Tanya Hijazi is the ex-wife of Rick James, the late famous American musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. She was born in 1972 and so is 52 years old. Tanya is currently working on production sets as a fashion and set designer while still residing in the United States of America.
Tanya and James dated for about six years before they got married in 1996. Their marriage only produced one son named Tazman James, who was born in 1993. Tanya and James later divorced each other in 2002 under unknown circumstances, and she has not remarried since then, though her only publicly known relationship with actor and rapper Darius McCrary almost took her down the aisle before it was cut off.
Summary of Tanya Hijazi’s Bio
- Full name: Tanya Hijazi
- Gender: Female
- Date of birth: 1972
- Tanya Hijazi’s Age: 52 year old
- Ethnicity: Caucasian
- Nationality: American
- Sexual Orientation: Straight
- Religion: Christianity
- Marital Status: Divorcee
- Tanya Hijazi’s Husband: Rick James (ex-husband)
- Tanya Hijazi’s Children: Tazman James
- Tanya Hijazi’s Net worth: About $ 1 million
- Famous for: Being the wife of legendary singer-songwriter Rick James
Tanya Hijazi was Born in 1972
While her actual month and date of birth are unknown, it is known that Tanya Hijazi was born in the year 1972, which makes her 52 year old. For someone who has grown popular over the years, it is almost a surprise that little is known about her early life, education, and family background.
Tanya was said to have been born in the United States of America, even though the actual state and town remain a mystery. Nevertheless, Tanya must have had a lot of exposure as a kid, which is one of the reasons why she remains a social and outgoing person.
Tanya Hijazi and Rick James Met at a Party
Rick James was a very successful musician back between the mid-1970s to late 1980s, and he was regarded as (or one of ) the king of pop/funk music back in the day. His songs – especially hit tracks such as Super Freak, Ghetto Life, Give It To Me, and several others, were the rave of the moment with enjoyed massive airplay in America and at all party venues.
At that time of her life, Tanya Hijazi was just a free-spirited and fun-loving girl who loved to party a lot and had definitely danced a lot to Rick James’ songs at parties. It is believed that she met Rick James at a party event, and she must have made quite an impression on his mind to be singled out of the teeming crowd by Rick James.
They met and probably partied together quite some more after their initial meeting, and Tanya must have really possessed some remarkable qualities back then to have attracted Rick James’ attention – who, by the way, could have had any girl at his beck and call, at that point in his career. They would go on to develop a romantic relationship between them after some time.
Tanya was still very young and about 17 when she met Rick James, and the fact that she was able to get his attention and eventually go on to become romantically linked with him and eventually go on to get married to him means she definitely must have been something way back then. The attraction could possibly have been based on her stunning beauty and unique party-loving lifestyle, or maybe because she just made Rick James immensely happy at the time.
Tanya Hijazi Became Rick James’s Wife in 1996
Tanya Hijazi got married to the famous American singer-songwriter Rick James sometime in 1996 after going through quite a lot with him. They decided to tie the nuptial knots and make their relationship more solid by getting married in 1996, at a ceremony that would probably have been graced with the glitz and glamour that Rick James has always been associated with over the years.
Tanya Hijazi’s relationship with Rick James did not start in 1996, though, some say that it actually began in the very late 1980s, but official reports have it that they actually began dating sometime in 1990 when she was pretty much still below 20 years, and was still wild and a dedicated party-going girl, who loved to have fun and mingle with others at social parties.
Tanya Hijazi’s Had an Interesting Marriage With Rick James
Marrying a popular and wealthy celebrity does come with a lot of advantages, and definitely, Tanya Hijazi’s marriage to Rick James did come with everything one could imagine – both the good and the bad. Tanya, by virtue of her marriage to Rick, had an all-access card to the best events, shows and concerts, and even the best after-party events that all of us read about, but only a few lucky ones are privileged to attend.
At the time Tanya got married to Rick James, he was struggling with a drug addiction problem as he was addicted to crack cocaine and heroin, and he had unsuccessfully gone into drug rehabilitation programs, only to come out worse than before he went in. At about the time of their marital union, Rick was spending up to $ 7,000 a week on the purchase of cocaine and heroin, which he got into with his wife Tanya.
It is not clear if Tanya was into drugs before she got married to Rick James, but it was definitely something she got into a lot while she was married to him. It was reported that Rick James was also addicted to having sex, and he did that most times to the point of passing out from sheer exhaustion from his very frequent marathon sex sessions – some of which his wife Tanya willingly participated in and of her own free will.
Tanya Hijazi and Rick James Run-Ins With The Law
While Tanya and Rick James were still dating and not yet married, they got into some activities that had them on the wrong side of the law on more than one occasion. On August 2, 1991, Tanya Hijazi and Rick James were arrested and charged with holding a certain Frances Alley – who was 24 years old then, hostage for about 6 days without her permission.
While the two lovers held their victim hostage they were said to have forced her to engage in rigorous sexual activities with them against her will and also used the hot end of a crack cocaine pipe to burn her abdomen and legs while they were on a cocaine-induced sex binge, which lasted for about a whole week. Miss Alley was later released by the two lovers and allowed to leave their mansion.
The victim, Miss Alley, was said to have checked herself into a nearby medical facility after she regained her freedom from Tanya and Rick James to receive treatment for her burn scars and possibly medications for all that she had to go through while she was being held captive. She thereafter reported the incident to the Police, who, upon investigation, picked up the two lovers.
