By Hollywood Life | Created at 2026-10-10 20:08:31 | Updated at 2026-10-10 23:10:00
4 hours ago
Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins has been fighting sickle cell disease for nearly her entire life, and in 2026, the illness forced her off the stage once again. The TLC singer was hospitalized after a sickle cell crisis just as the group launched its It’s Iconic tour, leaving Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas to carry the shows on her own. Fans have been rallying behind the “No Scrubs” singer ever since.
Keep reading for the latest on T-Boz’s recovery, what sickle cell disease is and how she has battled it for decades.
How Is T-Boz Doing Today?
T-Boz suffered a sickle cell crisis in late August 2026, right as TLC hit the road with Salt-N-Pepa and En Vogue. She was hospitalized and missed shows in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York, and TLC representative Christal Jordan told USA Today that the singer was recovering and regaining her strength.
Chilli has kept the music going without her. At TLC’s sold-out Atlanta stop on October 2, 2026, she updated the crowd on her bandmate, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“She did. I can tell you, she is getting to 100% every solitary day. I will hold down for my sister.”
T-Boz has not yet rejoined the tour, but she has found ways to manage her health over the years. She credits CBD with helping her stay on her feet, and in 2019, she launched her own wellness line, TLCBD.
“I was able to make it through four tours without getting sick,” she told Essence. “And everybody who’s been on tour with TLC knows that’s astronomical for me, honey, because I am known for messing up a tour.”
When Was T-Boz Diagnosed With Sickle Cell Disease?
T-Boz was diagnosed at age 7, and doctors told her she wouldn’t live past her 30s. She refused to believe them, as she recalled in her 2017 memoir, A Sick Life.
“I looked around. Who was he talking about? I was going to be a famous performer. He was clearly mistaken.”
In 1996, she learned that she specifically has sickle beta thalassemia with arthritis, a form of the disease that is often less severe. She has long since proven that doctor wrong, building a Grammy-winning career and raising two children, daughter Chase and son Chance.
What Is Sickle Cell Disease?
Sickle cell disease is a group of inherited red blood cell disorders that affect hemoglobin, the protein that carries oxygen through the body, according to the National Institutes of Health. Healthy red blood cells are round and flexible, but in people with the disease, they become stiff and crescent shaped, which can block blood flow and lead to stroke, infections, eye problems and severe pain.
The condition affects more than 100,000 people in the U.S. and millions more worldwide. Sickle cell anemia, the most common form, can also cause fatigue, swelling and difficulty walking, per the Mayo Clinic.
T-Boz described the toll of a crisis in her memoir.
“When you have sickle cell, your red blood cells get stuck on their way around your veins, causing blockages and stopping the oxygen from getting to your vital organs. Where there’s a lack of oxygen, you can go into a crisis, an attack of severe pain, sometimes located only in a certain spot and sometimes all over your body. Often, it’s hard to breathe or walk or even do something as basic as holding a pen. A crisis can happen without any warning. Just, bam! You’re in the hospital again.”
How Has Sickle Cell Disease Affected T-Boz’s Life?
The disease nearly took her life in 2000, shortly after she welcomed Chase with her then-husband, Dedrick “Mack 10” Rolison. Nurses encouraged her to breastfeed, but the fluid loss proved dangerous for someone with sickle cell, and her body shut down. She fell into a coma and spent three days unconscious in the ICU.
Six years later, she faced another frightening battle when doctors found a benign brain tumor the size of a strawberry. Her sickle cell made the surgery especially risky, so she turned to Cedars-Sinai neurosurgeon Dr. Keith Black, who carefully separated the tumor from the nerves controlling her face and hearing. The operation was a success, and she walked away with her hearing, balance and speech intact.
Her illness even shaped one of the most famous looks in music history. According to T-Boz, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes was walking her out of a party after she accidentally drank a “flaming Dr. Pepper shot,” since alcohol is off limits for people with sickle cell. On the way out, one of Bobby Brown’s dancers bumped into Lisa, and a fight broke out in which the dancer allegedly punched her in the eye.
“That incident was how Lisa started drawing under her left eye. It started as a Band-Aid to cover up a burst blood vessel, and later she turned it into a black mark.”
Through every crisis, T-Boz has kept fighting, and her family remains her greatest motivation. As she wrote in her memoir, Chase gave her a reason to keep pushing through, and fans are hoping to see that same determination carry her back to the stage soon.
