ALWAYS ON SONG LIKE CROONER DES
BRADLEY has had two hit albums — and nobody has been more surprised by his success than him.
His first album of swing classics, Chasing Dreams, was released in 2016 and peaked at No 10 in the chart, achieving gold status and outselling former One Direction star Zayn Malik’s debut solo album.
It was followed by When You’re Smiling which reached No 11 in 2017. A clue to his dreams came when he appeared as Tony Bennett in Stars In Their Eyes in 2005.
He said: ‘All I wanted to do was make something I could be proud of. I’m not known as a singer, I was more focused on not embarrassing myself.’
In 2016, on Jonathan Ross’s chat show, he sang Stormzy’s hit song Blinded By Your Grace to the rapper. Ross called it ‘one of the weirdest things I’ve seen’.
His singing — and the sceptical reaction to it — brings to mind Des O’Connor (below) who spent 117 weeks in the charts but was also the butt of jokes by Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise over his singing voice.
When he met Prince Philip, the Duke asked: ‘Are you really that bad?’
There are other parallels between Walsh and O’Connor — known as one of the nicest in the business. Des started out as a footballer, playing for youth and reserve sides at Northampton — just like Walsh, who appeared for the reserves at Brentford. Des then worked for Church’s shoes — and Walsh followed him into a factory with an apprenticeship at Rolls-Royce at 16. After the RAF, O’Connor got into showbiz via Butlins, where he was a Redcoat — Walsh was a Pontins Bluecoat— and spent years on the Variety circuit. His first success was as a singer having hits Careless Hands in 1967 and I Pretend in 1968. He then had a stellar career as a chat show and quiz show host — and again Walsh is following in his footsteps. Walsh idolised O’Connor, who died in 2020, as a mentor and friend. He launched his career doing stand-up slots on Des’s show. He said: ‘A lady once asked Des, is Bradley Walsh your illegitimate son? And he joked “yes” and it stayed in his act. I’ve got to thank Des as I wouldn’t be where I am without his input and love. He was like a dad to me. He is a sad loss. He is a giant.’ When Bradley was overcome with nerves recording the 1993 Royal Variety Performance, O’Connor told him: ‘Imagine there are no cameras, be yourself. But also, don’t work to the Queen, she’s not interested in comedy, she loves the ballet.’