Tones and I hits the top of the ARIA singles chart again after singing at the AFL Grand Final

Aussie music star Tones & I has now tied for the longest running No.1 single on the ARIA chart, after she performed at the AFL Grand Final.

First Tones and I came with the good times bop Dance Monkey and created Australian chart history.

Now she’s hit a new music milestone as she tied for the longest running No.1 single on the ARIA singles chart.

It has been in the top spot on the chart for nine straight weeks — the only other single to ever do that is Justice Crew’s song Que Sera from 2014.

And she has unveiled her master plan — a purpose-written anthem for the global youth activists movement.

Tones and I during the 2019 AFL Grand Final match between the Richmond Tigers and the GWS Giants at the MCG on September 28, 2019 in Melbourne, Australia. Picture: Mark Stewart

In the same week Greta Thunberg passionately rebuked world leaders for their failure to act on climate change, Tones and I has revealed her powerful video for new single The Kids Are Coming.

The 19-year-old Australian singer and songwriter is joined by prominent young activists in the video which shows them marching, wearing hoodies and pants emblazoned with The Kids Are Coming graffiti.

Tones has penned an anthem for the movement of her generation. Picture: Supplied by Sony Music.

This Is Zero Hour climate change activists Kevin Patel and Chandini Brennan Agarwal and transgender rights activist Ryan Jacob Flores are among those Tones and I honours for their work in the clip.

Australian performer Tones And I has released a song dedicated to the youth activist movement. Picture: Elise Derwin

Holding calls-to-action signs regularly seen at marches around the world including “Wake Up”, “Act Now” and “If Not Now When”, the dark, ominous video shot in Los Angeles distils the anger and frustration of young people about the lack of action on several fronts including gun control and refugees.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has started school strikes worldwide. Photo: Francois Mori.

Tones and I said as her chart-busting fun “bop” of Dance Monkey began its ascent up streaming charts after its release in May, she began formulating her plans to unleash her anthem for the youth protest movement.

With Dance Monkey amassing more than 200 million streams, and spending eight weeks at No. 1 on the Australian singles charts and several other countries as well, she now has many ears pointed in her direction.

She joined Paul Kelly, Dean Lewis and Conrad Sewell at the MCG on Saturday to perform ahead of the 2019 AFL Grand Final between Richmond and GWS.

Dean Lewis, Tones and I, Conrad Sewell and Paul Kelly performed at the AFL Grand Final. Picture: Daniel Pockett/AFL Photos.

“To do everything I have wanted to do as an artist, I needed to get to a point where I could release this song and it would have traction,” she said.

“I never thought (Dance Monkey) would go this big and I knew the time was right now for The Kids Are Coming. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t talk about what I believe in and genuinely try to empower myself and my audience to do something good.”

The lyrics of the song, which she also produced herself, are pointed.

“No one seems to understand the kids these days, And why we live this way, We got to clean up the mess you’ve made, Still you don’t wanna change,” she sings in the second verse.

MORE NEWS

Aussie artists finding success in busking

Greta Thunberg’s powerful speech in full

Kelsea Ballerini’s on-camera cry

Just as Thunberg was targeted by adult “haters” who vehemently attacked her speech, Tones and I said The Kids Are Coming called out “old-minded thinking.”

“I see the young as young-minded, free-minded. The song is also for the old-minded people who are stuck in their ways and don’t like a movement of people making change, whatever their age is,” she said.

Tones has set up links on her website to highlight the work of nine young leaders from various fields including Hong Kong student protest leader Joshua Wong, Australian Zoo wildlife warrior Chloe Tsangaris and teen Syrian social media reporter Muhammad Najem.

The Kids Are Coming activists Tones and I honours in her video. Picture: Supplied

Originally published as Tones and I hits the top of the ARIA singles chart again after singing at the AFL Grand Final