Parade earlier shared that Baylee Littrell, son of Backstreet Boys’ Brian Littrell, would be auditioning for Season 8 of American Idol on ABC (Season 23 overall) in hopes of earning a Golden Ticket to Hollywood and beyond.
Now, we can give you a look at Baylee’s audition, which took place on tonight’s premiere episode. The 21-year-old college student from Alpharetta, GA, stood on the Idol logo and auditioned for Lionel Richie, Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan with an original song.
And, yes, it turns out that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, because Baylee got three yeses from the judges! They even had a little fun when Brian joined his son for a duet on the chorus of his song.
“I get my voice from dad. And, hopefully, I can do him justice today,” Baylee said in his video package. “I guess you could say music runs in our family. Dance moves are the one thing genetically that did not pass down. Following in my dad’s footsteps is scary because, to me, his career is one of the most extraordinary in music history. No one can ever compare. I remember being 8 or 9 years old and [the Backstreet Boys] sold out this huge arena. And I got to open up for the;. I had my two little songs. And I came offstage and when the guys went on, the screams and the lights went down. I was just mesmerized. I thought, ‘Oh, my gosh. What is this?’”
Related: Backstreet Boy Member’s Son Auditions for American Idol 2025
If Lionel, Carrie and Luke are right, Baylee may well be on the road to having his own screaming fans soon.
“You’re really good,” Carrie told him. “I love the song and that’s a risk, too, when people come in singing their own song. That was great emotionally. You went there and I think you could go very, very far in this competition.”
Ryan Seacrest, Lionel Richie, Carrie Underwood, Luke BryanDisney/Eric McCandless
Then, Luke, who is always up for some fun, asked, “Do you think your dad would sing with you?”
Brian agreed and came in and harmonized beautifully with Baylee on the chorus.
“This was not a part of the audition. But for your superstar singer dad to come in here, I feel for anybody else, it would make you look bad. But it didn’t,” Carrie pointed out. “You were right there with him. You didn’t shy away. You were like, “This is my moment.’”
Then Lionel told Brian, “I’m very happy for you and very proud of your son. He’s got his own lane and I think he can go a long way.”
Luke added, “I’m a dad of boys. And all you want your boys to do is blaze their own trail. And when they want to do the steps and the work, I’m there to help. But it’s up to them to want to go do it. You’ve obviously taken the time to hone your skills and your craft.”
Needless to say, it was three yeses from the judges. Proud papa Brian said, “I’m going to cry.’
After receiving his Golden Ticket, Baylee said, “I really didn’t know how it was going to go today. I was terrified. But being able to sing my original and get through and the judges loved it, that meant the world.”
American Idol airs Sunday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. Episodes are available to stream next day on Hulu.
