Nearly three years ago, a young man named Josh Daniel broke the nation’s heart with an emotional performance dedicated to his late best friend.
Walking onto the X-Factor UK stage, Josh Daniels was prepared to sing Jealous by Labyrinth, the song he had selected. He was not, however, prepared to explain the meaning behind this choice.
“It means a lot to me for a different reason, I think, to how Labyrinth wrote it,” the 21-year-old told the judges nervously.
“I lost my best friend a couple of years ago and I kind of interpret the lyrics in a completely different way,” he explained.
Eighteen-year-old Thomas Woolley passed away in 2013 after life-long problems with his lungs.
In a 2013 interview with Teesside Live, Thomas’s parents explain how their son had undergone a heart transplant at 13 years old. Five years later, on his way home from work, Thomas hit something with his bike. The collision caused the young man’s handlebars to hit him in the chest, causing severe bruising.
“As Tom was on immuno-suppressant drugs— which he had been on since his transplant— doctors think an unusual antibody entered his system,” the Teesside Live article explained. “He spent the last seven months in and out of the hospital.”
It goes without saying that Josh was devastated over the loss of his best friend.
“It was so hard. He was like a brother. I don’t know how to deal with it,” he told the camera.
“I was off work for a long time with depression. Singing helped, but there wasn’t a great deal that aided it at the time.”
“I spent a lot of time by myself. I’ve never experienced anything like it before.”
“The lyrics kind of say I’m jealous you’re happy without me, and I kind of see it in the sense that he’s now happy in Heaven and that he’s in a better place, and I can’t still be with him.”
In the video, the soft piano melody begins playing and Josh sings the opening verse.
With a soulful style full of pain, the audience is immediately captivated. Every time Josh discusses the loss, he gets a bit emotional, so it’s no surprise that his performance seems to be a cathartic expression of his grief.
“I wished you the best of all this world could give, and I told you when you left me there’s nothing to forgive, but I’d always thought you’d come back…”
The pain of Josh’s loss resonates with everybody in the room.
Although he’s known as the ultimate critic, even Simon Cowell sits solemnly as he listens to the heartfelt performance, tears pooling in his eyes.
Fellow judge Cheryl Fernandez-Versini is left blatantly sobbing by the end of the song.
“That was the most captivating I’ve seen in all the auditions so far,” she tells him.
“You really touched me, I kind of want to give you a hug.”
As the judges praise Josh for his amazing performance, the camera finally captures Simon, no longer able to hold back his feelings.
Nobody in the crowd is left untouched by the young man’s pure emotions— and the voting process consists of little more than three unanimous votes to push him ahead.
See the emotional performance below.
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