Tones and I admits she ‘misses busking in Byron Bay’ as she reminisces about her life before the ‘overwhelming’ success of Dance Monkey
Australian singer Tones and I has revealed that she misses busking.
Reminiscing about her pre-fame life on Tuesday, the 26-year-old musician shared a throwback video to Instagram of herself busking in idyllic Byron Bay.
‘I miss busking and I miss Byron Bay,’ the songwriter, whose real name is Toni Watson, captioned the short clip in which she showcased her impressive vocals.
Reminiscing: Australian singer and songwriter Tones and I has revealed she misses busking, which is how she started her career years ago. Pictured on November 9 in Cannes, Paris
Tones began busking in Byron Bay in September 2017. It was during her days as a street performer that she met talent manager Jackson Walkden-Brown.
She eventually hit the big time with her second single, Dance Monkey, which was released in May 2019 topped the charts in 30 countries.
In a recent interview, Tones and I said she’d felt an ‘overwhelming sadness’ after the success of Dance Monkey.
Throwback: Reminiscing about her life pre-fame on Tuesday, the 26-year-old shared a throwback video of her busking in idyllic Byron Bay
The beginning: Tones began busking in Byron Bay in September 2017 where she met talent manager, Jackson Walkden-Brown
‘That was last year, let’s move on’: In an interview last month, Tones and I said she wants fans to know she’s ‘tough and strong’ and now embraces her fame with confidence
She was targeted by ‘relentless’ online trolls and began to doubt her own abilities.
‘I came to a point where I felt I wasn’t good enough, I’m not good enough to play a festival, I’m a busker,’ she said.
‘Then I started to realise I am good enough because who the f**k would deal with that? So at the end of last year I decided I wasn’t going to let anything bother me.
‘It’s easy for people to keep holding on to this “Tones is upset” thing that happened in November, when I was just trying to speak out and be honest, but I want people to know I’m fine and I’m not upset. That was last year, let’s move on.’
Global attention: Since Dance Monkey was released last May, it’s been streamed over 1.5 billion times, and led to much scrutiny, that Tones and I previously confessed to struggled with
Back in November, just days after winning four ARIA Awards, Tones and I shared a Facebook post about ‘hiding a big black hole’ of sadness.
She added that her incredible success was overshadowed by the ‘death threats’ and ‘relentless bullying’ she had received.
‘People always say, “Tones, how does it feel? It must feel great, what are you feeling? You must be over the moon,”‘ she began.
‘It does and I don’t want to take anything away from my well-deserved achievements, and to my fans I love you unconditionally, but I have been hiding a big black hole for a while now.
‘I feel if I hide it, like most artists do, then how are we going to help the next generation of young artists to come… truth is (and we have all seen it), with success comes judgement and opinions.’
Emotional: Back in November, just days after winning four ARIA Awards, Tones and I shared a Facebook post about ‘hiding a big black hole’ of sadness despite her incredible success