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Music
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How Dance Monkey’s Tones and I went from streets to global star

  • Australian pop hit Dance Monkey by Tones and I is topping global charts and has spent a record 16 weeks at No 1 in Australia
  • The musician behind the hit, 19-year-old Toni Watson, was just months ago living in a van and singing on the street

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Tones and I, real name Toni Watson, has shot to stardom after her hit Dance Monkey topped charts worldwide.
Agence France-Presse

Australian pop hit Dance Monkey is topping global charts and has spent a record 16 weeks at No 1 in Australia, propelling teenager Toni Watson from busking obscurity to instant fame.

Just months ago the 19-year-old, known by the stage name Tones and I, was living in a van and singing on the street in the coastal town of Byron Bay, south of Brisbane.
Now her latest release has reached number one in 18 countries including Britain, France and Germany, as well as at home where it broke the record held by Ed Sheeran’s 2017 smash Shape of You, which spent 15 weeks at the top spot.

Before her debut single Johnny Run Away came out in March, Watson had spent a year playing her keyboard in public, too nervous to speak to passers-by between songs. But while she is now selling out shows worldwide, the singer says she looks back on those days with fondness.

“When I was busking, when I was paying for petrol with silver coins or when I was sneaking into hostels so I could park my van up and sleep in it, I had the best time of my life,” she told Australia’s Nova radio.

Dance Monkey has racked up more than 500 million plays on Spotify and is the first Australian tune to peak at No 1 on the streaming service’s Global Top 50 chart.

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