Tionne Watkins facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Tionne Watkins
Watkins performing in 2016
Background information
Birth name	Tionne Tenese Watkins
Also known as	T-Boz, Tionne Rolison
Born	(1970-04-26) April 26, 1970 (age 55) Des Moines, Iowa, U.S.
Origin	Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Genres	R&B pop hip hop soul
Occupation(s)	Singer songwriter actress
Years active	1990–present
Labels	Epic

Tionne Tenese Watkins (born April 26, 1970), known as T-Boz, is a famous American singer. She became well-known in the early 1990s as a member of the popular girl group TLC. T-Boz has won four Grammy Awards for her amazing music with TLC.

Early Life

Tionne Watkins was born in Des Moines, Iowa, on April 26, 1970. Her parents are James and Gayle Watkins. She has shared that she has African American, Native American, and Irish roots. When Tionne was nine years old, her family moved from Des Moines to Atlanta, Georgia.

Music Career

TLC Group Success

Tionne Watkins joined a singing group after auditions held by Crystal Jones. Lisa Lopes also joined the group. Later, the group caught the eye of Perri "Pebbles" Reid and her husband, Antonio "L.A." Reid, who led LaFace Records. Crystal Jones was replaced by Rozonda Thomas, and the group officially signed in 1991 as TLC.

To keep the name TLC, each member got a special nickname. Tionne became "T-Boz," Lisa became "Left Eye," and Rozonda became "Chilli." This successful group sold more than 65 million records worldwide. As a member of TLC, T-Boz has won four Grammy Awards. After Lisa Lopes passed away in 2002, T-Boz and Chilli continued to perform as a duo.

In 2011, VH1 announced plans to make a movie about the group's story. T-Boz and Chilli helped produce this film. The movie, CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story, first aired on October 21, 2013. Actress and singer Drew Sidora played Tionne in the film. Tionne's own daughter, Chase, played a younger Tionne in the movie.

T-Boz Solo Music

Besides her work with TLC, T-Boz has released her own songs. These include "Touch Myself" for the 1996 movie Fled. She also sang "My Getaway" for the 2000 film Rugrats in Paris: The Movie.

T-Boz has also been a featured singer on other artists' songs. She sang on "Ghetto Love" with Da Brat and "Changes" with Society of Soul. Other collaborations include "He Say She Say" with Keith Sweat and "Different Times" with Raphael Saadiq. She also sang on "Be Somebody" with Paula Cole and "It's Good" by YoungBloodZ.

On January 22, 2013, T-Boz released her first solo song in over 15 years, called "Champion." This song was available digitally, and money from its sales helped raise awareness for blood conditions. These conditions include sickle cell and leukemia. On September 6, 2017, she released her latest song, "Dreams." This song was from her audiobook called "A Sick Life."

Acting and Television

Tionne Watkins has also worked as an actress. She appeared in Hype Williams' 1998 movie Belly. She also had roles in two episodes of the TV show Living Single. One time she appeared with her bandmates, and another time she was on her own.

T-Boz was one of the executive producers for the 2006 movie ATL, which starred rapper T.I.. She also appeared on The Real Housewives of Atlanta as a friend of Kandi Burruss. Tionne made a guest appearance as Pam Grier in an episode of the Adult Swim series Black Dynamite.

In 2009, T-Boz was a contestant on the eighth season of The Apprentice. Her own reality TV show, Totally T-Boz, started on January 1, 2013, on the TLC network. The show followed T-Boz as she worked on a solo album, reunited with Chilli, and lived her life with her daughter, Chase.

In 2016, T-Boz and Chilli joined actress Zoe Saldana on stage. This was for Zoe's performance of "No Scrubs" on Spike's Lip Sync Battle. In November 2016, T-Boz began acting as Sheila, a tough prison inmate, on Days of Our Lives. She returned to Days of Our Lives as Sheila in 2017 and 2018. In 2017, she lent her voice to a character in the animated movie Trolland, also known as Trollz.

Filmography

Film Roles

Television Roles

Other Projects

Tionne Watkins published a book of poetry called Thoughts on November 3, 1999. In 2005, T-Boz and stylist Tara Brivic opened a children's clothing store. It was called Chase's Closet, named after Tionne's daughter. The store later closed.

TLC also released a soundtrack album called 20. This album celebrated the band's more than 20 years in music. It also came out with their movie. The album included a new song called "Meant to Be," written by singer Ne-Yo. TLC also sang on J. Cole's song "Crooked Smile."

TLC celebrated their return with several performances. These included the VH1's Mixtape Festival in Pennsylvania in July 2013. They also performed at Drake's OVO Fest in Toronto in August 2013. The group released a new album, TLC, on June 30, 2017.

Personal Life

As a child, Tionne Watkins was diagnosed with sickle cell anemia. This is a painful blood condition. Since she was seven years old, she has had to go to the hospital many times because of it. T-Boz shared publicly about her disease in 1996. She later became a spokesperson for the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America. In 2002, she was in the hospital for four months due to a sickle cell flare-up. She is also a national co-chair for Health Care Voter, an organization that supports healthcare.

On August 19, 2000, Tionne married rapper Mack 10 in California. Their daughter, Chase Anela Rolison, was born early on October 20, 2000. In 2012, Tionne moved with Chase from Atlanta to Los Angeles, California. This move helped Chase be closer to her father.

In October 2009, Tionne shared that she had faced a serious health challenge. She had a small growth on a nerve in her brain. Doctors were careful about removing it because of her sickle cell condition. She eventually had surgery at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles.

In June 2016, Tionne Watkins announced that she had adopted a 10-month-old boy named Chance.

See also

In Spanish: Tionne Watkins para niños