T-Boz Hospitalization Forces Chili to Carry TLC Tour Alone

T-Boz has been sidelined by a sickle cell crisis, forcing Chili to carry TLC alone while its summer tour keeps moving.

Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, 56, required hospital care and is recovering as she rebuilds her strength, her representative said. The emergency has removed her from several “It’s Iconic” performances, but promoters have announced no cancellations or timetable for her return.

Chili addressed the absence during TLC’s August 28 stop at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville.

“As you guys know, my sister T-Boz has sickle cell, you know that it’s not a secret, and sometimes those flare-ups come, and this is that time,” Chili told the audience.

T-Boz’s spokesperson confirmed the information.

“Tionne recently experienced a sickle cell crisis that required hospitalization, and she is currently recovering and regaining her strength,” representative Christal Jordan said. “The love shown for T-Boz has been overwhelming.”

Audiences have sung T-Boz’s parts while Salt-N-Pepa and En Vogue support Chili through TLC performances.

The episode extends a health history T-Boz has shared publicly since revealing her childhood sickle cell diagnosis during TLC’s peak years.

“The easiest way to describe it is oxygen isn’t getting to our vital organs,” she explained in 2017. “So, if it’s your legs, you can’t walk.”

“Everything is strategically planned out, as far as how long travel is, what days I’m off, and what cities we do or don’t go to,” T-Boz said.

A 2006 diagnosis brought another threat: a strawberry-sized benign brain tumor near nerves controlling her hearing, balance and facial movement.

Several surgeons considered an operation too dangerous because of sickle cell, but Dr. Keith Black at Cedars-Sinai agreed to remove it.

“I couldn’t close my eyes, I couldn’t form words, I lost my speech, my sight, my hearing,” T-Boz recalled. “There was so much that came with healing.”

Her recovery lasted more than three years and left lingering problems with balance, hearing, sight and facial movement.

Another hospitalization followed in August 2024 when an intestinal blockage forced TLC to cancel two shows.

“It had nothing to do with Sickle Cell,” she said afterward. “I had surgery almost 24 years ago, and scar tissue rubbed against my intestines making a blockage.”

As of September 3, Live Nation lists 23 tour dates remaining, beginning tonight in Grand Rapids and ending October 11 in Concord, California.