💰Tionne T-Boz Watkins Net worth: $1.5 Million
During her time with TLC, she won four Grammy Awards.
Early Life: Tionne Tenese Watkins was born on April 26th of 1970 in Des Moines, Iowa. Tionne had a tough childhood due to an early sickle cell anemia diagnosis. As a result, she was in and out of hospital. Her parents were professional performers, and she envisioned herself following in their footsteps one day. They divorced when Tionne was three years old. At the age of nine, she moved with her family to Atlanta, Georgia.
Career: After linking up with Perri Reid through a mutual friend, Tionne was invited to audition for the group that would become TLC. Perri's husband Antionio was the head of LAFace Records, the company that would eventually represent the group. Watkins was chosen alongside Crystal Jones and Lisa "Left Eye" Lopez. Eventually, Jones was replaced by Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas," and the group emerged in 1991 as TLC. They were one of the most successful music groups of their generation, selling over 65 million records and becoming a pop culture symbol of the 90s.
During her time with TLC, Watkins was already establishing herself as a solo artist. She started by contributing a number of songs to film soundtracks. Her single "Touch Myself" appeared on the 1996 film "Fled," and her track "My Getaway" was featured on the soundtrack for the 2000 film "Rugrats in Paris: The Movie."
She also collaborated with artists such as Da Brat, Society of Soul, Keith Sweat, Raphael Saadiq, and Paula Cole on tracks like "Ghetto Love," "Changes," "He Say She Say," "Different Times," and "Be Somebody." After a long hiatus, she also released a single called "Champion" in 2013, with proceeds going towards sickle cell research. In 2017, she released the single "Dreams."
Television and Film: In addition to her music career, Tionne Watkins has also become a successful actress. Her first film role was in the movie "Belly" in 1998. She then appeared in a number of episodes for the show "Living Single" and made a guest appearance in the show "The Real Housewives of Atlanta." In 2016, he landed a recurring role as a prison inmate on the show "Days of Our Lives." She then returned to the show in 2017 and 2018 as a completely different character.
In 2017, she established herself as a voice actor with a role in the animated film "Trollz." She also worked as a voice actor on the animated show "Black Dynamite." In addition, she was given her own reality show called "Totally T-Boz," although it only ran for four episodes. In 2016, she appeared in an episode of "Lip Sync Battle." Tionne is also an executive producer who has worked on movies like 2006's "ATL."
Over the next period, the group released a number of successful albums, selling over 65 million records. Tionne often performed as the lead singer of the group, and she helped TLC win four Grammys during its heyday.
Relationships: In 2000, Watkins married rapper Mack 10. They had one child together shortly after their marriage. Four years later, Tionne filed for divorce and a restraining order against Mack 10. However, the couple later became amicable to the point where Watkins moved from Atlanta to Los Angeles so that her child could be closer to the father. In 2016, she adopted a child called Chance.
Health Issues: Tionne Watkins has struggled with a number of health issues over the course of her life. She has been repeatedly hospitalized for sickle cell anemia since the age of seven. She didn't reveal her affliction until 1996. Since then, she has struggled with multiple flareups of the disease.
In 2009, Watkins publicly revealed that she had been dealing with a brain tumor for the past three years. She also revealed that the growth was threatening her life and that it was a benign, grape-sized acoustic neuroma. The growth was interfering with her balance, hearing, sight, and facial muscles while causing other issues. To make the matter even worse, her sickle cell anemia made it difficult to operate on. However, a surgeon in Los Angeles eventually agreed to perform a procedure that removed the growth.
(Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)
TLC Bankruptcy: In 1995, the world looked on in bewilderment as TLC, one of the highest-grossing music groups of that era, filed for bankruptcy. That year, Watkins and her fellow TLC members declared debts of approximately $3.5 million and filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. At first, this made absolutely no sense – especially given the fact that TLC had a long history of releasing platinum albums with millions of record sales. They also released the album "CrazySexyCool" immediately before filing for bankruptcy, and that album sold 14 million copies worldwide and prompted an incredibly profitable tour around the globe.
When the members of TLC were pressed for details, they revealed that their contract with their producers and managers was incredibly unfair. Not only did their management team leave each member with annual earnings of just $50,000, but they also began charging the women for their flights, hotels, clothing, and even their food expenses while on tour. The more they toured, the more they were forced to pay out of their own pocket.
Even the album sales were quickly snapped up by the management and production companies. When all was said and done, the three members of TLC were splitting just 56 cents for each album sold. The studio execs and management employees took the rest. When you take all of this into account, TLC's bankruptcy declaration is hardly surprising.
Personal Bankruptcy: 16 years after filing for bankruptcy with other members of TLC, Watkins filed for personal bankruptcy in 2011. Court documents revealed that the singer was in almost $1 million worth of debt and that she was earning about $12,000 per month with $1,200 coming from royalties. She also claimed that her monthly expenses amounted to $9,000 per month and that she was paying off a $768,000 mortgage on a $1.2 million property.
When asked about the financial lessons she learned from this experience, Rozonda would later tell The Guardian newspaper the following:
"I have learned the hard way: sign your own checks, make sure your taxes are in shape and whatever your company is, it's always good to get it audited. If you don't have anything to hide, it's not a worry."
In the same interview Watkins relayed:
"It's not personal. It's business. Everyone in this industry has an agenda. Accountants, lawyers, people you think you know will keep running up the bill. You have to watch your back on every corner."
