Rozonda Thomas
Encyclopedia
Rozonda Ocelean Thomas best known by her stage name
Chilli, is a four-time Grammy Award–winning American
R&B
singer and actress who rose to fame as one third of the successful R&B/Hip-Hop/Pop girl group
TLC
.
and graduated from Benjamin E. Mays High School in Southwest Atlanta. Her father, Abdul Ali, was of West Indian descent and her mother, Ava Thomas, is of African American
and Native American
descent. 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.
. In 1991, she joined TLC, replacing founding member Crystal Jones, and was nicknamed "Chilli" so that the group could retain the name TLC. The group went on to sell over 45 million records worldwide and became the second best selling group in the world and first in the US girl group
s of all-time.
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, and are currently planning a possible new album and a possible tour.
. She ceased production when work began on the next TLC album, 3D. In 2006, rumors of having signed a four-album deal with singer/rapper Akon
's label Kon Live Distribution in 2006, she later denied these reports and confirmed that she was entertaining offers from other record labels. It was confirmed that the name of the album would be titled Bi-Polar, but due to scheduling conflicts and constant delays, the album was shelved. The album was once rumored to include work by Missy Elliott
as well as tracks produced by T-Pain
, and Tricky
. Certain tracks that were intended for the album were leaked from 2006 to 2008. A track titled "Gameproof," which featured her TLC band mate T-Boz, was leaked in spring 2006. On February 16, 2007, "Straight Jack," a track featuring Missy Elliott and produced by Polow da Don
was leaked. The track entered the Deutsche Black Chart in at #35. In early April 2008, Thomas's first official solo single, "Dumb, Dumb, Dumb" was released. No further singles have been announced or leaked. The album has now been shelved, and Thomas said via Twitter she may release the songs that she recorded for the album on her website.
, That 70s Show, Living Single
and Strong Medicine
. In 2000, she was featured in the made-for-television movies
A Diva's Christmas Carol and Love Song (with Monica
), and in the film Snow Day and Hair Show
. In 2001, she co-starred in the action film Ticker
, directed by Albert Pyun. She also played a small role in the 1998 film Hav Plenty
. In 2011, Chilli made cameo appearances throughout the first season of VH1's Single Ladies (TV series)
.
announced the airing of a reality series starring Thomas. The series, What Chilli Wants
, which documents Thomas' quest to find love and manage her life with the help of love and relationship expert Tionna Tee Smalls, premiered on April 11, 2010. The second season of What Chilli Wants
premiered on January 2, 2011.
. Due to career aspirations, and the outside pressures, she elected to have the pregnancy terminated; on her show, What Chilli Wants, she would reveal having regretted the decision. Thomas and Austin continued their relationship, and would later become the parents of a son, Tron, born on June 2 in 1997. Following Thomas' breakup with Austin, she became involved with singer Usher Raymond
(and was featured in his music videos for "U Remind Me
" and "U Got It Bad
.") The couple broke up in January 2004. She also markets a line of handbags titled, Bags by Chilli.
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
Chilli, is a four-time Grammy Award–winning American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
singer and actress who rose to fame as one third of the successful R&B/Hip-Hop/Pop girl group
Girl group
A girl group is a popular music act featuring several young female singers who generally harmonise together.Girl groups emerged in the late 1950s as groups of young singers teamed up with behind-the-scenes songwriters and music producers to create hit singles, often featuring glossy production...
TLC
TLC (band)
TLC is an American musical trio whose repertoire spanned R&B, hip-hop, soul, funk, and new jack swing. Originally consisting of singer Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, rapper-singer Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes and singer Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas it found success in the 1990s while also enduring a series of spats...
.
Early life
Rozonda Ocelean Thomas was born in Atlanta, GeorgiaAtlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
and graduated from Benjamin E. Mays High School in Southwest Atlanta. Her father, Abdul Ali, was of West Indian descent and her mother, Ava Thomas, is of African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
and Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
descent. Thomas, who had been raised by her mother, later allowed the Sally Jessy Raphael
Sally Jessy Raphaël
Sally Lowenthal , better known as Sally Jessy Raphael, is an American talk show host, known for the eponymous Sally talk show she hosted for two decades.-Early years:...
television talk show to air footage of her meeting her father for the first time in 1996.
1991 - present: TLC
Thomas was first a dancer for Damian DameDamian Dame
Damian Dame was an R&B duo consisting of Debra Jean "Deah Dame" Hurd and Bruce Edward "Damian" Broadus .In 1991, Damian Dame became the first act signed to LaFace Records...
