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Rozonda Thomas

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Rozonda Thomas
Thomas in 2019
Thomas in 2019
Background information
Birth nameRozonda Ocielian Thomas
Also known asChilli
Born (1971-02-27) February 27, 1971 (age 53)
Columbus, Georgia, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer
  • actress
  • television personality
Years active1991–present
Labels
Member ofTLC

Rozonda Ocielian Thomas (born February 27, 1971), also known by her stage name Chilli, is an American singer, dancer and actress who is a member of the group TLC, one of the best-selling girl groups of the late 1990s.

Early life

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Thomas was born in Columbus, Georgia and graduated from Benjamin Elijah Mays High School in 1989.[2] Her father, Abdul Ali, is of Bangladeshi and Arab descent, while her mother, Ava Thomas, is African American and Native American.[3][4][5]

Thomas, who had been raised by her mother, later allowed the Sally Jessy Raphael television talk show to air footage of her meeting her father for the first time in 1996, when she was 25.[3][6] When she was a child, her great-grandmother, whom she called Big Mama, took her to the Seventh-day Adventist Church.[7]

Music career

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1991–present: TLC

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Main article: TLC (group)

Thomas was first a dancer for Damian Dame. In 1991, she joined TLC, replacing founding member Crystal Jones, and was nicknamed "Chilli" by Lisa Lopes so that the group could retain the name TLC. The group went on to sell over 65 million records worldwide and became the best-selling American girl group of all-time; only the Spice Girls had sold more.[8] Chilli has won four Grammy Awards for her work with TLC.[9]

In the spring of 1995, Thomas appeared and participated in the track "Freedom (Theme from Panther)" first appeared on the soundtrack to Melvin Van Peebles' movie Panther as TLC, along with SWV, Xscape, En Vogue, Jade, Brownstone and others.

Since the death of group member Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes in April 2002, Thomas and Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins have occasionally performed as a duo. In 2009, Thomas and Watkins performed a series of concerts in Asia.[10]

In late 2011, VH1 announced plans to produce a biopic on TLC to air in 2013.[11] Thomas and Watkins signed on as producers. Actress and singer Keke Palmer portrayed Thomas in CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story.[12]

In 2019, Thomas lost her voice and was ordered by doctors not to sing. TLC then had to cancel their singing for the California State Fair and the Stanislaus State Fair.[13]

Solo career

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Thomas performing as a part of TLC in 2016

Thomas began working on a solo album in 2000 after the completion of promotion for TLC's third album, FanMail (1999). She paused production when work began on the next TLC album, 3D (2002). In 2006, it was reported that she had signed with Akon's record label Konvict Muzik and that her debut album would be released the following year, but this never came to fruition.[14] In early April 2008, Thomas's first official solo single, "Dumb, Dumb, Dumb" was released.[15] In 2012, she performed a track called "Flirt" on a second season episode of Single Ladies.[16]

In January 2016, she released the single "Body", which served to promote her fitness workout campaign.[17]

Acting and television roles

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Thomas has made guest appearances on television shows such as The Parkers, That 70s Show, Living Single and Strong Medicine. In 1992, she had a brief cameo in the music video for "Jump" by Kris Kross. In 2000, she was featured in the made-for-television movies A Diva's Christmas Carol and Love Song (with close friend Monica), and in the film Snow Day. In 2001, she co-starred in the action film Ticker, directed by Albert Pyun. She also played a small role in House Party 3 and the 1997 film Hav Plenty.

In 2005, Thomas and Watkins looked for a new TLC member in the reality series R U The Girl.[18] In June 2009, VH1 announced the airing of a reality TV series starring Thomas. The series, What Chilli Wants, which documents Thomas's quest to find love and manage her life with the help of love and relationship expert Tionna Tee Smalls, premiered on April 11, 2010.[19] The second season of What Chilli Wants premiered on January 2, 2011.[20] In 2011, Thomas made cameo appearances throughout the first season of VH1's Single Ladies. In 2012, Thomas appeared as the leading lady in R&B singer Tyrese's music video for his single "Nothing On You".

