• Tionne Tenese Watkins was born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1970
• She is a member of the music girl group TLC, which was active from 1990 to 2002 and reunited in 2016 and 2017
• She has appeared in close to 40 movies and TV series and released two books
• She is married to Dedrick D’Mon Rolison and has a daughter and an adopted son
• Tionne has an estimated net worth of $1.5 million, as of January 2023
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Who is Tionne Watkins?
American actress and singer Tionne Tenese Watkins was born in Des Moines, Iowa USA, on 26 April 1970, so her zodiac sign’s Taurus. She’s appeared in close to 40 movies and TV series, although most of these are her music videos; Tionne’s probably known best for having been a member of the music girl group TLC, which was active from 1990 through 2002, then reunited and performed together in 2016 and ‘17.
Education and early life
Tionne and her brother were raised in Des Moines by their father James Watkins and mother Gayle; Tionne can rarely be heard speaking about her family in public, because she respects their privacy. She was nine when they all moved to Atlanta, Georgia.
She became interested in both music and acting while attending a local high school in Atlanta, and joined her first band when she was 16; Tionne was a member of the school’s drama club, and often appeared in school plays.
She matriculated in 1988 and then began pursuing a music career, rather than enroll at college.
TLC
Crystal Jones and her record producer Ian Burke came up with an idea for a ‘tomboyish hip-hop image girl group’ in 1990, and found Tionne and Lisa Lopes to join Crystal; the group was initially named 2nd Nature, and renamed to TLC by the end of the year. Crystal was replaced by Rozonda Thomas in February 1991.
The girls’ first album “Ooooooohhh… On the TLC Tip” came out on 25 February 1992 and was a success, being certified platinum four times by the Recording Industry Association of American (RIAA); three singles charted on Billboard Hot 100, entitled “What About Your Friends”, “Baby-Baby-Baby” and “Ain’t 2 Proud 2 Beg”. Their Christmas single “Sleigh Ride” was featured in the 1992 comedy movie “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York”.
Their second album “CrazySexyCool” was released on 15 November 1994, reached #3 on Billboard 200, and was certified diamond by RIAA, selling over 14 million copies worldwide.
TLC filed for bankruptcy on 3 July 1995, but continued making music until 2002; their third album “FanMail” came out on 23 February 1999, and was certified platinum six times.
Lisa Lopes died in a car crash on 25 April 2002, and the girls’ fourth album “3D” was dedicated to her memory; it was released on 10 October 2002, and TLC then went on an indefinite hiatus.
A biographical television movie about TLC was released in 2013, entitled “CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story”.
The girls revealed on 19 January 2015 that they were planning to record their fifth and final studio album, and asked for $150,000 on Kickstarter; they reached their goal in only two days and eventually amassed $400,000, while some of the celebrities who donated were Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry and New Kids on the Block. The album, entitled “TLC” came out on 30 June 2017, and its lead single “Way Back” featured Snoop Dogg.
Most recently, in June 2022, the girls performed at the Glastonbury Festival in the UK.
Acting career
Tionne made her debut TV series appearance in the 1992 episode “Words Up!” of the adventure comedy “CBS Schoolbreak Special”, and her debut film appearance in the popular 1994 romantic musical comedy “House Party 3”, directed by Eric Meza, and which starred Christopher Reid, Christopher Martin and David Edwards. It follows Kid who’s about to marry, and his best friend Play who wants to throw him the best bachelor party.
Some of Tionne’s following roles were in the 1995 comedy series “Living Single”, the 1998 crime movie “Belly”. and the 2001 musical video “One World Music Beat”.
In 2014, she voiced Anti-Bionic Girl in the episode “Sweet Bill’s Badass Singalong Song or Bill Cosby Ain’t Himself” of the animated action adventure “Black Dynamite”, and the year 2016 heard her voice Jarvik in the animated family adventure “Trollz”.
From 2016 through 2020, Tionne played Sheila Watkins in 45 episodes of the soap opera “Days of Our Lives”, which has been running since 1965, numbering close to 15,000 episodes, and has won 244 of its 870 award nominations.
Most recently, in 2021 she played Cheryl in the drama “After Masks”, directed by Manaal Khan, John Crockett and Tayo Amos, and which starred Alexandra Rodriguez, Cindy Chavez and Joseph Alfieri. It follows a group of people as they’re surviving a pandemic, and the movie won six awards.
Love life and husband
Tionne and American rapper Dedrick D’Mon Rolison, perhaps known better as Mack 10 exchanged vows on 19 August 2000, in a lavish ceremony attended by many of their friends and family members. Tionne gave birth to their daughter Chase Anela Rolison on 20 October 2000.
She filed for divorce in June 2004, and was granted a restraining order against Dedrick; he still remained highly involved in Chase’s upbringing.
Tionne hasn’t spoken about other men whom she’s been with, but it’s known that she adopted a 10 month old boy Chance in June 2016.
She seems to be unattached as of January 2023, was once married to Dedrick D’Mon Rolison, and they have a daughter together; Tionne also has an adoptive son, who is today seven years old.
Health and interesting facts
Tionne was born with the rare inherited blood disorder sickle cell anemia, and has because of it been in and out of hospital since the age of seven. She joined the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America as their spokeswoman in 1997, and in 2002, Tionne spent four months at the hospital because of the disorder. She’s today also a board member of the organization Health Care Voter.
In 2009, she revealed that she had been diagnosed with brain tumor, and that she had already been fighting it for three years; it took her a lot of time to find a surgeon willing to try and remove the tumor – many didn’t want to do it due to her sickle cell anemia. The surgery eventually took place at Cedars-Sinai Hospital.
She filed for bankruptcy twice in 2011.
Tionne’s published two books: “Thoughts” in 1999 and “A Sick Life: TLC ‘n Me: Stories from On and Off the Stage” in 2017.
The actress whom she enjoys watching the most is Rosario Dawson, and some of her favorite movies are “Seven Pounds”, “Descent” and “A Little Piece of Light”.
Height, eyes and wealth
Tionne’s age is 52. She has brown eyes and hair, is 5ft 2ins (1.57m) tall and weighs about 140lbs (64kgs).
Tionne’s net worth’s been estimated at over $1.5 million, as of January 2023.