December 12. 2008

Tionne Watkins A/K/A T-Boz (left) and Rhozonda Thomas A/K/A Chilli (right)

Tionne Watkins, lead singer of the Laface Records R&B group TLC, better known as T-Boz, is facing foreclosure, as the bank has obtained a sale date to auction off her $530,000 Sugarloaf subdivision home in Duluth, Georgia. In the 1990s, TLC had a dispute with its manager Pebbles (Perri Reid) regarding their finances. They blamed her for taking management and record company fees they stated left them with little money after expenses.

TLC in the 1990's

What Pebbles should have done was taken her production company and TLC to the major label she was signed to, MCA and struck a deal directly with them. This would have avoided LaFace being a third party to the deal, getting a cut of the royalties, some of which could have gone to the group.

Those three way deals seldom work, as the pie has to be divided by too many people. It’s best when it’s one label and the artist or one label, an imprint label and the artist. After Pebbles sued Laface for trying to cut her out of the profits from the group she created and managed, she was awarded a reported $15,000,000 to $20,000,000 settlement.

TLC was also given a multi-million dollar sum to continue recording with LaFace. They went on to sell an additional 10,000,000 CDs bringing their total to a reported 42,000,000 albums sold worldwide. This makes them the best selling female group of all time. They also staged two successful world tours and did a reality series for which they were paid per episode.

My question is, after the settlement sum, successful album and tour, increased royalty rate, plus merchandising fees, where did all that money go, that one of them is in the same predicament again. Last month T-Boz announced an auction on the Craig’s List website for her designer clothes, handbags and accessories.

STORY SOURCE

T-Boz Is The Latest Victim Of Home Foreclosure

Former TLC singer, T-Boz, is another victim of the sad state of the housing market. She too has is reportedly losing her home. According to TMZ, the 10,000-sq. ft. Georgia home of T-Boz (real name: Tionne Watkins) is set to go on the auction block in January 2009, after failing to make her mortgage payments. Public records indicate that the singer has defaulted on the original principal of her mortgage, which is reportedly around $530,000, and now the state has taken it.