In 2013, Thomas became a member of "Team Guy" on the second season of Food Network's Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off. She appeared naked in a PETA anti-circus ad campaign.[21] Thomas also appeared on episode 14 of WWE Countdown where she spoke about The Rock.[22] Thomas was later a judge for truTV's reality series Fake Off, which premiered on October 27, 2014.[23]

In 2017, she portrayed Zora Neale Hurston in Marshall, a biographical film about the life of Thurgood Marshall.[24]

Personal life

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At age 20, Thomas became pregnant by producer Dallas Austin. Due to career aspirations and outside pressures, she aborted the pregnancy. She later revealed that she regretted the decision. Thomas and Austin continued their relationship and later had a son, Tron Austin (born June 2, 1997).[25]

In 2001, Thomas began dating Usher, after she starred in his music videos for "U Remind Me", "U Got It Bad", and "U Don't Have to Call". Their relationship ended in 2003.[26]

In late 2022, Thomas began dating actor Matthew Lawrence. The pair went public with their relationship in January 2023.[27][28]

She is a member of the Granite Bay Seventh-day Adventist Church.[29][30]

Other ventures

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Thomas and the other members of TLC were big proponents of encouraging safe sex. For the music video of the song, "Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg" Thomas and her band members wore condoms on their clothing. In 2003, Thomas and Watkins teamed up with Agouron Pharmaceuticals to create a national education program about HIV/AIDS. The program supplied people with information about HIV/AIDS, including prevention and treatment.[31]

In 2012, Thomas started a non-profit organization called Chilli's Crew. The organization is an Atlanta-based program targeted at helping girls between the ages of 13 and 17 build healthy levels of self-esteem.[32]

In 2013, Thomas took a stand against cyberbullying after her son Tron was a victim. The gossip site MediaTakeOut.com targeted Thomas's son because of his apparel and questioned his sexuality. In response, Thomas created a petition through change.org to get the article deleted from the site and to stop staff members from gossiping about minors entirely. In her petition, she described what cyberbullying is and statistics about some of the victims. The site ended up removing the article and issuing an apology to her son.[33]

Discography

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Singles

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  • "Dumb Dumb Dumb" (2008)
  • "Gameproof" (featuring T-Boz) (2008)
  • "Body" (2016)

Studio albums with TLC

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Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1994 House Party 3 Sex As A Weapon Credited as TLC
1997 Hav Plenty Kris
2000 Snow Day Mona
Love Song House Director TV movie
A Diva's Christmas Carol Marli Jacob TV movie
2001 Ticker Lilly McCutcheon
2017 Marshall Zora Neale Hurston

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1992 CBS Schoolbreak Special 1st Rapper as TLC Episode: "Words Up!"
Out All Night Herself as TLC Episode: "Pilot"
Showtime at the Apollo Herself as TLC Episode: "#6.12"
1995 Living Single Herself Episode: "The Following Is a Sponsored Program"
1999 Ultra Sound Herself (as TLC) Episode: "TLC: You've Got Mail"
Behind the Music Herself Episode: "TLC"
2001 Top Ten Herself Episode: "Girl Bands"
2003 That '70s Show Hot Nurse Episode: "You Shook Me"
Born to Diva Judge TV series
2004 The Parkers Kai Episode: "She's Positive"
Strong Medicine Amber Steele Episode: "Touched by an Idol"
Behind the Music Herself Episode: "TLC: The Final Chapter"
2005 R U the Girl Herself/hostess TV series
2009 Black to the Future Herself Segment: The Most Groovetastic Songs
2010 Undateable Herself Episode: "Hour 2" & "Hour 5"
2010-11 What Chilli Wants Herself Main cast
2011-12 Single Ladies Herself Recurring cast: season 1, guest: season 2
2013 Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off Herself / Contestant Main cast: season 2
Guy's Big Bite Herself Episode: "Soup's On, Chill Out"
2016 Lip Sync Battle Herself as TLC Episode: "Zoe Saldana vs. Zachary Quinto"
2017 Party Legends Herself Episode: "Beating Arsenion Hall in the Chest Repeatedly"
2018 Martha & Snoop's Potluck Dinner Party Herself Episode: "Spicing it Up"
2019 Girls Cruise Herself Main cast

