TLC Won't Replace Lisa Lopes

ATLANTA (Top40 Charts) - TLC won't replace Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, who died last week in a car crash in Honduras.

Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the Grammy-winning R&B trio will release its fourth album and plans to continue performing, but she and Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins won't add a new member.

"As for Lisa being replaced - never," Thomas said. "You can't replace a TLC girl. The chemistry we have is something God gave us. You can't put that together."

A private visiting for family and friends is set for Wednesday night in Atlanta, TLC manager Bill Diggins said. A funeral is planned for Thursday morning in the Atlanta suburb of Lithonia.

Lopes, who would have turned 31 in May, died Thursday when the sport utility vehicle she was driving rolled over near Jutiapa, about 150 miles north of the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa. Seven other people, including her sister and brother, were taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.

TLC, the top-selling female group of all time, began working on its latest album last summer. Lopes wasn't scheduled to be featured on each song, so her death shouldn't affect the album's release, Thomas said. "The last couple of albums, Lisa was only on like three songs, and she's on a few songs on this one," Thomas said. "So music-wise, it's the same."

Lopes named each of the albums, including its 1994 smash "CrazySexyCool." She'd named the newest album, but the title hasn't been released. "I don't know if I'm supposed to give away what her thoughts were, but she had definite ideas for what the album should be titled and the way the music should sound," producer Jimmy Jam said.