Tens of thousands of fans gathered in Atlanta on Thursday to pay their last respects to TLC star Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, killed last week in a car crash while on holiday in Honduras. Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, Alicia Keys and Sean “P Diddy” Combs were among the 10,000 mourners who packed New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, as another 20,000 were forced to wait outside.
Throngs of grieving fans had begun to gather at least five hours before the noontime public funeral. Inside the mammoth church, where TLC songs and gospel music played as the crowds entered, the sermon was broadcast on two giant video screens.
“It would be a mockery of her life if we didn’t celebrate,” Bishop Eddie Long told the congregation, which also included members of Lisa’s family and her band mates Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas and Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins. “And so we come to celebrate with this family.”
Gospel duo Mary Mary performed in tribute to the 31-year-old singer, and friends and family rose to the podium to give heartfelt eulogies. Lisa’s brother Ronald, who was at her side when she passed away, said, “I just kept hearing Lisa in my head: ‘Energy doesn’t die, it just transforms’.” Another family member recalled the star as a “lionhearted little lamb” who was “at once worldly and streetwise but sweet and loving.”
A verse from TLC’s hit song Waterfalls was inscribed on Lisa’s casket: “Dreams are hopeless aspirations in hopes of coming true/believe in yourself/the rest is up to me and you”.
Lisa’s on-off boyfriend, American football star Andre Rison, attended a private memorial for the artist on Wednesday night in nearby Decatur. “She was my heart,” he said as he left the service. “We’re going to let her fly with wings like angels do. She’s truly and definitely an angel.”
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