. In 1991, she joined TLC, replacing founding member Crystal Jones, and was nicknamed "Chilli" so that the group could retain the name TLC. The group went on to sell over 45 million records worldwide and became the second best selling group in the world and first in the US girl group
Girl group
A girl group is a popular music act featuring several young female singers who generally harmonise together.Girl groups emerged in the late 1950s as groups of young singers teamed up with behind-the-scenes songwriters and music producers to create hit singles, often featuring glossy production...
s of all-time.
Since the death of group member Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes
Lisa Lopes
Lisa Nicole Lopes better known by her stage name Left Eye, was an American rapper, singer, dancer, actress, television host, and songwriter...
in April 2002, Thomas and Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins
Tionne Watkins
Tionne Tenese Watkins better known by her stage name T-Boz, is a four-time Grammy Award–winning American singer, actress, author, and executive producer who rose to fame as the lead singer and one-third of the R&B/hip-hop girl group TLC.-Early life:Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins was born in Des Moines,...
have occasionally performed as a duo. In 2009, Thomas and Watkins performed a series of concerts in Asia, and are currently planning a possible new album and a possible tour.
Solo career
Thomas began working on her solo album in 2001 after the completion of promotion for TLC's third album, FanMailFanMail
FanMail is the third studio album by American girl group trio TLC, released on February 23, 1999. As with previous album CrazySexyCool , the group re-teamed with Dallas Austin, Babyface, and Jermaine Dupri on the album's production and the album features the computer voice female named Vic-E .The...
. She ceased production when work began on the next TLC album, 3D. In 2006, rumors of having signed a four-album deal with singer/rapper Akon
Akon
Aliaune Damala Badara Thiam, better known as simply Akon , is a Senegalese American R&B recording artist and songwriter.According to Forbes, Akon grossed $21 million in 2010, $20 million in 2009 and $12 million in 2008. He rose to prominence in 2004 following the release of "Locked Up", the first...
's label Kon Live Distribution in 2006, she later denied these reports and confirmed that she was entertaining offers from other record labels. It was confirmed that the name of the album would be titled Bi-Polar, but due to scheduling conflicts and constant delays, the album was shelved. The album was once rumored to include work by Missy Elliott
Missy Elliott
Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott , is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, and actressA five-time Grammy Award winner, Elliott, with record sales of over seven million in the United States, is the only female rapper to have five albums certified platinum by the RIAA, including one...
as well as tracks produced by T-Pain
T-Pain
Faheem Rasheed Najm , better known by his stage name T-Pain, is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, and actor, currently signed to Young Money Entertainment. His debut album, Rappa Ternt Sanga, was released in 2005. In 2007, T-Pain released his second studio album Epiphany,...
, and Tricky
Christopher Stewart (music producer)
Christopher "Tricky" Stewart is an American songwriter, music producer, music publisher, executive producer, recording industry executive and recording studio owner. In a career spanning 16 years, Stewart, at the helm of his company RedZone Entertainment, is responsible for over 25 million...
. Certain tracks that were intended for the album were leaked from 2006 to 2008. A track titled "Gameproof," which featured her TLC band mate T-Boz, was leaked in spring 2006. On February 16, 2007, "Straight Jack," a track featuring Missy Elliott and produced by Polow da Don
Polow Da Don
Polow-Freache Jamal Fincher Jones , better known by known by professional name Polow da Don or Awesome Jones, is an American record producer, songwriter, rapper, and singer. His cousin is Atlanta singer Monica. He has produced for a variety of artists including Usher, Nelly, Christina Aguilera, T.I...
was leaked. The track entered the Deutsche Black Chart in at #35. In early April 2008, Thomas's first official solo single, "Dumb, Dumb, Dumb" was released. No further singles have been announced or leaked. The album has now been shelved, and Thomas said via Twitter she may release the songs that she recorded for the album on her website.
Film & television
Thomas made guest appearances on shows such as The ParkersThe Parkers
The Parkers is an American sitcom . A spin-off of UPN's Moesha, The Parkers featured the mother-daughter team of Nikki and Kim Parker . The Parkers' signature "Heeyyy" greeting made its way into popular vernacular in the early 2000s.-Premise:The series centered around a mother and daughter who...
, That 70s Show, Living Single
Living Single
Living Single is an American television sitcom which aired for five seasons on the Fox network from August 29, 1993 to January 1, 1998. The show centered on the lives of six friends who share personal and professional experiences while living in a Brooklyn brownstone.Throughout its run, Living...
and Strong Medicine
Strong Medicine
Strong Medicine is a medical drama with a focus on feminist politics, health issues and class conflict. The television series aired on the Lifetime network from 2000 to 2006. It is distributed by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The series was created and produced in part by comedienne and...
. In 2000, she was featured in the made-for-television movies
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
A Diva's Christmas Carol and Love Song (with Monica
Monica (singer)
Monica Denise Brown , and professionally known as Monica, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Born and raised in College Park, Georgia, Monica began performing as a child and became part of a traveling gospel choir, by the time she was ten...
