Usher tore down the TV ratings this past weekend when he headlined the Super Bowl with a show-stopping performance, and secretly married his long time girlfriend Jennifer Goicoechea in Las Vegas.
However, the R&B superstar decided to dive into his past and touched on his previous relationship with the ‘C’ of TLC, Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas, whom he dated from 2001 to 2004.
In a cover story he did with PEOPLE magazine, Usher said, “If I am to be honest, I was her No. 1 fan, and she was my superstar. At the age of 8, I put her poster on my wall and said, ‘Man that girl is so beautiful. One day I’m going to meet her.’”
Explaining why the relationship with Chilli didn’t work out, he admits, “I was a young man, and she had very specific rules that didn’t work for me,” he says. “We were missing each other. I really did want to have a different type of relationship where she was there with me, and she couldn’t be. She didn’t believe that I was actually in love with her as much as I was.”
Usher then stuns readers with his admission, saying, “I wanted to marry her. I proposed, and she told me no. I went through a great deal of pain after that, not trusting women or wanting to open up.” He admits, “I hurt her too,” but the situation “broke my heart.”
Chilli and Usher (2003)
Of course, the media would expect a response from Chilli after Usher’s recent revelations. However, a spokesperson for Chilli has informed TMZ that Chilli is far too occupied with her current beau of 2 years, Matthew Lawrence, to be focused on anything that is going on in the press.
Chilli was in fact spending some quality time at the Sandals resort in Jamaica with Matthew, celebrating his 44th birthday.
“More importantly,” TMZ states, “[Chilli’s] mind is a world away from all this Usher stuff. Speaking of which, our sources tell us that Chilli, generally, takes marriage very seriously … and she’s not just going to hop into a commitment like that until she’s totally convinced she and her partner are both ready for marriage.”
Chilli with boyfriend Matthew Lawrence (2023)Usher with wife Jennifer Goicoechea (2024)
Time is a healer, after all. And Usher seems to have finally moved on. These days, “I’m not hurt over that at all,” Usher says of him and Chilli not working out. “We’ve since become cool with each other, celebrate each other and it’s always light when we see each other.”
TLC were special guests at the iHeartRadio Music Awards 2023 last night at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, where they were there to introduce Latto to the stage to put on a phenomenal performance.
During the red carpet press before the awards ceremony, T-Boz and Chilli spoke to numerous media outlets about their excitement being at the ceremony as well as touching on details of what they are doing in their careers this year. “It’s always exciting to see your peers and the new one’s coming up”, Chilli told Billboard.
T-Boz still keeps her ears locked to the music scene for the latest talent, and she approves of the upcoming girl group FLO from the UK. “I like them, I just didn’t know that was their name”, T-Boz admits after hearing that the group recently dropped a new single, “Fly Girl” featuring Missy Elliott.
TLC with Lenny Kravitz at the iHeartRadio Music Awards 2023
When Extra asked Chilli about how her relationship is going with her boyfriend Matthew Lawrence, she gushed with a big smile, so T-Boz stepped in to answer on her behalf. “It’s been great!”, T-Boz exclaims. Chilli adds, “Amazing!” before letting T-Boz continue explaining.
“I’m living vicariously through her. It’s been great, and I’ve never seen her like this, and I’ve been there for 31 years!”, T-Boz states. “I’ve seen it all, honey. We’ve been through life together”. Chilli co-signs with her TLC sister and says, “Yes! She’s seen it all, and we’re still going through it. But I am so happy, I don’t even know what to do with myself. But he is the best — for me, anyway!”
Earlier this month, Chilli clarified her thoughts about the headlines when Matthew stated that he wanted to start a family with her one day. Speaking about the topic on the Ryan Cameron Uncensored radio show, Chilli said, “You never know. I would never say that [I’m done] — I gotta be married for sure … and I’m not married, yet”.
Matthew Lawrence and Chilli Thomas attend a dinner party to celebrate Lifetime Black Excellence March 09, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Randy Shropshire/Getty Images)
Matthew later cleared up the miscommunication with E! News. “Joe [Matthew’s brother] and I were commiserating about this plan that we had to have children together … when we were growing up. And I missed the first go around and now he’s starting a new family and I was thinking, ‘Man, it’d be great if we could do it again when I didn’t have the chance to raise a family together. So that’s what I meant by that,” he continued. “I didn’t mean to put any pressure on somebody I was dating or anything.”
Chilli set the record straight with E! News this week, saying, “First of all, we’re not currently trying to have a child,” she exclusively told E! News at the Dolby Theatre in an interview. “We’re not married yet so we’re just very happy and growing in our relationship.”
But for the record, Chilli says this relationship is not your average romance.
“I’ve dated, but this cancelled out everything,” she shared before looking at her longtime friend Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins. “She knows.”
T-Boz went on to deliver her seal of approval of Chilli’s main man and even expressed hope that her close friend and “sister” will get married one day in the future.
“Matthew’s a special one,” she explained. “I know my sister so he’s special. Trust! Matthew, you better know.”
T-Boz and Chilli explain why their upcoming Lifetime/A&E documentary, ‘TLC Forever‘, was so important to them. “It means a lot [to us], we put a lot of work in to this group for almost 31 years, so it’s about time people hear a real story — coming from us”, T-Boz says. “And we are here to tell it ourselves”, Chilli adds. “And we’re not gone, so no one can take it and ruin it”, T-Boz concludes.
