For Jonathan Pooley, realizing just how important singing was to him has helped him build a better life and, in the process, opened doors to new opportunities while inspiring others along the way.
Pooley, who has been dubbed the ‘Singing TTC Driver’, talked about being surrounded by music since childhood and getting his first break.
“I pretty much grew up around music with my family being pretty heavily involved in the music industry. My cousin Kris Pooley is the musical director for American Idol and he’s been the musical director for Sabrina Carpenter, Katy Perry, and so many other artists. My dad and uncle are both musicians. My grandfather was involved in music too. My sister sings, not for anybody, just kind of just to herself, but she’s got a great voice too,” Pooley explained. “In 2007, I auditioned for Canadian Idol, and I got to the top 60 and then I dropped out. I just couldn’t handle the pressure at the time, [but] I got recognized from being on the show, and I ended up joining this group called FameCity Boys and we did a bunch of shows at colleges and around the United States, Canada and Europe.”
When Pooley, who lives in Paris, was in the middle of shooting a music video, he would get a call that would change his life’s focus.
“My girlfriend at the time [who would become my wife] said she was pregnant. It was amazing news, but I realized that I had to get a more secure job and provide for my family. I decided to hang up what I was doing in music and that led me to getting a job with the TTC. Although I would just do some singing like karaoke and posting some videos on my private TikTok and Instagram accounts through the years, I pretty much kept singing in the background,” he said.
However, after working as a bus driver at the TTC for nine years, Pooley felt lost and without purpose.
“I just wasn’t feeling on myself anymore and questioning my purpose and told my wife how I was feeling one day I told my wife that one day I just said…All my videos, all my personal stuff for me, singing and dancing, and I was always like, you know, I have everything figured out and oh shoot, I’m not and so then I took some time off work. She convinced me to go to therapy. I went to a psychotherapist in Brantford, my first time ever and talking with her took that stigma away…because I grew up in an era where men simply don’t have mental health problems. As a man, you just had to figure it out…you would go out and do some pushups…build something or get into a fight. Whatever is masculine thing you could do to get over it,” Pooley explained. “Having Heather made me feel strong about opening up and going into therapy. That was the biggest support I could have ever received. I went there, and I took about six months off of work because I wasn’t as good as I thought I was. But that was an important time for me…I didn’t realize how amazing it was just to be able to talk to somebody and get it all off my chest.”
By talking with his wife and continuing to go to the sessions, Pooley rediscovered his love of singing and how important it was to his life.
“I learned through therapy that I had to incorporate more of what I was passionate about into my everyday life. It was finding out what makes me happy especially when it’s just me without family and friends. And I realized that I was singing…that’s what I loved to do. And the day before I was going back to work, I was doing dishes and looked up and it was seven o’clock. I come from that R&B Slow Jam era where a lot of people know what happens when it’s “seven o’clock on the dot”, which referencing Usher’s song ‘Nice & Slow.’ I just started singing to myself and that would lead to writing a song about being a bus driver, going back to work and being at the bus stop…at seven o’clock on the dot,” he said. “So, when I got back to work, I started to sing on the bus when no one was around. I would post those videos on my private account. I would get people then asking me if they could share my posts and more and more people started to enjoy them. That started to make me feel good so I posted more videos. Eventually, I had a couple that went viral especially one where I was doing a cover of a Drake song. He saw it and reposted it and that’s when things really took off.”
Pooley then started to post more videos, and in the process, garnered millions of videos from people enjoying his singing.
“I usually do the videos when I get the chance and where there is no one on the bus. If I’m doing a shuttle bus downtown and sometimes when there are ten buses lined up in a row [and] I’m far away I’ll put the speaker on the outside of the bus, and I’ll start to sing. So, when people are walking downtown Toronto, they hear me singing [and] you can see them looking around wondering where the singing is coming from,” he said. “And then they realize it’s me…the singing is coming from a TTC bus and they often smile. And it makes me so happy…to continue to do what I do [and] bringing people joy.”
Nevertheless, this gave Pooley the confidence to audition for “Canada’s Got Talent” in March 2025 where he performed well.
“I sang ‘Lose Control’ by Teddy Swims. It’s a hard song to sing and on a normal day, I can sing it pretty well [and] thought that my [cover] might sit with the judges, but I guess nerves just got to me a little bit during the performance…[and] I didn’t get four yeses…I got three…” said Pooley. “But, the crowd gave me standing applause, which was super cool. And just to be there and to be on the receiving end of that was a surreal moment too. Having the crowd be as supportive really helped calm my nerves [and] having my wife and my oldest son in the audience helped me get through to the next round and get a chance to sing again.”
Nevertheless, Pooley continues to shine a light on mental health and the importance of seeking help.
“When I went back to work after my time off everyone was nice and welcomed me…some people mentioned they hadn’t seen me around for quite a while and asked if everything was ok. I initially told them I just had to take time for myself and really didn’t get into details. I started to think that if I had broken my leg or had a physical [injury]…you can see that, and it would be easier to be open with them about that. When it’s mental, nobody really discusses that. Maybe it might be embarrassing to talk about or they are ashamed of that,” Pooley explained. “So, I went back to one of my co-workers there and told them I took time off because I lost myself a bit and went to therapy. After that, I had a few conversations with my wife and decided to make a post on Facebook telling people what I was going through. I wasn’t looking for sympathy or anything like that…I just wanted to share something about what I was experiencing…because, when people were seeing the videos of me singing, and reading the comments…one would assume I was happy. But there were the things I was dealing with my mental health. And the response I got from my family and friends was overwhelming. They told me they thought I had the perfect life, and with the post, some even started to open up to me…telling me that they were themselves going through some dark days and they appreciated me opening up about this. I realized there were way more people who are dealing with the same stuff that I have been dealing with. They didn’t have to hide it anymore…and I think more people just need to be able to just talk about it with someone.”
With his recent success on Canada’s Got Talent, Pooley looks to immerse himself in his passion and continue to share his videos online and to eventually release a single.
“I’ve created this situation where I’ve got millions of views on my videos [and] 37,000 followers on Instagram and 27,000 followers on Tik Tok…and where I can continue to talk about mental health and the importance of following your dreams which is amazing,” described Pooley. “And one of my goals going forward is to create and release a single…using the relationships that I’ve built in media to see where that can take me…but overall, getting this chance to share my passion with people especially on [Canada’s Got Talent] recently is very surreal and an experience I am very appreciative for.”
