Hard work and passion pay off.
There are plenty of street performers that make it big because they grind their way towards success, no matter how long it takes them to get there. Two notable examples from the music industry today are Ed Sheeran and Tones and I.
So, how did people hear about Tones and I?
The Australian singer-songwriter Toni Watson, now known as Tones and I, recently made it big after the release of her second single “Dance Monkey” in May 2019.
The tune was a record-breaker and it has stayed on the top of the charts—especially on the ARIA Singles Charts where “Dance Monkey” was number one for 16 weeks. Toni Watson was able to travel half of the world because of this acquired fame. Even so, before Tones and I achieved the fame she has now, she was performing on the streets.
Watson was once an employee at a clothing store, but she knew she wanted to pursue music when her aunt and her cousins recognized her ability to sing.
She started busking in Melbourne, Australia before gradually making her way to small-time gigs and festivals.
In 2009, Watson started posting acapella covers on YouTube, which earner her a little bit of fame online.
Watson finally got her success from busking when she was discovered by Jackson Walkden-Brown, her talent manager.
Way before the release of “Dance Monkey,” Watson performed the song during one of her busking performances.
It was in early January 2019 when Watson brought her loop station and microphone to Byron Bay.
She sang an unfamiliar tune to the people where it got the crowd dancing under the streetlights and the beautiful moonlight.
Watson first looped several rhythms using the synthesizer on her loop station while the people were enjoying themselves.
The moment she dropped the beat, the people went wild!
A crowd full of people was surrounding Watson close enough that she could only move a few inches away from her instruments.
The moment she got to the chorus, the crowd went crazy by jumping and waving their arms along with the catchy beat! Watson sang the song with ease, but she was also enjoying the sight of the lively crowd developing all around her.
This is clearly one of the liveliest audiences we’ve ever seen to crowd around one busker!
As Watson reached the broken part, she started humming and let the piano ring out its usual mellow sound.
She asked the crowd to get down as she was building herself up for an explosive finale. As she finished the build-up, she sang the chorus once more and the crowd just went wild all over again. You would know that the people had the time of their lives when one of the people on the crowd shouted that it was the “coolest night of our lives.”
YouTube user Path Cruiser, who was one of the audience that night, uploaded the video online.
Since it was posted, the clip racked up more than 8.5 million views! This performance of “Dance Monkey” was one of the first performances Tones and I ever had—even before she even released the song officially. It was amazing how the song that was once unknown to the world later became a worldwide hit that got the whole world dancing!
Listen to the star-making performance in the link below:
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