One third of seminal girl group TLC, Tionne Tenese Watkins (born April 26, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress. Throughout her career, she has participated in several TV series and films, and has collaborated with a wide array of artists such as Da Brat, Raphael Saadiq, and Paula Cole. A Des Moines native, she moved to Atlanta during her early childhood. At the age of 21, after a successful audition, Watkins was selected to participate in the all-girl singing group TLC alongside Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas and Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes. Under the wing of music industry mogul Antonio “LA” Reid, the trio quickly jumped to international fame with the release of the multi-platinum albums Ooooooohhh... On the TLC Tip (1992) and CrazySexyCool (1994), which produced four Top 5 singles on the Billboard Hot 100. 1996 found Watkins dropping her debut solo single, “Touch Myself,” which hit Number 3 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music chart thanks to its inclusion in the soundtrack of the film Fled. Following the success of TLC’s third album FanMail (1999), further single “My Getaway” saw the light in 2000, reaching Number 79 in the US and 44 in the UK. Marked by Left Eye’s death in a car accident shortly before its release, a fourth TLC album entitled 3D arrived in 2002, peaking at Number 4 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. In subsequent years, Watkins delivered the standalone singles “Champion” (2013) and “Dreams,” which coincided with the release of TLC’s eponymous fifth album in 2017.