“A lot of people have tried to tell our story — the wrong story. All these opinions and everybody’s five seconds of fame did not mean a thing, just a whole bunch of lies”, T-Boz says. “It’s time that people hear it from us. Honestly, it’s a story of trials, tribulations, and triumph. Because that’s what we’ve done.”
On the topic of new music, TLC reminds us that they are still working on their Broadway musical, which may include some new music. “We are working on our musical, and we know that may need some new music from us, and we’re working on some television shows that may also require us to get back in the studio”, Chilli explains. “It’s a big deal, it really is”, T-Boz adds. “It’s a blessing, and once again we’re here to tell it, they way that we want to do it”.
TLC are heading back on tour this summer on the ‘Hot Summer Nights‘ tour with Shaggy, En Vogue and Sean Kingston, which kicks off in June. “That’s the time we get to showcase everything that the fans love about us, and we go far beyond the call of duty in rehearsals,” Chilli told PEOPLE. “We don’t play when it comes to that, getting routines together, everything. We love it.”
Tickets for the TLC ‘Hot Summer Nights’ tour are on sale now. Head to officialtlc.com for more info.
Our beautiful TLC Queen Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins had fans happy to see her out on a movie date with a friend in Atlanta last week (March 1).
T-Boz went to the AMC theatre with her good friend King Yahweh to watch a privately screened showing of the action thriller movie, ‘Cocaine Bear‘, with King Yahweh saying, “she knows how to pick the good ones”.
‘Cocaine Bear’ is about a 500-pound black bear consumes a significant amount of cocaine and embarks on a drug-fueled rampage, an eccentric gathering of cops, criminals, tourists, and teenagers assemble in a Georgia forest. It has been renamed ‘Crazy Bear’ in some locations.
King Yahweh posted a short video of himself posing with T-Boz at the movie theatre to his social media platforms on March 2, with the caption, “King Yahweh with his super illustrious, beautiful friend Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, from the 4-time Grammy award winning group TLC, enjoying a private movie night”.
King also included hash tags ‘love her’ and ‘amazing’ to sum up how he felt about his friendly movie date companion for the night.
The following day, King Yahweh posted a photo of T-Boz with a beautiful bouquet of red roses and thanked her for the movie night. “Thank you Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins the night with you was amazing”, he added to his caption.
So, who is King Yahweh? He has been previously linked to other celebrities, including Claudia Jordan, LisaRaye and Pebbles, amongst others. According to the bio on his website, King Yahweh, founder and CEO of The Kingdom of YAHWEH, is a Global Peace Advocate & Motivational Speaker, promotes self-awareness, philanthropy, spirituality, and economic expansion.
We love seeing T-Boz happy doing things that she loves with those close to her, and we hope to see her friendship with King Yahweh continue to blossom!
R&B superstar Monica went viral on social media on Oct 30, 2022 when she posted her Halloween outfit on her pages, posing as TLC‘s Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes‘ mugshot after being arrested for arson in 1994 for burning the mansion of her then boyfriend Andre Rison.
Monica posted a picture of the VIBE cover that TLC took part in, posing as firefighters to let the world know that the members of TLC knew how to poke fun at themselves and would not be offended of situations like Left Eye’s arson incident being highlighted for Halloween.
TLC member Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins saw the post and gave Monica her approval as well as sharing a story about why Left Eye was wearing the floral dress she had on, which wasn’t her usual style. “Haaaaaaaa U crazy love it!!!!”, T-Boz replied on the post. “Funny story I dressed her that day…. And My Mama Said Why U Give Her That Ugly Ass Dress… And I Said That’s What She Picked”, T-Boz continued. “But Like WHY Did I Hv That Dress In The First Place lol Miss My Sister. Funny… U Did That”.
Monica was delighted with the response from T-Boz and shared the humor in the story behind Left Eye’s floral dress before sharing why she loves the ladies of TLC. “OMG YOU’RE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DRESS… I can hear Ms Gayle saying this”, Monica exclaims. “And why did you have it? But ok ok lol I LOVE U!”.
Monica went on to explain to T-Boz what TLC has done for her over the years. “Watching you all work was so impactful to me as a child but your continued support then always helped me stay on track! Both yours and Lisa’s ability to stay true to who you are left a mark of authenticity and humility on me that I’ve kept close to my heart for decades!”
Although some fans found the portrayal distasteful, it was worth noting that Monica grew up in the industry with TLC and was very close to the members of the group, and was signed to the same label Arista Records.
Other celebrities also chimed in to show what they thought of Monica’s Left Eye Halloween 2022 outfit. Cardi B said Monica ‘Bodied’ the look, Jermaine Dupri reacted with a “Wow!!!”, Ludacris added laughing emojis and Fat Joe wrote, “My girl.”
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West‘s daughter North West also paid homage to TLC this year. North and her friends decided to recreate the iconic “No Scrubs” music video, with North playing the role of Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas.
Responding to the super cute video, Chilli excitedly wrote, “#demtlcbabies nailed it!!!”, before also calling the recreation “toooo cuuute” in her Instagram story. T-Boz followed when she also shared it and wrote, “yyyyyyyeeeee. Okayyyyyy PrettyGirls … #NorthWest And Her Girls Smashed #TLC This Halloween @kimkardashian #demTLCGirls #DemTLCbabies Love The Love #tboz #Tbeezy #Nori”
The official TLC account also posted about the little superstar trio, sharing the same TikTok in a series of Instagram stories. “Yes! Looking incredible ladies!” the caption read. The account also said North West and her friends “nailed it,” before calling them “soo cute.”
Leon@TLCArmy
TLC-Army.com 