Music legend who led America’s most successful girl-group while battling sickle cell

Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is a hereditary, incurable genetic blood disorder and one of the most harrowing and unforgiving ailments. Its victims liken a sickle cell attack to being indiscriminately stabbed by thousands of invisible knives and needles. SCD disproportionately affects Black people, with 60 to 80 per cent of worldwide victims being of 

African descent. Its presence in Black populations resulted from a genetic mutation that evolved thousands of years ago as natural protection against malaria, which was prevalent in Sub-Saharan Africa.

If a child is born with sickle cell, the disorder means they've inherited two abnormal haemoglobin genes, one from each parent. Tionne Tenese Watkins was born with Sickle Cell Disease on April 26, 1970 to James and Gayle Watkins in Des Moines, Iowa, and was constantly crying from excruciating pain.

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In that era, there was extensive ignorance about SCD, and Tionne's parents had limited knowledge of the ailment. James consequently divorced Gayle when Tionne was just three years old, and Gayle raised Tionne as a single mother.

In her memoir A Sick Life: TLC n' Me; Stories from On and Off the Stage, Tionne explains how sickle cell disease changes the shape of red blood cells. Instead of being round like normal red blood cells, SCD cells are curved into a crescent shape—hence the term "sickle". Due to the cells' inability to retain and preserve oxygen effectively, they become stuck and don't move smoothly to their correct destination, which can cause a stroke, organ failure, or instant death.

Tionne notes that there are three main types of sickle cell disease: sickle cell anaemia, SC, and SS. In some cases, they can be combined with other blood disorders such as beta-thalassemia, which creates variations of each. The most common is sickle cell anaemia, but Tionne's was a unique form called sicklethal—sickle cell type SC combined with arthritis and beta-thalassemia, a blood disorder that reduces the production of haemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen.

Doctors didn't know much about her variation of sickle cell and they never admitted their ignorance. Tionne was subsequently turned from a patient into an experimental guinea pig. Doctors relied on assumptions whilst recommending a litany of conflicting prescription drugs, which repeatedly weakened her. She didn't receive a correct diagnosis until she was 28 years old. Some days she'd wake up consumed by the pain of being stabbed by knives all over her joints.

The invisible knives penetrated her entire body except her fingers and toes, and it became impossible to function. She couldn't perform a task as simple as holding a glass of water or a pen. Walking, sitting up, or lying down were all torturous experiences. Every breath she took throbbed through her body with distressing aches, and each gasp of air was inhaled with a sharp, agonising twinge.

Tionne explains that when afflicted with sickle cell, red blood cells become stuck on their way around the veins, causing blockages and preventing vital organs from accessing oxygen. When there's a deficiency of oxygen, victims succumb to a crisis, which can occur without warning—an attack of severe pain that may be located only in a certain part of the body or all over.

If a sickle cell victim swims, boards a plane, gets caught in the rain, or experiences a change in climate, the condition can trigger a life-threatening attack. Strong emotions and extreme stress can also instigate a crisis. Drinking alcohol dangerously thins the blood, as does flying on a plane. Depending on its severity, a crisis usually lands victims in a hospital bed.

Hazardous decision

When Tionne chose a career in the performing arts, it was a tenacious and excessively hazardous decision. She knew she'd always be actively performing on stage and travelling on planes to different cities whilst rehearsing and entertaining audiences in contrasting climates.

In 1990, at 20, Tionne chose the stage name T-Boz. Together with her friend Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes, whom she endearingly called Lele, and Rozonda 'Chilli' Thomas, they formed TLC, with Tionne as their lead singer.

They released their debut studio album Ooooooohhh... On the TLC Tip on February 25, 1992 on LaFace Records, with its lead single Ain't 2 Proud 2 Beg peaking at number six on the US Billboard Charts. The album was an outstanding success and sold over four million copies. Regrettably, TLC had been defrauded into signing an exploitative recording contract that bound them to LaFace Records. To make extra money, they toured with MC Hammer, Bobby Brown, and Jodeci. The rehearsals and constant performances repeatedly left 
Tionne impaired, despondent, and hospitalised.

She developed a high tolerance for pain and trained herself to avoid complaining or seeking pity. She didn't always appear sick, and when she visited hospitals during a crisis without showing vivid signs of distress, nurses would assume her ailment wasn't severe.

Worsening the situation, Tionne discovered that TLC's production, management, and publishing deal with Pebbitone, a company founded by Perri 'Pebbles' Reid, wife of LaFace co-owner LA Reid, was fraudulent. Pebbles owned the TLC brand name and persistently exploited them by stealing their royalties.

They were left cash-strapped and ended up using $3 million from the earnings of their second album CrazySexyCool to pay Pebbles and buy out their brand name. CrazySexyCool ended up selling over 15 million copies and was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America. Its chart-topping singles *Creep* and *Waterfalls* became urban anthems.

In 1999, TLC's third studio album FanMail, propelled by lead singles No Scrubs and Unpretty, was also certified Diamond after selling over 10 million copies, making TLC the most successful girl group in American history.

Jeff Anthony is a novelist, Big Brother Africa 2 Kenyan representative and founder of Jeff's Fitness Centre @jeffbigbrother