Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.
Start by marking “A Sick Life: TLC 'n Me: Stories from On and Off the Stage” as Want to Read:
A Sick Life: TLC 'n Me: Stories from On and Off the Stage
by
Hailed by Rolling Stone as "the most effervescent and soulful girl group anyone has seen since the Supremes," five-time Grammy Award winning supergroup TLC has seen phenomenal fame and success. But backstage, Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins has lived a dual life. In addition to the balancing act of juggling an all-consuming music career and her family, Tionne has struggled with sic
...more
Get A Copy
Hardcover, 256 pages
Published
September 12th 2017
by Rodale Books
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Reader Q&A
To ask other readers questions about
A Sick Life,
please sign up.
Be the first to ask a question about A Sick Life
This book is not yet featured on Listopia.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
Showing 1-30

Start your review of A Sick Life: TLC 'n Me: Stories from On and Off the Stage

I've had "Waterfalls" stuck in my head all day.
TLC is the highest selling group in history and Tionne "T-Boz"Watkins is (I believe) the heart and soul of the group. This book had me rolling with laughter at times and feeling sad at other times. Man, I really miss Left Eye. I still remember where I was when I heard Left Eye was gone. It felt so awful. We had just lost Aaliyah 8 months before not to mention 9/11was 7 months earlier. It was a rough time.
T-Boz is blunt and real. She is the truth. S ...more
TLC is the highest selling group in history and Tionne "T-Boz"Watkins is (I believe) the heart and soul of the group. This book had me rolling with laughter at times and feeling sad at other times. Man, I really miss Left Eye. I still remember where I was when I heard Left Eye was gone. It felt so awful. We had just lost Aaliyah 8 months before not to mention 9/11was 7 months earlier. It was a rough time.
T-Boz is blunt and real. She is the truth. S ...more

If you are looking for real behind the scenes information, you will surely be disappointed. This book was a carefully crafted PR move to control the narrative of her celebrity. She was tired of being defined by TLC and the gossip rags, so this book was to tell you want she wants to know about her.
Except Tionne didn’t reveal anything worth hearing other than how Left Eye got her mark where she wore the black paint like a football player.
This audiobook was so boring and lacking anything I haven’t ...more
Except Tionne didn’t reveal anything worth hearing other than how Left Eye got her mark where she wore the black paint like a football player.
This audiobook was so boring and lacking anything I haven’t ...more

Oct 14, 2017
Christina
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
september-17-challenge
I enjoyed this memoir. I listened to this book on my library hoopla account. The book, narrated by T-Boz herself included music from TLC as well as solo music from the artist herself. The book reads like a street lit bestseller. To read more of this review and to see an exclusive video of T-Boz talking about her book on KTLA 5 click here.
...more

I am in the minority when I say that I did not grow up listening to TLC. Granted that I am familiar with the majority of their songs, not many songs I am familiar with. There are only some songs that I know such as No Scrubs, Waterfalls,Unpretty and many of their hit songs. However, I know that there are one of the best selling female groups of all time, having sold over 10 million or more copies in the United states and twice or more overseas. My expectations reading this book was to know more
...more

I Love It. I can relate to being in the hospital. It was touching.
I love it. I can relate to being in the hospital. I have Scoliosis and Raynauds' syndrome and pain knows pain. It was touching ...more
I love it. I can relate to being in the hospital. I have Scoliosis and Raynauds' syndrome and pain knows pain. It was touching ...more

I’ve always loved TLC since I was a child getting my big brother to call and request their videos to play on The Box channel (I’m showing my age 😂, anybody else remember The Music Box/The Box?). Their first album was the first cassette tape I owned and I still remember the Fanmail tour stop in MSG as one of my favorite concerts. I even bought T-Boz’s book of poetry when it came out. “Unpretty” helped get me through high school and build my self-confidence. I say all of this to say that reading t
...more

This was fine. I'd probably have liked it more if I read it to learn more about TLC and her general life, but I was hoping for more about her struggles with her chronic illness, sickle cell disease. It's there, but she really focuses on the major health crises she had and not how she had to manage it. I was hoping for a more relatable story. While she says that she is sharing her story so that other people can see that they can overcome illness, really, she just feeds that narrative of pushing t
...more

She is a warrior! The fact that she performed with Sickle Cell and has battled so many challenges is just amazing. She was so brutally honest in her reflections. Although this was her bio she gave so much insight into other artists she encountered over her life including Suge Knight, Aretha Franklin, Pebbles, Puff Daddy, and of course Left Eye. She talked about her beginnings, personal relationships, grief, motherhood, and a different career path. She never gave up.