References

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  1. ^ "TLC - Biography, Albums, Streaming Links". AllMusic.
  2. ^ "Chilli"-Thomas "Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas Biography". AAE Speakers. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Chilli". People. May 6, 1996. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  4. ^ Mbuthia, Njoroge (November 28, 2021). "Rozonda Thomas: husband, ethnicity, baby daddy, what happened". Tuko.co.ke. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
  5. ^ Kandie, Lynn (July 26, 2022). "Who is Rozonda Thomas? Age, children, baby daddy, ethnicity, profiles, net worth". Briefly.co.za. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
  6. ^ Christopher John Farley (2008). "The Spicier Girls". Time magazine. Archived from the original on February 11, 2001. Retrieved February 4, 2008.
  7. ^ "Chilli's Truth". Back2Basics Magazine. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
  8. ^ "RIAA Top 100 Certified Artists". riaa.com.
  9. ^ "Grammy.com". Retrieved May 16, 2012.
  10. ^ "Rosen on the Tentative Return of TLC". vulture.com. June 5, 2013.
  11. ^ "VH1 Announces Plans To Produce A New TLC Movie". VH1. December 1, 2011. Archived from the original on December 2, 2011. Retrieved November 16, 2024.
  12. ^ "TLC returns with 'CrazySexyCool' movie and music". CNN. October 14, 2013. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
  13. ^ "TLC cancel two dates after Chilli loses her voice". msn entertainment. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
  14. ^ Billboard Staff (November 14, 2006). "TLC's Chilli Inks With Akon's Konvict Muzik". Billboard. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
  15. ^ CHILLI'S NEW SINGLE HAS 'INK' ALL OVER IT: Written by Cri$tyle, 'Dumb, Dumb, Dumb' sparks controversy. Archived April 11, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ "Chilli - Flirt (2012)". Youtube. December 21, 2012. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
  17. ^ Atkinson, Katie (January 13, 2016). "TLC's Chilli Debuts Solo Song 'Body' for New Dance Workout & Offers Kickstarter Album Update". Billboard.
  18. ^ "TLC's T-Boz, Chilli Announce Details Of Their Reality Show". MTV. Archived from the original on October 21, 2023. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
  19. ^ "More Sober House, Fit Club, Pepa And Chilli On The Way From VH1!". vh1.com. June 29, 2009. Archived from the original on July 27, 2011. Retrieved October 19, 2009.
  20. ^ "Chilli Granted Second Season, Shot At Love". Singersroom.com. March 24, 2023. Retrieved November 16, 2024.
  21. ^ Brett Malec,"TLC's Chilli Strips for PETA's Anti-Circus Campaign: See the Wild and Sexy Pic,"EOnline, November 25, 2013.
  22. ^ "WWE Countdown". 1. June 10, 2014. WWE Network.
  23. ^ "Harry Shum Jr., Chilli, and Michael Curry to judge new truTV series 'Fake Off'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
  24. ^ "Review: 'Marshall' delivers the heroic bio-pic treatment Thurgood Marshall deserves". Los Angeles Times. October 12, 2017. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
  25. ^ "MY ABORTION REGRET - TLC's "Chilli"". Youtube. February 18, 2012. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
  26. ^ Muhammad, Latifah. "Chilli Opens Up About Usher Split". BET. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  27. ^ Juneau, Jen (January 3, 2023). "TLC's Chilli and Matthew Lawrence Are Dating: 'She Is Glowing,' Says Singer's Rep". People. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
  28. ^ Rubenstein, Janine (May 31, 2023). "Chilli and Matthew Lawrence Haven't Had an Argument Since They Began Dating Last Year". People. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
  29. ^ Kellner, Mark (March 26, 2018). "Chili From TLC Meets The Batchelors!". Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  30. ^ McKinney, Taylor (October 9, 2019). "Digital Evangelist: How Chilli of TLC shares her Christian faith online". EEW. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
  31. ^ Varner, Jeff (June 20, 2015). "TLC Providing Time, Love and Care to the World". Borgenmagazine.com. The Borgen Project. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  32. ^ Clark, Ashley (June 19, 2013). "CHILLI'S CREW FOUNDATION HOSTS 2ND ANNUAL SUMMER CAMP SPONSORED BY BEACHBODY®". Enchantedpublicrelations.wordpress.com. WordPress. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  33. ^ Josephs, Brian (November 4, 2013). "Chilli Takes Stand Against Cyberbullying After Son Is Targeted". Theboombox.com. The XXL Network. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  34. ^ a b "TLC:'I will never forget the day we were millionaires for five minutes'". The Guardian. June 24, 2017. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
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