Tionne Watkins (Courtesy Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Tionne Tenese Watkins (born April 26, 1970), better known by her stage name T-Boz, is a singer-songwriter, dancer, actress, author, and executive producer who rose to fame as one-third of the R&B/hip-hop girl group TLC.

Early life

Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins was born in Des Moines, Iowa to James & Gayle Watkins. She is of African American and Native American descent. As a child, Watkins was diagnosed with sickle-cell anemia. Since the age of seven, Watkins has been in and out of hospitals due to her condition. Watkins' family moved from Des Moines to Atlanta, Georgia, when she was nine years old. Because of her disease, Watkins was not expected to have children or live past her 30s, but she has a daughter and is living today at the age of .

Career history

TLC

An Atlanta local named Crystal Jones held auditions for a singing group and chose Watkins, and Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes and eventually attracted the attention of Perri "Pebbles" Reid and her husband, LaFace Records chief Antonio "L.A." Reid. L.A. Reid replaced Jones with Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas and the group was signed in 1991 as TLC. They went on to become one of the most successful girl groups in history with over 65 million records sold worldwide. T-Boz has won four Grammy Awards for her work with TLC.

In late 2011, VH1 announced plans to produce a biopic on TLC to air in 2013. Watkins and Thomas have signed on as producers.

Television and film

In addition to her work with TLC, Watkins recorded solo singles, including: "Touch Myself" (For the soundtrack of the 1996 film Fled) and "My Getaway" (for the soundtrack to the 2000 film Rugrats in Paris: The Movie.) In addition, she has been a featured vocalist on such songs as: "Ghetto Love" with Da Brat, "Changes" with Society of Soul, "He Say She Say" with Keith Sweat, "Different Times" with Raphael Saadiq and "Be Somebody" with Paula Cole. Watkins has appeared on a song by her TLC bandmate Rozonda Thomas, entitled "Gameproof".

Watkins has worked as an actress, appearing in Hype Williams' 1998 film Belly. Along with her TLC bandmates, she also appeared in an episode of Living Single. Watkins also served as one of the executive producers for the 2006 movie ATL featuring the rapper, T.I.. She was also featured in the music video for "It's Good" with YoungBloodZ, and appeared on The Real Housewives of Atlanta as a friend of Kandi Burruss. T-Boz was a contestant in The Celebrity Apprentice, where she was fired for volunteering to come back into the boardroom. After referencing a previous contestant who was fired from the show for the same action, Donald Trump told her, "Never volunteer for an execution."

Other work

Watkins published a book of semi-autobiographical poetry called Thoughts on November 3, 1999. In 2005, Watkins and stylist Tara Brivic Rowntree opened a children's boutique called Chase's Closet (named after her daughter).

Personal life

Initially withholding details of her ailment from others, Watkins went public with the disease in 1996 and later became one of the spokespeople for Sickle Cell Disease Association of America. In 2002, she was hospitalized for four months due to a flare-up of sickle-cell anemia. She has stated that her faith in God and her optimism has helped her stay free from the more serious effects of sickle cell disease.

In August 2000, Watkins married rapper Mack 10. The couple's daughter, Chase Anela Rolison, was born on October 20, 2000. In June 2004, she filed for divorce and requested a restraining order against Mack 10. Following the split, Watkins entered a three year relationship with Takeo Spikes of the San Diego Chargers.

In October 2009, Watkins revealed on CBS' The Early Show and in People magazine that she had secretly battled a potentially fatal brain tumor for three years. In March 2006, she was diagnosed as having a strawberry-size acoustic neuroma on her vestibular nerve, which affected her balance, hearing, sight, and facial movement. Many physicians refused to remove the tumor due to her sickle-cell-related complications, leaving her alternatives grim; ultimately she underwent surgery at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles.

Recently in an interview, it has been revealed that one of her uncles married the mother of Lisa Lopes, thus making her and Lopes cousins. In another interview on Madame Noire's Rumor Control she revealed that this happened before Left Eye passed away as she told her "Le Le your my cousin now."

2012 - present

On October 1, 2012, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that Watkins will have her own reality TV show Totally T-Boz on the TLC network. The show is aired on January 1, 2013.

Publication

Solo singles

Year	Title	Chart positions				Album
		US Hot 100	US R&B/Hip-Hop	UK Singles Chart	NZ
1996	"Touch Myself"	40	23	36	33	Fled soundtrack
2000	"My Getaway"	-	14	44	-	Rugrats in Paris: The Movie Soundtrack

Featured singles

Year	Title	Chart Positions			Album
		US Hot 100	US R&B/Hip-Hop	UK Singles Chart
1991	"Word to the Badd!!" (Jermaine Jackson featuring T-Boz)	78	88	-	You Said
1996	"Touch Myself" (Remix) (T-Boz featuring Richie Rich)	-	-	-	Seasoned Veteran
	"Ghetto Love" (Da Brat featuring T-Boz)	18	16	-	Anuthatantrum
1999	"Be Somebody" (Paula Cole featuring T-Boz)	-	-	-	Amen
2000	"Tight To Def" (Mack 10 with T-Boz)	-	-	-	The Paper Route
2002	"Different Times" (Raphael Saadiq feat. T-Boz of TLC)	-	-	-	Instant Vintage
2005	"It's Good" (YoungBloodZ featuring T-Boz)	-	-	-	Ev'rybody Know Me
2009	"Someday" (DJ Deckstream with T-Boz)	-	-	7	Sound Tracks 2
2012	"Red Planet" (Little Mix featuring T-Boz)	-	-	-	DNA (Little Mix album)

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