Rock ’n’ roll royalty auditioned for “The X Factor” this week.
The grandson of Ray Charles sang for Simon Cowell, L.A. Reid, Britney Spears and Demi Lovato at Greensboro, NC, tryouts on Tuesday night, according to the show.
And he did not say anything about his pedigree until the audition was over, it appears.
“This guy came on and told the judges a story about how his grandmother was in the movies, and after they’d been talking for a few minutes, they finally realized that Ray Charles was his grandfather,” a source told the Hollywood Reporter.
“The judges were massively surprised,” the source said.
Charles, who was married twice, had 12 children with nine women, according to his biography.
The number of grandchildren is up to 21.
The show yesterday could not say which of Charles’ children was the young singer’s parent.