Hillsborough County singer with ‘epic mullet’ impresses on ‘The Voice’
Dover native Kenzie Wheeler, 22, had all four judges on NBC’s The Voice competing to work with him after singing Keith Whitley’s Don’t Close Your Eyes on Monday’s Season 21 premiere.
Wheeler received a rare “four chair turn” from judges Kelly Clarkson, Blake Shelton, John Legend and Nick Jonas, meaning all four heard his singing during the blind audition and turned their chairs around hoping to coach him through the rest of the reality competition series.
In the end, Wheeler, a self described “country boy,” chose Clarkson to be his coach over the others.
Wheeler’s impressive baritone was not the only thing that impressed them, though.
“This guy has the triple threat mullet,” Shelton said of Wheeler’s hair. “First of all he’s got the party in the pack, he’s got the shaved sides, but then the rare widow’s peak. The rarest of all mullets, this guy is a unicorn. That does not take away from your voice, man.”
Wheeler said in his introduction, “I love my mullet, I probably won’t ever cut it off.”
Wheeler told the judges that he’d always loved country music, and grew up singing in the car for his mother.
In 2016, Wheeler, who first got noticed for his singing while doing karaoke at a restaurant in Plant City as a teenager, won the Tampa Teen Idol competition. He later opened for Charlie Daniels at the Hard Rock casino in Tampa. He released an album titled Dover in 2018.
Wheeler grew up playing little league baseball in Plant City and played for Strawberry Crest High School in Dover up until he graduated in 2016.
