Baylee Littrell had the support of dad Brian Littrell and mom Leighanne Littrell during his American Idol journey earlier this year. The proud parents watched him make it all the way to the Top 20 before being eliminated.

However, the Backstreet Boys singer initially didn’t even want his only child to audition for the show. “To be honest with you, I didn’t want him to do it at first, but they courted him for a couple of years,” Brian told Parade. “They were like, ‘Come and audition,’ and he was like, ‘Nah.’ I don’t think he was ready at that time, but he did well. He stepped up. He’s super professional. He’s just a great individual. He’s just a great person. He has a heart of gold, and he’s super talented.”

Brian was in the audition room when Baylee got his golden ticket to Hollywood from judges Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, and Lionel Richie. The aspiring country singer made it through the grueling Hollywood Week, then got to perform in Hawai’i as part of the Top 24. Unfortunately, after the first live show of the season, he didn’t receive enough votes to move on from the Top 20 to the Top 14.

After Baylee’s elimination, Brian showed him even more support on social media. “Bubba I am and always will be in your corner,” he wrote. “You’d [sic] are so strong and so very talented, and inspire me every day. It’s never the end, only the beginning for so many to be blessed by your gifts….. you killed it last night.”

Despite his journey on the show coming to an early end, Baylee is still pursuing music. “I get choked up a little bit when I talk about my boy,” Brian admitted. “He’s just [the] most inspiring thing in my life right now. He inspires me more than anything. Top 20 isn’t a bad thing out of 124,000. Let me just take this shameless plug really quick: His first single comes out [July 24]. It’s called ‘Hey Jesus.’ Check that out.”