Aretha Franklin’s Granddaughter Grace Franklin Auditions for ‘American Idol’ – Find Out How She Did!

American Idol is back!

Season 20 of the singing competition series premiered on Sunday (February 27) on ABC.

The premiere followed judges Katy Perry, Luke Bryan, and Lionel Richie traveling around the country to auditioning singers hoping to make it in Hollywood.

One of those singers that auditioned was 15-year-old Grace Franklin – the granddaughter of the late music icon Aretha Franklin!

“I was really close to my grandma,” Grace shared in a package before her audition. “I got to see her all the time. I used to travel with her a lot. I don’t think I could fully grasp the fact that she was known worldwide, because to me, she was always just grandma.”

For her audition, Grace sang “Killing Me Softly,” however, Katy wasn’t sold on her performance and asked her to sing another song.

Grace then decided to perform one of Aretha‘s most iconic songs, “Ain’t No Way.”

“I loved your rendition of your grandma’s song,” Katy said after Grace finished singing.

“You’re 15. You’ve got the family lineage. What we need to put now is time and some work in to get it up to par,” Lionel added. “The age and the voice has to all come together on the same path.”

When it came down to if Grace would make it into the next round, the judges got heated.

Katy voted yes, but Luke voted no.

Katy tried to convince Lionel to vote Grace through, but he felt that Grace needed more time to grow as a singer.

Trust me,” Lionel explained. “If you go and come back and put the shyness behind you and the voice in front of you, you’re going to be something amazing and I don’t want to be the one to make you tip over and fall at this stage.”

“She’s not. She might be a little shy. I will lay down on the ground. I quit this show. I’m going to the bar. There’s something wrong with your ears,” Katy shouted as she stormed off the stage.

With Luke and Lionel both voting no, Grace unfortunately did not make it through to the next round on American Idol.