Tionne Watkins
Watkins performing in 2016
Born	Tionne Tenese Watkins (1970-04-26)April 26, 1970 (age 55) Des Moines, Iowa, U.S.
Other names	T-Boz, Tionne Rolison
Occupations	Singer songwriter actress
Spouse	Mack 10 ​ ​ (m. 2000; div. 2004)​
Musical career
Origin	Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Genres	R&B pop hip hop soul
Years active	1990–present[1]
Labels	Epic
Member of	TLC
Musical artist

Tionne Tenese Watkins (born April 26, 1970),^[2] also known by her stage nameT-Boz, is an American singer, author and actress. Watkins rose to fame in the early 1990s as a member of thebest selling girl groupTLC. She has won fourGrammy Awards and reachedBillboard Hot 100 chart four times.^[3]

Tionne Watkins was born inDes Moines, Iowa, on April 26, 1970, to James and Gayle Watkins. She has written that she is of African American, Native American and Irish descent.^[4][5] Her parents divorced when she was three years old.^[6] Watkins' mother moved her from Des Moines toAtlanta, when she was nine years old, after living inCalifornia andHouston for a short time.^[6] As a teen, she worked as an apprentice in an Atlanta hair salon, participating in hair shows and competition. She won her first competition at the age of 14.^[3] Watkins also attendedCosmetology school and worked at a localMcDonald's before becoming a music artist.^[7]

Crystal Jones held auditions for a singing group and chose Watkins, andLisa Lopes. The group eventually attracted the attention ofPerri "Pebbles" Reid and her husband,Antonio "L.A." Reid, head ofLaFace Records. Jones was replaced withRozonda Thomas and the group was signed in 1991 as TLC. In order to preserve the TLC name, Watkins is now named "T-Boz", while Lopes became "Left Eye" and Thomas became "Chilli". The successful group sold more than 65 million records.^[8] T-Boz has won fourGrammy Awards as a member of TLC.^[9] Since Lopes' death in 2002, T-Boz and Chilli have performed as a duo.

In late 2011,VH1 announced plans to produce a biopic on the group.^[10] Watkins and Thomas signed on as producers. The film,CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story, premiered October 21, 2013. The role of Watkins was portrayed by actress/singerDrew Sidora. Watkins' daughter, Chase, portrayed a younger Tionne in the film.

In addition to her work with TLC, Watkins has recorded solo singles like "Touch Myself" (for the soundtrack of the 1996 filmFled) and "My Getaway" (for the soundtrack of the 2000 filmRugrats in Paris: The Movie). Additionally, she has been a featured vocalist on songs such as "Ghetto Love" withDa Brat, "Changes" withSociety of Soul, "He Say She Say" withKeith Sweat, "Different Times" withRaphael Saadiq and "Be Somebody" withPaula Cole. She also featured on the song "It's Good" byYoungBloodZ.^[11] On January 22, 2013, Watkins released her first solo single in over 15 years titled "Champion".^[12] The song was released digitally, and proceeds went to help raise awareness for people suffering from blood conditions such as sickle cell and leukemia.^[13] On September 6, 2017, Watkins digitally released her latest single titled "Dreams" from her audiobook "A Sick Life".^[14]

Watkins has worked as an actress, appearing inHype Williams' 1998 filmBelly.^[15] She also appeared in two episodes ofLiving Single, the first time guest-starring along with her bandmates and another time without them. Watkins served as one of the executive producers for the 2006 movieATL featuring the rapperT.I.^[16] She also appeared onThe Real Housewives of Atlanta as a friend ofKandi Burruss.^[17] Watkins made a guest appearance asPam Grier in one episode of theAdult Swim seriesBlack Dynamite. In 2009, Watkins was a participant in the eighth season ofThe Apprentice, finishing in 11th place.^[18] Watkins' reality TV show,Totally T-Boz, premiered January 1, 2013, on theTLC network, and ran four episodes.^[8] The show chronicled Watkins' quest to create a solo album, reunite with bandmember, Chilli, and her life with her daughter Chase.

