcons. In 1994, Chilli discovers another woman's pregnancy with Dallas's child, pouring her heartbreak into "
Creep". On June 8, Dallas reconciles with Chilli, while Lisa and her friend notice newly-purchased tennis shoes on Andre's bed; she retaliatorily burns them in the bathtub, unintentionally torching the house. Eventually sentenced to 5 years of probation and fined $10,000, she is released during her rehabilitation for two recording sessions with Tionne and Chilli, contributing an introspective rap verse to their biggest hit "
Waterfalls". After the trio announce their bankruptcy at the
1996 Grammys, Lisa details owing $200,000 due to an unfair contract. Their new manager, Bill Diggins, offers them a worldwide headlining tour and an improved profit margin following their next record. During the recording of their third album
FanMail, Chilli gives birth to her and Dallas' son, Tron, in 1997. In 1998, during a sickle-cell scare, Tionne pens a poem detailing both a woman's self-image issues and unrealistic popular concepts of beauty, which becomes "
Unpretty". During recording, Chilli breaks up with Dallas, citing incompatibility. In October 1999, Lisa challenges Tionne and Chilli over who is the group's most successful solo member. Following a confrontation before a scheduled appearance on
TRL, Bill urges her to resolve her in-group issues before the trio
tour to support
FanMail, or they will become bankrupt again. In February 2000, Lisa opts to travel to Honduras for spiritual healing and begin work on her debut solo album
Supernova. Later, Tionne gives birth to her daughter Chase, despite potential risks. After Lisa breaks down at the
2000 Grammys due to poor international sales and reception of
Supernova, Tionne and Chilli comfortingly urge her to return to Honduras for more spiritual healing before working on their next album. By early 2002, the group is recording their fourth album
3D, with Tionne and Chilli adjusting to motherhood and Lisa contributing raps to several songs before heading to Honduras. On April 25, a devastated Tionne and Chilli learn that Lisa has perished in a car accident in
La Ceiba, Honduras, while filming
her documentary. The duo vow to stay together despite the tragedy, and 10 years later, they reunite in the studio to record
their next album. == Cast ==