Joseph Whelan – X factor Auditions

Father, Singer, Songwriter and Guitarist.

Joe Whelan began playing guitar at the age of 16. Since then he has become a virtuoso guitar player, mastering the fretboard over the years and developing a solid rock voice.

Joe has played a wide array of live shows across the UK and beyond, not only solo but with a number of bands too. At 16 Joe joined his first band ‘Crash Diet’, but unfortunately after a conflict in artistic direction he decided to part ways after only a few weeks.

Joe later joined the UK’s number one Metallica tribute ‘Mentallica’, with whom he played a great number of gigs and gained valuable professional live music experience. In 2005 Joe left Mentallica for newly formed Progressive Metal band ‘Dementia’.

Dementia was a part of Joe Whelans career that he devoted a lot of time and effort to, they played some fantastic gigs across the UK and gained a lot of fans and exposure along the way. The band played alongside some big names such as MAJ, Bullet For My Valentine, Breed 77, Exodus, Death Angel and more. It was with Dementia that Joe found his talent for song writing. Alongside writing partner Andy Turner the two wrote the bands EP ‘Life Gets Easier’, the self titled album ‘Dementia’, and their most successful release ‘The Path To Valhalla’.

In July 2011 Dementia split, and Joe decided to take this time to begin writing material for a solo album. After Dementia, Joe also answered an ad for successful Metal band ‘Cloven Hoof’, which he was selected for out of 147 guitarists. They subsequently released an album, and embarked upon a world tour in May 2011 with Joe Whelan as guitarist.

Recently Joe wowed X Factor judges with his rendition of “Whole Lotta Love” by Led Zepplin, Will Joe Win the X Factor?