Tones and I

Toni Watson, known professionally as Tones and I, is an Australian singer, songwriter, and record producer. She is best known for her 2019 single "Dance Monkey", which went number one in over 30 countries including her native home Australia. In 2019–20, "Dance Monkey" completed 24 weeks at number one on the Australian singles chart, beating Bing Crosby's all-time Australian record for his version of "White Christmas", which spent an equivalent of 22 weeks at the top in 1943. "Dance Monkey" was certified 19× platinum by ARIA for shipments of over 1,330,000 units by June 2023.

Tones was the most awarded artist at the ARIA Music Awards of 2019, winning four of eight nominations. She released her debut extended play, The Kids Are Coming, on 30 August 2019; it peaked at number three in Australia, and top 10 in several countries. Her debut album, Welcome to the Madhouse, was released via Bad Batch on 16 July 2021. It debuted at number one on the ARIA Albums Chart. The album's lead single "Fly Away" peaked at number four in Australia, number 11 in the UK and Denmark, and number 10 in Ireland. In February 2024, she became the first female artist to reach over 3 billion streams for a single song on Spotify, with "Dance Monkey".

Life and career

Early years

Toni Watson grew up in Mount Martha on the Mornington Peninsula to the south of Melbourne. She later explained how she chose a music career: "One day I was at the park with my family, all my cousins and stuff, in Frankston ... We were all just singing a song and my aunty was like 'oh guys, she can actually hold a note'. I think that's the earliest memory of someone actually pointing me out as someone that has an ability to sing. I was probably like 7 years old." The singer-songwriter had learned to play keyboards and drum pads while at secondary school. She started busking in Melbourne while working in fashion retail at the Universal Store.

In 2009, as Toni Watson, she created a YouTube page and posted a cappella cover versions of songs. She performed at local gigs and festivals including the Let Go festival. Tones and I was the vocalist for a duo in 2014 remembering: "I started out singing in small pubs and bars in Mornington, I was singing along to a guitarist until I ended up branching out on my own." She explained her shift to a solo career: "I actually got made redundant from my retail job and with that money I bought an RC300 [loop station] and just started to try to figure it all out." She busked "up and down the east coast with her synthesizers and loop pedal, she has been building a loyal fanbase and captivating crowds with her genre-diverse style."

In September 2017, the singer-songwriter travelled to Byron Bay, New South Wales, to busk there. At an early performance she met music lawyer Jackson Walkden-Brown (ex-Aerials) who became her talent manager about a month later. Busking success led to a greater commitment to her music career. The artist spent 2018 living between Walkden-Brown's home in the Gold Coast hinterland and in her van in Byron Bay, writing music and busking full time. Later in the year she won the Battle of the Buskers at Buskers by the Creek.