Tionne Watkins

Tionne Tenese Watkins (born April 26, 1970), better known by her stage name T-Boz, is an American singer, songwriter, model, dancer, actress, author, and executive producer. Born in Des Moines, Iowa, Watkins rose to fame in the early 1990s as the lead singer of the R&B/hip hop girl-group TLC. She has won four Grammy Awards for her work with TLC.

T-Boz currently hosts iCraft Radio on Dash Radio.

Early life

Tionne Watkins was born in Des Moines, Iowa, on April 26, 1970, to James and Gayle Watkins. She is of African American, Native American and Irish descent. As a child, Watkins was diagnosed with sickle-cell anemia. Since the age of seven, she has been in and out of hospital due to her condition. Watkins's family moved from Des Moines to Atlanta, Georgia, when she was nine years old. Because of her disease, she was not expected to have children or live past her 30s, but has lived 15 years past her life expectancy and has a 15-year-old daughter.

Career

TLC

Crystal Jones held auditions for a singing group and chose Watkins, and Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes. The group eventually attracted the attention of Perri "Pebbles" Reid and her husband, Antonio "L.A." Reid, head of LaFace Records. Jones was replaced 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 is the official lead singer of TLC, leading them with a signature contralto. T-Boz has won five Grammy Awards for her work with TLC.