WATCH: ‘American Idol’ singer moves his gay grandpa to tears with unique audition song
Jon Wayne Hatfield was raised by his grandparents.
A contestant on American Idol reduced his gay grandpa to tears during Sunday night’s episode.
Country singer Jon Wayne Hatfield auditioned for judges Lionel Richie, Luke Bryan and Katy Perry. The 21-year-old from Goshen, Ohio, told them that his grandparents had raised him since the age of five as his mom struggled with addiction issues.
“I lost my grandma about three years ago. After losing her, watching my grandpa was the hardest thing. He lost his best friend in 50 years. He wouldn’t talk to anybody for about the first year and a half, not even me,” Hatfield recalled.
“I got mad at myself because I couldn’t fix it, and he wasn’t ready, and I understand that. I didn’t see what he was actually going through.”
It seems grandpa Ray was going through more than his grandson realized. He was struggling with coming out as gay following the passing of his wife. He was especially worried about coming out to his grandson.
“Jon is the last person I told because I was scared he’d stop loving me.”
Related: ‘American Idol’ contestant nails original song about gay love, leaves judges “in awe”
Jon treated the judges to a self-penned song called, “Tell Me Ray”. The judges asked him to bring his grandpa into the audition room to hear the performance. The older man was visibly moved by the whole experience.
Watch it all below.
“Face your fears and hold back your tears”
In his song, Jon sings the following lines.
“Tell me Ray / why don’t you face your fears and hold back your tears / tell me Ray / tell me Ray / why did you wait so long to tell me what was wrong / tell me Ray / cause if I knew what was wrong / I could help you move on / you can’t do it all yourself / we’ve had plenty of time / so keep me in mind / so tell me Ray / we’re you too scared to move on or sad that she’s gone.”
“I was 16 when I met my wife,” Ray explains. “I told her about myself. And she said, ‘I love you’ and that ‘it’s OK’.”
“It’s a big relief to stand here and be proud and say I’m gay and there’s nothing wrong with it,” Ray says. “My grandson, he’s my rock.”
The judges give Jon a standing ovation at the end of his performance and put him through to the next round. Here’s hoping he goes far in the competition.
Jon already has something of a following online. He released his first track, “What A Truck is For” in November 2020, and followed that with “Strong Woman” in May 2021.
Both songs have been streamed on Spotify more than 1,000,000 times each. Jon also has over 300,000 followers on TikTok.
Related: David Archuleta to homophobic fans who stormed out of his show: “I will not apologize for anything”
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