During her book release, T-Boz spoke about what she regretted most about her friendship with Tupac and how Shakur said he would die young.
In hopes of inspiring someone with her 2017 memoir, A Sick Life: TLC ‘n Me: Stories from On and Off the Stage, lead singer of Grammy-winning supergroup T.LC, Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins also did it for therapeutic reasons as well.
The singer has endured great hardship throughout her life. Despite her success in the music industry, 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 her whole life with sickle-cell disease.
Releasing the 250 plus page memoir, T-Boz also helped herself by releasing all her bottled up emotions. “I was like, you know what, they’re a lot of stuff I need to get off my chest and a lot of stuff I have not told people about. And a lot of stuff I need to get off my chest so I can feel better,” explained T-Boz during a book release Q&A.
Part of the hardship T-Boz faced was losing her friend and TLC group member, Left Eye. During the Q&A, T-Boz recalled that Left Eye stated she would die young. In fact, a year prior to her demise, Left Eye urged her record label to release her debut album “Supernova,” as she predicted an early death was coming.
Another close friend who lost their life at a young age was Tupac Shakur. According to T-Boz, Tupac also knew he did not have much time left. “Tupac used to say the same thing. When he died, he was like I know I’m a die young. He use to tell me, ‘That’s why I go to the studio, no matter how tired I am, cause I know I’m not gonna be here I’m a die.’ I use to look at him and ask, ‘Why you say that?’ And he said, ‘I know that’s my fate, but I’m going to live on forever,'” recalled T-Boz.
The singer also revealed one of her biggest regrets when it came to Tupac. “You know how they say the quote, give them their flowers while they’re still here. One of the people I wished I would have told I love and was one of my friends is Tupac. And I always felt bad. I always tell people now and the artists and the people I look up to, like ‘I love you. You did this for me.'”
Left Eye and Tupac had a genuine friendship and have appeared on a few songs together. Left Eye appeared on Tupac’s posthumous release “Until The End Of Time” on the song “Let Em Have It (Remix),” while Tupac was featured in Left Eye’s “Supernova” on the song “Untouchable.”
