Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas
| Rozonda Thomas | |
|---|---|
Thomas in 2016
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Rozonda Ocelean Thomas |
| Also known as | Chilli |
| Born |
February 27, 1971 Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) |
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| Years active | 1991–present |
| Labels | |
| Associated acts | |
| Website | fitchilli |
Rozonda Ocelean "Chilli" Thomas (born February 27, 1971) is an American dancer, singer-songwriter, actress, and television personality who rose to fame in the early 1990s as a member of group TLC, one of the best-selling girl groups of all time.
Thomas was born in Atlanta, Georgia and graduated from Benjamin E. Mays High School in 1989. Her father, Abdul Ali, is of Middle Eastern and Indian descent and her mother, Ava Thomas, is of African American, 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.
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 second best selling group in the world and first in the US girl groups of all-time. Chilli has won four Grammy Awards for her work with TLC.
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.
In late 2011, VH1 announced plans to produce a biopic on TLC to air in 2013. Thomas and Watkins have signed on as producers. Actress and singer Keke Palmer portrayed Thomas in CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story.
Thomas began working on her solo album in 2000 after the completion of promotion for TLC's third album, FanMail (1999). She ceased production when work began on the next TLC album, 3D (2002). 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 Stewart. 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.
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