Rozonda Ocielian Thomas (born February 27, 1971), better 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 20th century.
Early life
Thomas was born in Columbus, Georgia and graduated from Benjamin Elijah Mays High School in 1989. Her father, Abdul Ali, is of Bangladeshi and Arab descent, and her mother, Ava Thomas, is African American. 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.
When she was a child, her great grandmother, whom she called Big Mama, took her to the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Music career
1991–present: TLC
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 has sold more. 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 signed on as producers. Actress and singer Keke Palmer portrayed Thomas in CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story.
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.
Solo career
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. In early April 2008, Thomas's first official solo single, "Dumb, Dumb, Dumb" was released. In 2012, she performed a track called "Flirt" on a second season episode of Single Ladies.
In January 2016, she released the single "Body", which served to promote her fitness workout campaign.
Acting and television roles
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 video for "Jump" by Kriss 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. 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. The second season of What Chilli Wants premiered on January 2, 2011. 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. Thomas also appeared on episode 14 of WWE Countdown where she spoke about The Rock. Thomas was later a judge for truTV's reality series Fake Off which premiered on October 27, 2014.
In 2017, she portrayed Zora Neale Hurston in Marshall, a biographical film about the life of Thurgood Marshall.
Personal life
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 would later have a son, Tron Austin (born June 2, 1997).
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.