Boucher was born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia. She is of Quebecois and Ukrainian descent. She was raised Roman Catholic, and attended Catholic school. Her mother is Sandy Garossino , former Crown prosecutor and art's adovcate.

Grimes' music is varied, including an eclectic mix of styles which she herself describes as "ADD music", it shifts frequently and dramatically - "I go through phases a lot." Her work has been likened to various artists, including Bjork, Siouxsie Sioux and Enya and she was described by Tastemakers Magazine as an "alien love-child of Aphex Twin and ABBA" The Guardian summarised her musical style: "By sounding a little like everything you've ever heard, the whole sounds like nothing you've ever heard." Her music has experimented with elements of art pop, synthpop, witch house, baroque pop, dream pop, ambient, and electro-R&B. Grimes says she realized how to make music early. She was listening to Panda Bear's album Person Pitch and it "jumpstarted" her mind. She explains, "Up until that point I had basically only made weird atonal drone music, with no sense of songwriting. I barely understood anything about music, it seemed like a mystery. But suddenly all music clicked into place and seemed so simple and easy. I was pretty much able to spontaneously write songs immediately after listening to this album once." On her music making process she has also said, "I have a nervous tic. When I was a kid, I would constantly be banging on things with my foot. Making music has been a really good mechanism for releasing some kind of percussive issue that I have. It's usually about finding a perfect beat; I play around until I get a tempo I like and then it's just a matter of filling in the blanks". Grimes utilizes looping and layering techniques, particularly with vocals; many of her songs feature layers of over fifty different vocal tracks which create an "ethereal" sound. Grimes is a soprano. Grimes cites the following as influences: Marilyn Manson, Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, Enya, Kate Bush, Beyonce, Bikini Kill, Joanna Newsom, Burial, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Blue Hawaii, How to Dress Well, Cocteau Twins, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Panda Bear, Tool, Dandi Wind, Outkast, the Dungeon Family, New Edition, TLC, Michael Jackson, Black Dice, Aphex Twin, Nine Inch Nails, Skinny Puppy, the Spice Girls, Jedi Mind Tricks, Paramore, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, Geinoh Yamashirogumi, Yoko Kanno, Kenji Kawai, David Bowie, Queen, St. Vincent, Mindless Self Indulgence, Chris Isaak, Salem, Al Green, and Blink-182, as well as the Dune novels, The Godfather Part II, K-pop, artist Yayoi Kusama, The Legend of Zelda, Akira, and medieval music.

who were his influences?
She was listening to Panda Bear's album Person Pitch and it "jumpstarted" her mind.