American singer, songwriter, model, dancer, actress, author, and executive producer, known as T-Boz. 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 five Grammy Awards for her work with TLC. T-Boz currently hosts iCraft Radio on Dash Radio.
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 2012, Watkins moved with Chase from Atlanta to Los Angeles, California in order for Chase to be closer to her father.
Initially withholding details of her ailment from others, Watkins went public with her struggle with sickle cell anemia in 1996 and later became one of the spokespersons 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 have helped her stay free from the more serious effects of sickle-cell disease. 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-sized acoustic neuroma on her vestibular nerve that 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. In 2014, Tionne had her spleen removed after it became painfully enlarged (spleenectomy).
On September 26, 2015, TMZ leaked a legal deposition on Watkins stating that she was adopting a second child. In June 2016, she announced at a Crescent Moon Gala in Florida, that she had adopted a 10-month old son named Chance.
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