Denis Handlin lauds Tones And I for breaking all-time ARIA Chart record

“Tones has made Australian music history with a song that has captured the world’s attention.”

It’s high praise coming from one of Australia’s most revered music execs, Sony Music Entertainment’s Denis Handlin, but it’s well-deserved considering what Tones And I has achieved in 2019.

When Toni Watson released her second official single ‘Dance Monkey’ in May, few could have predicted that six months later she would have completely altered the shape of Australia’s musical landscape.

Now the viral single has helped to forever cement her place in the Australian music history books, this week breaking Ed Sheeran’s record for the longest-serving single on the ARIA Charts.

‘Dance Monkey’ racked up its 17th week atop the ARIA Singles Chart, making Tones the lone holder of the record, going beyond Sheeran’s ‘Shape Of You’ (15 weeks in 2017).

“She is a very special artist and a beautiful person, with unique creativity and ability, and we are so incredibly proud of her. It’s brilliant to see her artistic vision embraced by her fans in Australia and around the world, and we look forward to so much more to come,” added Handlin, chairman & chief executive officer, Australia & New Zealand and President, Asia, SME.

The ARIA Charts launched in 1983, and Tones is the first Australian artist to hold the record for longest-standing #1 since the chart’s inception.

Now a 6x Platinum single, ‘Dance Monkey’ is closing in on a billion streams worldwide. At the same time, it remains atop the Spotify Global Chart and has now spent seven weeks at #1 on the UK Official Singles Chart.

Tones is also starting to making some serious headway in the USA, hitting a new peak of #23 on the latest Billboard Hot 100, and also recently broke the record for the most weeks at #1 on the Global Shazam Chart.

“Thank you so much Australia for the love and support around my career and single ‘Dance Monkey’,” Tones said. “It’s been a crazy ride watching what this song has done but now to break the Aussie record is just a huge achievement! An Aussie now holds the Aussie ARIA chart record!”

Her third single ‘Never Seen The Rain’ is currently in 10th position on the ARIA Singles Chart, while her debut track ‘Johnny Run Away’ reached a peak of #12 earlier in 2019.

ARIA CEO Dan Rosen reflected on the achievement: “This is a truly historic achievement, I am so incredibly thrilled that an Australian artist now holds the record for the longest-running Number One song in ARIA Chart history.

“From busking a year ago to shattering chart records, this is just the start for Tones And I.”