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.

Biographie

Initially withholding details of her ailment from others, Watkins went public with the her struggle with sickle cell anemia 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.

On August 19, 2000, Watkins married rapper Mack 10. The couple's daughter, Chase Anela Rolison, was prematurely born a few months later on October 20, 2000. In June 2004, she filed for divorce and requested a restraining order against Mack 10.

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.

It has been revealed by Watkins that one of her uncles married the mother of Lisa Lopes, this making her and Lopes cousins.