Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Her audition: Jarae Womack, 35, West Palm Beach, Fla., sang “Back to Black” by Amy Winehouse. Jarae displayed a rich, powerful voice from the opening note. And she was only a couple of lines in when the chairs started turning. Until all four coaches were facing in her direction. Niall Horan called it a standout performance. John Legend loved what a soulful singer Jarae is and said he felt the drama in her performance. Gwen Stefani called it a really powerful, emotional performance. Jarae joined Team Legend.

Here’s more about Jarae:

* Her great-grandfather was soul legend Sam Cooke and she’s the niece of Bobby Womack.

* That background comes with high expectations, Jarae says in a video bio she posted to YouTube seven years ago.

* “You have to live up to a certain expectation because everybody thinks that just because I’m a Womack, (people think) ‘I’m guessing you can sing. But I have to go out and prove to every person on the stage and in the audience, who I am.”

* She certainly lives up to her pedigree in a superb 2014 single called “Sound of a Woman,” which you can check out below and which was designed to heighten awareness of domestic abuse.

* Wrote Jarae at the time: “This song is dedicated to all those women who have endured emotional, mental and physical abuse. I dedicate my life and career to those who have been and are being abused. When will we all stop and pay attention to the sound of a woman?”

* Press releases for that song also refer to albumt o follow called “New Paradigm.” If released, it no longer appears to be available.

* Jarae is one of three artists featured on a track called “We Thank You,” released in the 2013-14 time frame to honor Nelson Mandela.

* In 2017, Jarae was driving for Lyft to make ends meet when she was invited to audition for a commercial for the company.

* When she arrived for the audition, she was surprised to be doing it in front of pop superstar Demi Lovato. Jarae calls it “a moment I will never forget” on social media.

Jarae on social media:
Instagram
TikTok
Facebook
YouTube