West Palm Beach resident advances on 'The Voice.' She's related to soul royalty

Editor's note: A previous version of this story misspelled Gwen Stefani's last name.

West Palm Beach resident JaRae Womack, Sam Cooke's great-granddaughter, advanced to the next stage Monday night after the blind auditions on The Voice.

Womack, with a "soulful" voice, as coach John Legend put it, sang "Back to Black" by Amy Winehouse. She earned a four-chair turn — meaning every judge (Legend, Gwen Stefani, Reba McEntire and Niall Horan) wanted her on their team.

More: From Hell's Kitchen to The Golden Bachelor: Reality TV guide to PBC contestants this fall

Did JaRae Womack tell the judges about her relatives Sam Cooke and Bobby Womack?

"I couldn't tell if you were a soul singer, necessarily, but I could tell you were a soulful singer, which means something about it is authentic and true and passionate," Legend told her. "You owned the song, you lived in the song, and you were speaking honestly through music."

Sam Cooke isn't the only soul royalty that the 35-year-old is related to. Her grandparents are Cecil and Linda Womack of Womack and Womack. She also is Bobby Womack's niece.

"You have to live up to a certain expectation. Everybody thinks that just because I'm a Womack, (people think), 'I'm guessing you can sing,' '' she said in a YouTube video. "I have to go out and prove to every person on the stage and in the audience, who I am."

She didn't bring up her musical family with the judges.

More: 'Golden Bachelor' contestants: Therapist, retired teacher from Florida on reality TV show

JaRae Womack released a single about domestic abuse

Womack released a single in 2014 called "Sound of a Woman," meant to heighten awareness of domestic abuse.

"This song is dedicated to all those women who have endured emotional, mental and physical abuse," she wrote at the time. "I dedicate my life and career to those who have seen and are being abused. When will we all stop and pay attention to the sound of a woman?"

Monday night was not Womack's first audition before a celebrity.

In 2017, when she was driving for Lyft, the company asked her to audition for a commercial. What she didn't know until she arrived at the audition: It was in front of Demi Lovato.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: West Palm's JaRae Womack, Bobby Womack's niece, earns spot on 'The Voice'