I'm a fan of TLC but not a big fan of this book. Tionne has survived the odds and has overcome some major hurdles in her life, but I still wasn't able to fully connect to this book.
I even tried listening to the audiobook but that ended up boring me to tears. Tionne's monotone voice made the story drag so much that I had to continue reading the book on my Kindle. ...more
I even tried listening to the audiobook but that ended up boring me to tears. Tionne's monotone voice made the story drag so much that I had to continue reading the book on my Kindle. ...more

Inspirational book by the member of one of my favorite groups... TLC monikers of Waterfalls, Scrubs ,Unpretty. Watkins writes of her struggle with sickle cell anemia and how she did things that were impossible. It was a very comforting and inspirational book to read.

SHE CONTINUES TO DEFY THE ODDS!!! This is Tionne’s story and honestly, the TLC story never gets old to me. They are legendary and I loved them in House Party 3 too!
Although I’ve seen their biopic and the Netflix show about them there were things that I did not know about T-Boz that I quite enjoyed learning in this memoir. I liked how she handled herself overall as a woman and how her illness never let her be less of a person— she wanted stardom and she received it. I love how she loved her famil ...more
Although I’ve seen their biopic and the Netflix show about them there were things that I did not know about T-Boz that I quite enjoyed learning in this memoir. I liked how she handled herself overall as a woman and how her illness never let her be less of a person— she wanted stardom and she received it. I love how she loved her famil ...more

The first parental advisory CD I was ever allowed to purchase was TLC's "Fanmail" and that album was FIRE. "No Scrubs" was my jam and even though I came late to loving TLC, I was definitely a fan. I was even excited to see them open for New Kids on the Block a few years ago. That being said, I never knew much about the pop group, I knew that one of them died and one of them sometimes got sick but that was about it. "A Sick Life" goes into T-Boz's story about her childhood, her battle with Sickle
...more

Clear-cut, down-to-earth, smooth voice...like her TLC sound, and solid good pacing I really loved the fluency of Tionne telling her story. Reading about Sickle Cell was particularly eye-opening. Her view on medicine and physicians, on point. Loved her relationship with her mother, grandmother, and friends like Jessica; and actually the relationship between the R&B group TLC. More to the point, I respected the level-headedness of the telling of the overall story and the dual premise behind the ti
...more

I was a huge fan of TLC back in the day, so I was eager to get some behind-the-scenes scoop on the group, the music industry, and Watkins' health struggles. There were some interesting stories, but nothing really too exciting. Also, Watkins' portrays herself as a role model--someone who has dealt with many tragedies (deaths, near death experiences of her own, etc.). But there was one incident described where Watkins injures a woman so badly she is in the hospital for 2 months. It was hard for me
...more

Just when you thought you knew all there was to know about the legendary girl group TLC, Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins delivers this satisfying memoir that adds even more dimension to their already well known story.
In A Sick Life TLC ‘n Me: Stories from On and Off the Stage, Tionne walks the reader carefully through some the most memorable moments of her life. Page after page she produces personal, emotional and sometimes funny, behind the scene stories that are sure to keep your interest from the fir ...more
In A Sick Life TLC ‘n Me: Stories from On and Off the Stage, Tionne walks the reader carefully through some the most memorable moments of her life. Page after page she produces personal, emotional and sometimes funny, behind the scene stories that are sure to keep your interest from the fir ...more

I have fangirled TLC for more than 20 years, and I'm not a 90s music proponent. Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, Rfozonda "Chilli" Thomas and the late Lisa "Left-Eye" Lopez brought visual as well as musical trends to the party; with their fashion pops of color; contrasting flow of loose/casual comfort and body-conscious streamlining. Furthermore, they each stood out as individuals; anyone who was anyone back in the day knows exactly to which respective members *CrazySexyCool* (the title of their smash s
...more

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.