The authorities arrested and charged Tanja and Rick James with a flurry of charges which included kidnapping, torture, assault with a deadly weapon, forcible oral copulation, aggravated mayhem, and false imprisonment. Rick James and Tanya were facing life in prison if they were convicted of all charges brought against them by the authorities.
With Rick James’ connections and financial resources, he was able to hire the best lawyers who represented him in court and were able to get some of the charges brought against him and Tanya either quashed or outrightly dismissed during their court session. The couple was released after meeting very stringent bail conditions.
The Two Lovebirds Go On Rampage Once Again
While both Tanya Hijazi and Rick James were still out on bail and probably still being fueled by their riotous lifestyle, they struck again and committed almost the same crime that got them into trouble the first time around. This time they did something almost as sinister as what they had done earlier, which almost put them away in jail for life.
On November 2, 1992, Rick James was reported to have kidnapped and assaulted record label executive Mary Sauger. Sawyer claimed that she was scheduled to have a business meeting with Rick James and Tanya Hijazi at the St. James Club and Hotel in West Hollywood but that the two lovers kidnapped her instead and beat her up over a 20-hour period.
Both Tanya and Rick James were arrested again after this second incident was reported to the authorities, and Tanya was sentenced to 4 years imprisonment, while Rick James was sentenced to a 5-year jail term. Both of them were very lucky to avoid being sentenced to Life Imprisonment. Tanya got out after serving just 15 months out of her sentence, while Rick James was released after service 2 years of incarceration.
About a year and a half after Rick James was released from prison and probably being brought closer by the experiences both he and Tanya shared with their prison sentences, they both decided to get married in 1996 and remained so for a couple of years, before the relationship between them began to depreciate beyond reconciliation, and the inevitable happened.
Tanya Hijazi and Rick James’ Divorce
After being married for about 6 years in total, the whirlwind romance between Tanya Hijazi and Rick James came to a tumultuous end in 2002 when they divorced each other. Both of them have ever given their account of whatever transpired between them that led to the eventual divorce, but it seemed like their whirlwind romance had to come to an end at some point. Their son, Tazman, was only 9 when his parents divorced each other.
The rumor mills had it that Rick James was involved with another woman, and that was what eventually led to a breakdown in his relationship with Tanya, while others had it that Rick James was physically assaulting Tanya in their marriage, and she decided to call time on her marriage when she could not take the abuse and torment any longer. After their separation, James went on to be associated with a few other women, while Tanya Hijazi just seemed to fade away from public life and sight for a long time.
Tanya Hijazi and Rick James Children
Tanya Hijazi and Rick James were married in 1996, after being lovers and together for about 6 years, but 3 years before they eventually got married, they had a son in 1993, who they named Tazman James. Tazman was 3 years old when his parents got married, and they both loved him with all their hearts and gave him the best that they could give in terms of love, affection, and gifts.
Throughout the six years duration of her marriage to Rick James, Tanya was not able to conceive again and produce another child in the marriage, so Tazman is the only child that they had as a couple. Tazman, however, was not the only child that Rick James had throughout his life though he had two children – Tyenza and Rick Jr. James with his first wife Syville Morgan, who also became Tanya’s stepchildren when she was married to Rick James.
Tanya Hijazi’s Love Life After Her Divorce From Rick James
After Tanya Hijazi and Rick James got divorced in 2002, she just seemed to fade away into obscurity for several years. There was no report of her dating anyone publicly, and neither did she get married again to anyone else, but she decided to remain single, take care of her son and better manage her life after all the chaos with her ex-husband.
She never really had a job or career while she was dating and later got married to Rick James, but as she had no source of income on her own after the divorce, she decided to look for work in the entertainment industry that she had become accustomed to over the years. She took up a job as a Costume and Set designer in the industry and got to work on a few movie productions.
Tanya Hijazi Nearly Got Married Again
Sometime in the early 2020s, rumors began flying around that Tanya Hijazi was in a romantic relationship with Darius McCrary – the famous actor who starred as Eddie Winslow in ABC/CBS drama sitcom Family Matters, which ran for almost a decade from 1989 to 1998. The interesting thing in that relationship was that Darius himself confessed that he was actually Tanya’s ex-husband’s godson – which means that she was actually dating her own godson somehow.
By 2021 news had gone around that Tanya and Darius were actually engaged and were planning to get married soon. In an interview that both Tanya and Darius granted that year, they confirmed that they were indeed engaged and could be getting married soon. They even sealed their announcement in that interview by kissing each other passionately right there for all to see.
Things Turned Sour Between Tanya Hijazi and Darius McCrary
Sadly, the engagement between Tanya Hijazi and her lover Darius McCrary broke down shortly after, and by 2022 Darius had obtained a restraining order from the court preventing Tanya from coming anywhere beyond 100 feet from his home. Darius claimed that Tanya was abusing him in their relationship and that she had turned his home into a drug den. So automatically, their engagement was cut off.
Where is Tanya Hijazi Now?
After Tanya Hijazi’s engagement to Darius McCrary broke down, she retreated back into her shell and has stayed out of the limelight for some time now. She is believed to still be residing in the United States of America and is still pursuing a career in Hollywood working as a fashion/set and production designer. She is also trying to make it as an actress in Hollywood, but that bit of her life is not quite working out for her yet at the moment.
