However, Russell felt that singing her grandmother’s song “was just going to add to” claims of nepotism because of Lynn’s status as a country music legend. Lynn died in October 2022 at age 80. But anger wasn’t the only emotion Russell felt.

Emmy Russell became a star on “American Idol” last year, in part, because the judges pushed her to come out of her shell and she did that to the best of her abilities in front of the camera.