Tones and I: ‘I want youth to have someone not so squeaky clean to look up to’

Living out of her van, writing music and performing on the main street of Byron Bay, Toni Watson resolved to keep busking until she was 50.

Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

Two years ago, Toni Watson took a big punt: she quit her Melbourne retail job and became a full-time busker. Living out of her van, ­writing music and performing on the main street of Byron Bay in NSW — to a mixture of applause and abuse — Watson resolved to keep busking until she was 50.

The gamble paid off. Now, as Tones and I, she is an international star. Channelling the frustrations of street performing, her second single, Dance Monkey, became­ the most successful song of 2019, reaching No 1 in more than 30 countries shortly after its release in May.

It became the longest-standing No 1 single by a female artist in Britain and has just finished its 22nd consecutive week on top of the ARIA singles chart — a record in the list’s modern history.

She has also been nominated for The Australian’s Australian of the Year award

Watson’s success has been a mixed blessing, and she admits she sometimes struggled with her new-found fame. “This past year for me has been one of the best and worst times of my life. I have experienced so much love intertwined with hate,” she said. Last year, she received death threats and harsh criticism of her work.

Undeterred, she recorded a debut EP, The Kids are Coming, which was released in August and charted in 16 countries. She’s back in the studio recording a full-length album, which she says will shine the light on musicians who were once like her — talented, but overlooked. “It’s a mix between memories as a child to the roller-coaster that is my life now, and everything in between,” she said.

“I will bring in some young, talented Aussies that I think are incredible but maybe don’t get the recognition they deserve; I won’t release names as of yet but the first track should be out in February.”

App users tap here to nominate your Australian of the Year

Long sessions in the recording studio are accompanied by a gruelling live performance schedule. Over the next three months, Watson is scheduled to perform more than 30 shows across the world, and she has committed to performing in a charity benefit­ with other artists in Melbourn­e on January 28 to raise money for bushfire appeals.

“After seeing the devastation in Australia, the first thing you think about as a human is, ‘How can I help?’,” she said. “I have a platform to help others now, people going through rough times.”

Watson has also arranged ­Australia’s first celebrity charity basketball match for May 6, with money raised to go to the Red Cross and state fire services. “We plan to raise over $1m and already have sponsors involved, for which we have acquired Melbourne Arena free of charge for the event,” she said.

Despite her international success­ and soaring profile, Watson­ remains grounded and philosophical about her place in the world. “It’s a real honour to be nominated … I want the youth in Australia to have someone that isn’t so squeaky-clean to look up to. I can be rough and I’m a bit of a bogan but my intentions have always­ been, and will always be, for the bigger picture.”

Had Watson’s career not taken off, would she still be busking on the streets of Byron Bay?

“I always said I would busk until I die because whether I’m selling out shows or playing on the street, I am still living a life off my music and that’s the exact life I want to live,” she said.

We encourage our readers to put in a nomination for The Australian’s Australian of the Year, which was first won in 1971 by economist HC “Nugget” Coombs. Prominent Australians can be nominated by filling out the coupon above, or sending an email to [e-mail] or going to our website, theaustralian.com.au. Nominations close on Thursday, January 23.