In 2016, Watkins and Chili joined actressZoe Saldaña onstage for her second round performance of "No Scrubs" onSpike'sLip Sync Battle against actorZachary Quinto.^[19] In November 2016, she began a two-month acting stint as Sheila, a hardened prison inmate, onDays of Our Lives.^[20] Watkins would later return to Days of Our Lives as a recurring character, playing the zany ex-con Sheila, in both 2017 and 2018. In 2017, she lent her voice to a character inTrolland, also known asTrollz, a direct-to-DVD CGI-animated movie.

Watkins published a book of semi-autobiographical poetry calledThoughts on November 3, 1999.^[21] In 2005, Watkins and stylist Tara Brivic (who would later appear regularly onTotally T-Boz) opened a children's boutique called Chase's Closet (named after her daughter).^[22][23] It was shut down years later.^[24] TLC also released a soundtrack album20 marking both the band's 20-plus year legacy in entertainment business and the release of their biopic, this album included a new track written by singerNe-Yo, "Meant to Be". They also had guest vocals onJ. Cole's track "Crooked Smile".^[25] TLC celebrated their return with a series of highly publicized performances which included 2 dates: VH1's Mixtape Festival in Hershey, Pennsylvania, on July 27, 2013, and Drake's OVO Fest in Toronto on August 5, 2013. They released an album,TLC, on June 30, 2017.^[26]

As a child, Watkins was diagnosed withsickle cell anemia.^[27] Since the age of seven, she has been in and out of the hospital due to the painful condition.^[27] T-Boz opened up to the public about the disease in 1996;^[28] she later became one of the spokespersons forSickle Cell Disease Association of America.^[29][30] In 2002, she was hospitalized for four months due to a flare-up of sickle-cell anemia.^[31] She is a national co-chair of the progressive organization Health Care Voter.^[32]

On August 19, 2000, Watkins married rapperMack 10 inCalifornia.^[33] The couple's daughter, Chase, was bornprematurely in 2000.^[6] In June 2004, she filed fordivorce, and requested arestraining order against the rapper.^[34] In 2012, Watkins moved with Chase from Atlanta toLos Angeles, California, in order for Chase to be closer to her father.

In October 2009, Watkins said that she had had a potentially fatalbrain tumor for three years.^[35][36] In March 2006, she was diagnosed as having a grape-sizedacoustic neuroma on hervestibular nerve that affected her balance, weight, hearing, sight, and facial movement. Many physicians refused to remove the tumor due to her sickle-cell-related complications. Ultimately, she underwent surgery atCedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles.^[37]

Watkins filed for bankruptcy in February 2011 and again in October 2011.^[38] In an episode of theReelz TV seriesBroke & Famous, entertainment reporter Viviana Vigil stated Watkins spent $9,000 a month and owed $770,000 on her home with a reported monthly income of $11,000, while another reporterNina Parker cited Watkins's medical bills and brain tumor.^[38]

In June 2016, Watkins announced that sheadopted a 10-month-old boy.^[39]

• Watkins, Tionne (1999).Thoughts. HarperEntertainment.ISBN 978-0-06-105183-8.
• Watkins, Tionne (2017).A Sick Life: TLC 'n Me: Stories from On and Off the Stage. Rodale Books.ISBN 978-1-62336-860-9.

• Official website
• T-Boz atIMDb

• 1970 births
• African-American Christians
• American contraltos
• African-American women singer-songwriters
• American women singer-songwriters
• American people of Irish descent
• American contemporary R&B singers
• Arista Records artists
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• Living people
• Motown artists
• Musicians from Des Moines, Iowa
• Participants in American reality television series
• Singers from Atlanta
• Writers from Des Moines, Iowa
• People with sickle-cell disease
• TLC (group) members
• Actresses from Des Moines, Iowa
• 21st-century African-American women singers
• 21st-century American women singers
• 20th-century American actresses
• Actresses from Iowa
• 20th-century African-American women singers
• 20th-century American women singers
• 20th-century American singers
• Singer-songwriters from Iowa

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