Toni Childs
About
When Toni Childs first burst onto the music scene in 1988, her unique powerful voice set her apart from other singers. Though what established her as more than just an iconic voice was her powerful songwriting. It was honest and revealing and it resonated with both men and women around the world. They felt like she was telling their story, not just her own.
Her album Union received two Grammy nominations, House of Hope had a song featured in the classic film Thelma and Louise, and her 1996 LP, The Woman’s Boat earned Toni her third Grammy nomination. All 3 releases afforded her the opportunity to tour the world performing many sold out concerts. Then in 1997, on the cusp of releasing a new LP Toni was diagnosed with Graves Disease. Making one of the toughest decisions of her life, she decided to put her health first and walked away from her successful music career. She relocated to Kauai, Hawaii living on a farm in a tree house, growing her own vegetables, swimming in the ocean everyday and curing herself of Graves Disease.
A chance encounter in 2003 with author of the Vagina Monologues Eve Ensler would eventually lead Toni back to music and her Emmy award for Because You’re Beautiful, which featured in Eve’s Documentary Until The Violence Stops. Once the spark had been relit Toni was back in the studio. Songs from the unreleased 1997 album resurfaced to find a home on Keep the Faith along with Because You’re Beautiful. Throughout 2008 and up until 2011 Toni toured the album extensively throughout Regional Australia. One of things that stayed with Toni during those touring years was how, both men and women, looked like they’d left themselves on the side of the road and forgot to go back and get themselves. This inspired Toni to find a way to connect with the women in the audience so she invited them on stage so she could sing Because You’re Beautiful to them personally and remind them of the truth; that they are beautiful and worthy and valued. The effect this exchange had on both the woman and men in audience was transformative and it became the catalyst to Toni starting her Yoga and Radical Alignment retreats.
Toni now travels the world hosting her workshops in conjunction with wellness festivals and yoga centres. But it’s not the only thing that keeps her busy. Toni has never been the type of artist to let other people’s ideals dictate her path in life. She’s a free thinker and an innovator who’s made most of her major life decisions based on the energetic pull she feels towards a particular creative path filled with fun and adventure. It’s this philosophy that sees her with a new album soon to be released called It’s All A Beautiful noise that goes beyond traditional concepts for live music.
Beautiful Noise incorporates two hours of 3D mapping, a pop-up set of the natural world, white paper hats for the audience with addressable LED lights that Toni controls from the stage for interactive play and 19 installations that feature life size paper animals, designed and made by Toni and friends. Then there is her 360° Reef’s installation that features six songs from Its All a Beautiful Noise for her underwater concert for whales and dolphins. Her Reefs installation includes an educational portal designed to inspire people around the world to adopt a reef and help restore endangered coral reefs on our planet.
Working in conjunction with ICUN Red list scientists, local & international NGOs, and some major museums around the world her dream is set to become reality. The coming years will see also see the release of two more albums, Citizens Of The Planet and Zero Point, which like It’s All A Beautiful Noise, will offer experiences that are aimed to entertain, educate and enlighten. Toni Childs is on a personal mission to wrap the world in beauty.