Dreamy dad Joseph Whelan gave the X Factor Global a rocking they won’t soon forget when he delivered Led Zeppelin classic “Whole Lotta Love” with a whole lotta style. The 26-year-old tattooed tool salesman was a hit with the ladies in the crowd before he even opened his mouth, with the judges struggling to be heard over the loud catcalls.
But Whelan was definitely a lot more than just a pretty face as the lad could rock like nobody’s business. Robert Plant’s wailing vocals are really not easy to do justice to a singer, but Whelan nailed it with just the right amount of grit and even a little bit of a croon. His scream going into the chorus lifted the roof off the joint and had the judges excitedly sharing glances. His audition is currently one of the most popular on the X Factor Global channel, with 50 million views clocked.
Whelan hails from the West Midlands city Wolverhampton and brought his four-year-old son Kian to the audition, describing the little tacker as the light of his life. He said “there’s so much riding on this for me – not just for myself because I want to be a musician, but I really want to make my son proud and make him happy. I hope he’s proud of his daddy.”
Prior to singing he told the judges that “I’ve been playing in bands about ten years now and wanted to try something on my own.” He got lots of awws from the audience when he mentioned young Kian and explained “I want to do the best I can for him and give him the best life I can.” On his X Factor UK audition, Whelan showed a different side of himself with an acoustic performance of Bon Jovi’s “Always”, where he also showed off his talent for playing guitar. Check it out below.
Judge Tulisa mouthed a silent “wow” as Whelan wrapped up his flawless take on “Whole Lotta Love”. Once the cheers died down, she commented “Joseph, oh my God, what a voice, what a tone you have.” She then gave a cheeky roast to judge Gary Barlow, saying “Gary’s gonna start getting jealous because you’re gonna be stealing all the female attention.”
Louis Walsh chimed in next, saying “that was a brilliant audition. You’ve got an amazing talent – you’ve got an authentic rock voice.” Barlow then noted the difference between Whelan’s mild-mannered introduction and his wild rock roar, then said “that was absolutely awesome. What a great voice – I really enjoyed that.” Naturally with such high praise from the judges, Whelan then went home with four resounding yes votes to his name.
You might be thinking the women in the crowd couldn’t swoon any more than they already had, but the ladies went into overdrive when young Kian ran onstage for a hug with his dad, looking pleased as punch.