For Jess Kelly, walking onto The Voice Australia stage was always going to carry a little extra weight.
The 38-year-old is the nephew of Australian music legend John Farnham, a singer whose voice has been part of the country’s musical landscape for generations. Jess had grown up watching his uncle perform and eventually decided to take his own chance in music.
But there was one person sitting in the coaches’ chairs who made the audition particularly significant.
Richard Marx knew John Farnham long before he became a coach on The Voice Australia.
And when Jess began to sing, Marx immediately heard something familiar.
A connection that stretches back decades
Marx and Farnham first met when the American singer-songwriter toured Australia in 1988. The two quickly became friends and went on to share a long musical connection.
Marx also contributed to Farnham’s music, including co-writing “Chains Around My Heart”, which Farnham recorded as “Chains Around the Heart”.
Their friendship has remained part of Farnham’s wider musical story, with Marx also appearing in the 2023 documentary John Farnham: Finding the Voice, alongside other major names from the singer’s career.
So when Jess Kelly stood in front of Marx, this was no ordinary blind audition.
Then Jess started singing
Jess chose Cold Chisel’s “When the War Is Over” for his audition — a song his uncle had also famously performed.
Almost immediately, the resemblance became impossible to ignore.
The coaches recognised similarities between Jess’s voice and Farnham’s legendary sound, with Marx describing the vocal resemblance as “uncanny”.
For Jess, it must have been a strange mixture of familiarity and pressure.
He wasn’t simply trying to impress four coaches. He was doing it while carrying a surname deeply connected to Australian music — and in front of someone who had known his uncle personally for almost four decades.
But Richard Marx didn’t turn his chair
That is where the story took its unexpected turn.
Despite recognising the striking resemblance and praising Jess’s vocal ability, Marx did not turn his chair. None of the other coaches turned either.
The decision was reportedly particularly surprising to John Farnham.
According to a source close to the family, John had encouraged Jess to audition and was “shocked” that none of the coaches chose him.
And, given Marx’s long friendship with John, there was reportedly one coach John had especially hoped might recognise what Jess could offer.
“John was particularly surprised that his good friend Richard didn’t turn,” the source said.
Did sounding like John become part of the challenge?
There is an interesting contradiction at the heart of Jess’s audition.
The very quality that made people immediately notice him — his resemblance to John’s voice — may also have made his performance more difficult to assess on its own terms.
Jess himself had acknowledged the pressure of performing in front of Richard, particularly because of his connection with John.
And while Ronan Keating reportedly questioned whether Jess was mimicking Farnham, Marx heard the similarity differently, calling it “uncanny”.
For a singer trying to establish an identity of his own, being compared to one of Australia’s most recognisable voices is both an extraordinary compliment and an enormous challenge.
The chairs didn’t turn — but John saw something else
Jess ultimately left The Voice without a coach.
But according to the family source, John did not see the audition as a verdict on his nephew’s talent.
Instead, he was proud that Jess had taken the risk and stepped outside his comfort zone.
“He felt that not turning a chair didn’t change what he knew about Jess’s ability as a singer,” the source said, adding that John encouraged him not to let the experience affect his confidence.
For John, the audition was ultimately about Jess having the courage to pursue his passion and begin building a musical career of his own.
A moment that was about more than one chair
Perhaps that is what makes Jess Kelly’s audition so poignant.
He walked onto the stage carrying the legacy of John Farnham — and found himself being judged by a man who had known that legacy from the inside.
Richard Marx heard the family resemblance.
The coaches heard a talented singer.
But John, according to those close to him, saw something even more important: a young man finally brave enough to step out from behind a famous family name and try to find his own voice.
The chair may not have turned that night.
But Jess’s story with music may have only just begun.