Tionne Watkins
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| T-Boz | ||
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| Background information | ||
| Birth name | Tionne Tenese Watkins | |
| Born | April 26, 1970 Des Moines, Iowa | |
| Origin | Atlanta, Georgia , United States | |
| Genre(s) | R&B, hip hop, Pop | |
| Years active | 1992— present(TLC) 2005- present (Solo) |
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| Label(s) | Arista Records and LaFace | |
| Website | — | |
Tionne Tenese "T-Boz" Watkins (born April 26, 1970 in Des Moines, Iowa) is an American R&B singer and lead singer of the group TLC. Vocally, she is most known for her throaty, seductive voice; in fact, her baritonal contralto is so low, it rivals that of fellow R&B chanteuse Toni Braxton. Tionne first showed her lower register in the hit single, Red Light Special ("you might as well be honest, cause the body never lies. She has also proven she can hit a higher note on TLC's 2nd single What about your friends on the intro "...what..." On a remake of Prince's "If I was Your Girlfriend" T-Boz used her falsetto for the first time. T-Boz has also worked as an actress, appearing in Hype Williams' 1998 film Belly. More recently, Ms. Watkins also serve as one of the executive producers for the movie "ATL" featuring the rapper, T.I. (2006)
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[edit] Career history
The Watkins family moved from Des Moines to Atlanta, Georgia, when Tionne Watkins was nine years old. After a career as a hair stylist, Watkins auditioned for Atlanta teenager Crystal Jones' music group 2nd Nature . Jones, Watkins, and Lisa "Left-Eye" Lopes 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, which would go on to become the most successful act in the history of the LaFace label.
In addition to her work in TLC, Watkins has done some solo recording, including the singles "Touch Myself" (1996) for the Fled soundtrack, and "My Getaway" (2000) from the Rugrats in Paris: The Movie soundtrack. T-boz has also collaborated with other artists over the years. This include singles such as "Ghetto Love" (1996) by the DaBrat, "He Say She Say" (2001) by Keith Sweat (wrote and produced by Andrew Lane), "Different Times" by Raphael Saadiq, and "Be Somebody" by Paula Cole. She is now recording a new solo album.
As an author, Ms. Watkins released the book "Thoughts" on November 1999. The book is collection of poems as well as essays discussing her life experiences.
T-Boz recently opened a children's boutique in Houston, Texas, called Chase's Closet (apparently named for her daughter). The boutique is located in the exclusive River Oaks area of Houston. She is set to launch her own clothing line for kids under the same name this coming November 2006. She also has plans to launch a candle line called Anela's Way.
In addition, she will be providing one of the voices in Andre Benjamin (a/k/a André 3000)'s new Cartoon Network series Class of 3000 in the fall of 2006. She recently did a video for the track "It's Good" with YoungBloodZ.
Tionne was also named one of the 50 most beautiful people of the world by People Magazine twice for the year 1994 and 2000.
[edit] Personal life
As a child, Tionne was diagnosed with sickle-cell disease; initially hiding details of her ailment form others, she went public with the disease in 1996 and is today one of the spokespeople for Sickle Cell Disease Association of America.
T-Boz dated Jodeci member Dalvin DeGrate during the 1990s. In August 2000, she married rapper Mack 10. The couple's daughter, Chase Rolison, was born that October 20, 2000. In 2004 T-Boz filed for divorce and a restraining order against Mack 10. She's now dating Takeo Spikes a linebacker of Buffalo Bills.
[edit] References
- ↑ nndb biography of Tionne Watkins Accessed Dec 6, 2006
- ↑ tv.com biography of Tionne Watkins Accessed Dec 6, 2006
- ↑ North Carolina divorce law July 2004 Accessed Dec 6, 2006People are now thinking they are going to get married.
- ↑ H Texas Online Accessed Dec 6, 2006
