The Reason Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes Thought An Evil Spirit Was Stalking Her

In 2002, R&B superstar Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes had to get away from a hectic lifestyle while at the height of her career. She had found fame as one third of the most successful female group in the history of the genre, TLC, and her life was broiling in controversy. So she flew down to Honduras to get away from it all and recuperate with a vegetarian diet and a spiritual regimen of numerology, astrology, and superstition.

When a van in which she was a passenger accidentally struck and killed a Honduran boy who shared her last name, Lopes saw a connection. According to Dazed, she took the event as a sign that an evil spirit was following her. She said that it had meant to kill her that night, but took the young boy's life instead.

Now, on one hand, Lopez is the second most common last name in Honduras, according to genealogy website Forbears. The chances that it was a coincidence were pretty high. On the other hand, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes died soon after in a car crash while heading off into the jungle to get more footage for what would be the documentary of the last weeks of her life. Was there something to her suspicion? 

In hindsight, one could argue that Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes had reason to believe that an evil spirit was stalking her. While in Honduras, she visited a healer named Dr. Sebi, who counseled her to stop eating meat and to dive into esoteric pseudosciences. According to The New York Times, Dr. Sebi was a bit of "a quack who claims to have cured AIDS with 'electric foods,'" whatever those are. Crackpot theories aside, the paper notes that "Ms. Lopes does look exceptionally muscular, bright-eyed and beautiful" in the footage she shot of her last days on earth. "She's more lovely than ever."

So maybe there was something to the teachings of Dr. Sebi, despite his theories having been debunked by mainstream practitioners. Maybe Left Eye saw something in the stars, divined some message in the numbers, that caused her to predict her own death. But despite the extensive footage she shot in the days leading up to her death, we'll never truly know if Left Eye's death was due to an evil spirit stalker or simply another one of life's cynical coincidences. Of course, it could have just been statistics. As anyone who has had the experience will tell you, a car trip on a Honduran highway generally includes a near-death experience or two.