Pride Source
TLC’s T-Boz and Chilli Talk ‘Crunk’ Queer Fans, Being Lesbian-Chased, Gay Sex Lessons and the LGBT Legacy of ‘Waterfalls‘
‘We Were Standing Up For Anybody That Felt Like They Didn’t Fit In.’
BY CHRIS AZZOPARDI
Originally printed 7/11/2017
What do you remember of the LGBT community‘s response to “Waterfalls” when it first came out?
T-Boz: We did a campaign for Pfizer, and there was a new cocktail out. We did seminars and it was really cool because we let it be known that there was a new drug from this company and it could help HIV/AIDS patients. They would come up to us; they felt like we were their voice. It was such an epidemic at the time, so they just felt like we were speaking for them.
Chilli: It was basically about bringing more awareness (to it) because nobody really talked about it. It was kind of just hush-hush, even though these things were happening. It was like, “People are getting sick, they’re dying and nobody is really talking about it much.”
T-Boz: People even said they thought about committing suicide and it helped save their lives. We started really seeing the seriousness of it, especially when we did charity events. We got a lot of calls for charity events for AIDS benefits, so it started making a really big difference. We basically got one of our wishes through that song, because we always wanted to help change and save lives.
Gay icon Bette Midler covered “Waterfalls” recently, in 2014 – what was it like hearing her rendition?
Chilli: That was an honor. It was an honor because she is legend, oh my god. That’s legendary right there! And not only that, but she contributed to our Kickstarter campaign. We were shocked. We couldn’t believe, like, ‘Bette Midler?!’
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