The next generation of musicians does not show any shyness when it comes to putting their singing skills to the test: Most recently, it was Aretha Franklin’s granddaughter who tried her luck with American Idol, now Ava Maybee, daughter of Chad Smith of Red, dared to do it Hot Chili Peppers, to the singing show auditions.
Ava Maybee Delights the Jury: ‘Something of Cher’
The 20-year-old wowed the jury, consisting of Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan, with “Lately” by Stevie Wonder. Her vocal performance was accompanied by an acoustic guitar.
“You had something from Cher,” Richie immediately praised the performance and Perry immediately joined in the song of praise. “You’re a real alto,” she commented on Maybee’s performance, while noting that the “cool alto sound” would also be “challenging”. Bryan was straight forward and assured the young singer he was interested in hearing more from her.
An artist through and through
Shortly before the final judgment of the jury, juror Katy Perry could not resist a comment on Maybee’s outfit, consisting of a wild mix of patterns on blouse and skirt: “I don’t know how you managed to combine flowers and leopard print in such a way that it it fits, but it looks so good on you.” Bryan seemed to like the whole package presented by Ava Maybee, too, so much so that he dubbed her an “artist.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ji-DwSAOM4
With wild puns in the next round
The singer’s surname, which sounds like the English term “maybe”, which means “maybe” in German, motivated the three jurors to play wild puns. Smith’s daughter received the promises for the next round in code: “You’re not going to be a maybe, you’re going to be a for sure,” says Richie. Perry and Bryan joined their colleague and also toyed with the Maybees name. According to her, she was “Ava Yes” instead of Ava “Maybe”, and her voice was therefore approved by all three.
Not a newbie
Her website suggests that the musician is not a complete newcomer to the music industry. There you can see that she has performed live several times, including at an LA Lakers game, and has also recorded several singles with professionally designed covers.
Her father Smith, who plays drums for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, was also recording new music until recently. The Peppers’ new record, Unlimited Love, is out April 1st. The current single “Not the One” came out last week (March 25th), the tour is still pending and also takes the band to Cologne and Hamburg for dates.