By Ali Ikram
Toni Childs, with her distinctive voice, had big hits with songs like Stop Your Fussing and Don’t Walk Away.
She is an artist who is particularly popular in this country, with her first two albums going platinum several times over.
The singer is soon to embark on a New Zealand tour.
The singer’s 1988 first album saw her nominated for two Grammy’s. But she lost ten years of her career to autoimmune condition Graves disease.
"Here's something I believe; I believe that we create our own reality,” says Childs. “I believe we imagine the pictures we walk into. I was a runaway kid who hitchhiked up and down California and created a life out of nothing. So for me, again I feel like that runaway kid."
That is because in an age where more and more artists are looking to raise money directly from fans, Toni's approach is more direct than most.
"What I would like to ask is for you to help me."
The Hawaii based singer wants to raise enough to record, release and tour upcoming album Citizens of the Planet. $2.2 million is what she's after.
To reach her target, you can have breakfast with Toni for $450, cocktails for $750 and a week at her place over the New Year for $50000.
So far three couples have taken up that offer. Her tour of New Zealand, starting in katakana tomorrow night, is also helping.
"Right now with these tours New Zealanders will have given $120,000 to my project. That's pretty amazing."
But it's not all ‘me me me’. She will also play a fundraising concert for the families of the Pike River coal mine victims in Greymouth, and one in Queenstown for the Thyroid Foundation.
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