Explanation/Reference:
Explanation:
Unless otherwise specified, viewing catalog views requires a principal to have one of the following:
Membership in the sysadmin fixed server role.

The CONTROL SERVER permission.

The VIEW SERVER STATE permission.

The ALTER ANY AUDIT permission.

The VIEW AUDIT STATE permission (gives only the principal access to the sys.server_audits catalog

view).
References: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc280386(v=sql.110).aspx