Rozonda Thomas

Rozonda Ocielian Thomas, also 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 1990s.

Early life Thomas was born in Columbus, Georgia. She later moved to Atlanta to be with her mother and graduated from Benjamin Elijah Mays High School in 1989. Her father, Abdul Ali, is of Indian Bengali and Arab descent, while her mother, Ava Thomas, is of African American and Native American descent. 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 had sold more. Chilli has won four Grammy Awards for her work with TLC.

In the spring of 1995, Thomas appeared and participated in the track "Freedom (Theme from Panther)" first appeared on the soundtrack to Melvin Van Peebles' movie Panther as TLC, along with SWV, Xscape, En Vogue, Jade, Brownstone and others.

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 music video for "Jump" by Kris 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 starred 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.

As of January 1, 2026, she is a co-host of Second Chance Love, a television reality series on Hallmark+.

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 later had a son born on 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.

In late 2022, Thomas began dating actor Matthew Lawrence. The pair went public with their relationship in January 2023.

On March 4, 2024, Thomas became a grandmother after her son's wife gave birth to a daughter.

Thomas is a member of the Granite Bay Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Political affiliation In 2026, public Federal Election Commission (FEC) records revealed that Thomas made multiple donations to Republican and Donald Trump‑affiliated political action committees during the 2024 election cycle. A series of 17 contributions, totaling approximately US$1,000, were made to WinRed, the Trump National Committee JFC, and Never Surrender Inc. The discoveries prompted allegations that Thomas supported the MAGA movement. Thomas responded with an Instagram video and statement, declaring "I am not MAGA" and explaining that she had intended the contributions to support causes against human trafficking and for veterans, not to endorse a political agenda.

Around the same time, Thomas briefly shared a social‑media post containing a debunked transphobic conspiracy theory about former First Lady Michelle Obama; she removed the post after backlash and said the repost had been accidental, stating she had "the utmost respect and admiration" for Obama. News outlets also reported that Thomas's Instagram activity included "likes" of posts by conservative figures, including Representative Byron Donalds.

Other ventures Thomas and the other members of TLC were big proponents of encouraging safe sex. For the music video of the song, "Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg" Thomas and her band members wore condoms on their clothing. In 2003, Thomas and Watkins teamed up with Agouron Pharmaceuticals to create a national education program about HIV/AIDS. The program supplied people with information about HIV/AIDS, including prevention and treatment.

In 2013, Thomas took a stand against cyberbullying after her son was a victim. The gossip site MediaTakeOut.com targeted Thomas's son because of his apparel and questioned his sexuality. In response, Thomas created a petition through change.org to get the article deleted from the site and to stop staff members from gossiping about minors entirely. In her petition, she described what cyberbullying is and statistics about some of the victims. The site ended up removing the article and issuing an apology to her son.

In 2018, Thomas became the face of DAYO casual wear.

Discography

Singles "Dumb Dumb Dumb" (2008) "Body" (2016)

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 1994 House Party 3 Sex As A Weapon Credited as TLC 1997 Hav Plenty Kris 2000 Snow Day Mona Love Song House Director TV movie A Diva's Christmas Carol Marli Jacob TV movie 2001 Ticker Lilly McCutcheon 2017 Marshall Zora Neale Hurston

Television Year Title Role Notes 1992 CBS Schoolbreak Special 1st Rapper as TLC Episode: "Words Up!" Out All Night Herself as TLC Episode: "Pilot" Showtime at the Apollo Herself as TLC Episode: "#6.12" 1995 Living Single Herself Episode: "The Following Is a Sponsored Program" 1999 Ultra Sound Herself (as TLC) Episode: "TLC: You've Got Mail" Behind the Music Herself Episode: "TLC" 2001 Top Ten Herself Episode: "Girl Bands" 2003 That '70s Show Hot Nurse Episode: "You Shook Me" Born to Diva Judge TV series 2004 The Parkers Kai Episode: "She's Positive" Strong Medicine Amber Steele Episode: "Touched by an Idol" Behind the Music Herself Episode: "TLC: The Final Chapter" 2005 R U the Girl Herself/hostess TV series 2009 Black to the Future Herself Segment: The Most Groovetastic Songs 2010 Undateable Herself Episode: "Hour 2" & "Hour 5" 2010-11 What Chilli Wants Herself Main cast 2011-12 Single Ladies Herself Recurring cast: season 1, guest: season 2 2013 Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off Herself / Contestant Main cast: season 2 Guy's Big Bite Herself Episode: "Soup's On, Chill Out" 2014 The Millionaire Matchmaker Herself Episode: "Chilli and Jeff Ogden" 2016 Lip Sync Battle Herself as TLC Episode: "Zoe Saldana vs. Zachary Quinto" 2017 Party Legends Herself Episode: "Beating Arsenion Hall in the Chest Repeatedly" 2018 Martha & Snoop's Potluck Dinner Party Herself Episode: "Spicing it Up" 2019 Girls Cruise Herself Main cast