), and in the film Snow Day and Hair Show
Hair Show
Hair Show is a 2004 comedy film directed by Leslie Small that stars Mo'Nique and Kellita Smith.-Plot:Peaches , a hair stylist from Baltimore, and her estranged sister, Angela , the owner of an upscale salon in Beverly Hills, get reacquainted when Peaches decides to attend a celebration for Angela...
. In 2001, she co-starred in the action film Ticker
Ticker (2001 film)
Ticker is a 2001 action film directed by Albert Pyun, starring Tom Sizemore, Dennis Hopper, Steven Seagal, Jaime Pressley, Nas and Ice-T.-Plot:...
, directed by Albert Pyun. She also played a small role in the 1998 film Hav Plenty
Hav Plenty
Hav Plenty is a 1997 American independent film released by Miramax Films, based on an eventful weekend in the life of Lee Plenty , written and directed by Cherot...
. In 2011, Chilli made cameo appearances throughout the first season of VH1's Single Ladies (TV series)
Single Ladies (TV series)
Single Ladies is a television series on the VH1 network in the U.S. created by Stacy A. Littlejohn and produced by Queen Latifah's Flavor Unit Entertainment for the MTV network-owned cable channel. The show chronicles three friends, Val, Keisha and April, and their relationships...
.
What Chilli Wants
In June 2009, VH1VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
announced the airing of a reality series starring Thomas. The series, What Chilli Wants
What Chilli Wants
What Chilli Wants is an American reality series on VH1 starring Chilli, one-third of the Grammy Award-winning R&B trio TLC. The show chronicles Chilli's quest to find love with the help of Tionna T. Smalls, an author and relationship coach. The series premiered on April 11, 2010, and has since...
, which documents Thomas' quest to find love and manage her life with the help of love and relationship expert Tionna Tee Smalls, premiered on April 11, 2010. The second season of What Chilli Wants
What Chilli Wants
What Chilli Wants is an American reality series on VH1 starring Chilli, one-third of the Grammy Award-winning R&B trio TLC. The show chronicles Chilli's quest to find love with the help of Tionna T. Smalls, an author and relationship coach. The series premiered on April 11, 2010, and has since...
premiered on January 2, 2011.
Personal life
At age 20, she became pregnant by producer Dallas AustinDallas Austin
Dallas Austin is an American songwriter, record producer, and musician, based in Atlanta, Georgia. Some of his most notable clients include Michael Jackson, TLC, Boyz II Men, Pink, Monica, Madonna, Gwen Stefani, Stacie Orrico, Another Bad Creation, Fishbone, Sugababes, Anastacia, Namie Amuro, Kim...
. Due to career aspirations, and the outside pressures, she elected to have the pregnancy terminated; on her show, What Chilli Wants, she would reveal having regretted the decision. Thomas and Austin continued their relationship, and would later become the parents of a son, Tron, born on June 2 in 1997. Following Thomas' breakup with Austin, she became involved with singer Usher Raymond
Usher (entertainer)
Usher Terry Raymond IV , who performs under the mononym Usher, is an American singer-songwriter, and actor. He is considered around the world to be the reigning King of R&B. Usher rose to fame in the late 1990s with the release of his second album My Way, which spawned his first Billboard Hot 100...
(and was featured in his music videos for "U Remind Me
U Remind Me
"U Remind Me" is a 2001 single from Usher's 2001 album 8701. It was the first US single from the album...
" and "U Got It Bad
U Got It Bad
"U Got It Bad" is a 2001 single from Usher's 2001 album 8701. It was the second US single from the album and the third international single, reaching number 1 on the United States Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart, and reaching the top 5 in the United Kingdom and Australia.The song was produced by...
.") The couple broke up in January 2004. She also markets a line of handbags titled, Bags by Chilli.
Featured singles
- 2009: "Let's Just Do ItLet's Just Do It"Let's Just Do It" is a posthumous single by the American rapper, singer, and songwriter Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, and is the lead single from her first posthumous album, Eye Legacy.-Background:...
" (Lisa LopesLisa LopesLisa Nicole Lopes better known by her stage name Left Eye, was an American rapper, singer, dancer, actress, television host, and songwriter...
featuring Missy ElliottMissy ElliottMelissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott , is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, and actressA five-time Grammy Award winner, Elliott, with record sales of over seven million in the United States, is the only female rapper to have five albums certified platinum by the RIAA, including one...
and TLCTLC (band)TLC is an American musical trio whose repertoire spanned R&B, hip-hop, soul, funk, and new jack swing. Originally consisting of singer Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, rapper-singer Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes and singer Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas it found success in the 1990s while also enduring a series of spats...
)