Rozonda Ocielian Thomas (born February 27, 1971), better 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 20th century.

Thomas was born in Columbus, Georgia and graduated from Benjamin Elijah Mays High School in 1989.^[2] Her father, Abdul Ali, is of Bangladeshi and Arab descent, while her mother, Ava Thomas, is African American and Native American.^[3][4][5]

Thomas, who had been raised by her mother, later allowed the Sally Jessy Raphael television talk show to air footage of her meeting her father for the first time in 1996, when she was 25.^[3][6] When she was a child, her great-grandmother, whom she called Big Mama, took her to the Seventh-day Adventist Church.^[7]

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 looked for a new TLC member in the reality series R U The Girl.^[18] 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.^[19] The second season of What Chilli Wants premiered on January 2, 2011.^[20] 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.^[21] Thomas also appeared on episode 14 of WWE Countdown where she spoke about The Rock.^[22] Thomas was later a judge for truTV's reality series Fake Off, which premiered on October 27, 2014.^[23]

In 2017, she portrayed Zora Neale Hurston in Marshall, a biographical film about the life of Thurgood Marshall.^[24]

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, Tron Austin (born June 2, 1997).^[25]

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.^[26]

In late 2022, Thomas began dating actor Matthew Lawrence. The pair went public with their relationship in January 2023.^[27][28]

She is a member of the Granite Bay Seventh-day Adventist Church.^[29][30]

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.^[31]

In 2012, Thomas started a non-profit organization called Chilli's Crew. The organization is an Atlanta-based program targeted at helping girls between the ages of 13 and 17 build healthy levels of self-esteem.^[32]

In 2013, Thomas took a stand against cyberbullying after her son Tron 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.^[33]