A Sick Life: TLC ‘n Me: Stories from On and Off the Stage
I Picked Up This Book Because: I’m a fan of the band.
The Story:
A very “meh” book for me. It would probably have been better read off the page instead of an audiobook as I just didn’t like the narration. Content wise this book was interesting. We learn of course about T-Boz’s early years and how the band came together. We heard a lot about their struggles with their management and label. We also learn about disputes wit ...more
I Picked Up This Book Because: I’m a fan of the band.
The Story:
A very “meh” book for me. It would probably have been better read off the page instead of an audiobook as I just didn’t like the narration. Content wise this book was interesting. We learn of course about T-Boz’s early years and how the band came together. We heard a lot about their struggles with their management and label. We also learn about disputes wit ...more

As the lead singer of Grammy-winning supergroup TLC, Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins has seen phenomenal fame, success, and critical acclaim. But backstage, she has lived a dual life. In addition to the balancing act of juggling an all-consuming music career and her family, Tionne has struggled since she was a young girl with sickle-cell disease--a debilitating and incurable condition that can render her unable to perform, walk, or even breathe.
A Sick Life chronicles Tionne's journey from a sickly young ...more
A Sick Life chronicles Tionne's journey from a sickly young ...more

In the 1990s, I can recall sitting on the couch and watching a new group's music video. That group was TLC, and I didn't know much about them, but it was clear they were game changers in the music industry. With their unique sound and eye-catching outfits, they definitely stood out.
Recently, I was browsing at the local library and saw this, the lead singer T-Boz's memoir, and just had to pick it up. I learned a lot about how the group formed and developed their relationships and music, but I a ...more
Recently, I was browsing at the local library and saw this, the lead singer T-Boz's memoir, and just had to pick it up. I learned a lot about how the group formed and developed their relationships and music, but I a ...more

Short but sweet memoir from the "frontwoman" of legendary 90s trio TLC.
I wasn't a fan of TLC until I saw them live when they toured with Montell Jordan and Boys II Men. They blew the fellas away onstage. I was hooked from then on. They were about 10 years ahead of everyone else with their art, so they burned bright and fast before it all ended with the tragic accidental death of Lisa Lopes.
Tionne of course had a complicated life before TLC, with a lifelong chronic illness that took decades to ge ...more
I wasn't a fan of TLC until I saw them live when they toured with Montell Jordan and Boys II Men. They blew the fellas away onstage. I was hooked from then on. They were about 10 years ahead of everyone else with their art, so they burned bright and fast before it all ended with the tragic accidental death of Lisa Lopes.
Tionne of course had a complicated life before TLC, with a lifelong chronic illness that took decades to ge ...more

This was a sick memoir (TOP DEFINITION:
that's sick; something that is exceptionally cool). I listened to the audiobook that I received from the publisher via LibraryThing Early Reviewers, and I’m so thankful I did so. Tionne Watkins reads the details of her career, family, friends, acquaintances. Health and death in a very honest and considerate of others way.
The audio also included a couple of songs that you wouldn’t have heard unless you asked “Alexa” to play TLC, one of the most famous gir ...more
that's sick; something that is exceptionally cool). I listened to the audiobook that I received from the publisher via LibraryThing Early Reviewers, and I’m so thankful I did so. Tionne Watkins reads the details of her career, family, friends, acquaintances. Health and death in a very honest and considerate of others way.
The audio also included a couple of songs that you wouldn’t have heard unless you asked “Alexa” to play TLC, one of the most famous gir ...more

I am fortunate to have received a copy of this amazing book from a goodreads giveaway. I absolutely connected with the author, Tionne Watkins (T-BOZ) immediately and loved the book. T-BOZ writes from the heart in an honest way that does not always show her in the most favorable light. It is this honest approach that engrossed me in the memoir. I respect her frank way of telling her story from struggles with Sickle Cell to her time on the Celebrity Apprentice. I have spent a good portion of my li
...more
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Tionne Watkins, better known by her stage name T-Boz, is an American singer, songwriter, model, dancer, actress, author, and executive producer. Watkins rose to fame in the early 1990s as the lead singer of the girl-group TLC. She has won four Grammy Awards for her work with TLC. Watkins went public with her struggle with sickle cell anemia in 1996 and later became one of the spokespersons for Sic
...more
Related Articles
Anne Lamott, the beloved writer of memoirs including Bird by Bird and Traveling Mercies, once said, “You own everything that happened to you....
61 likes · 22 comments
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
“Her arrival was not just the beginning of her life, but of my own, too. I decided that my life would be divided into two eras: "Before Chase" and "After Chase.”
—
0 likes
More quotes…