Christina Grimmie

**Christina Victoria Grimmie** (March 12th, 1994 – June 10th, 2016) was an American singer, songwriter, actress, and YouTuber from Marlton, New Jersey. She became famous through her YouTube channel **zeldaxlove64**, and was mostly known for covering songs by popular artists.

## Early Life

Christina Grimmie was born on March 12th, 1994 to Tina and Albert Grimmie in Marlton, New Jersey. Her mother was a receptionist up until her breast cancer diagnosis, and her father worked at Verizon Communications. She also had an older brother, Marcus.

Christina was of Italian and Romanian descent and grew up in Marlton. She attended Bethel Baptist Christian School, Marlton Middle School, and Cherokee High School. Her father, Albert, noticed that she had a talent for singing at the age of six, and she began to play the piano at age ten.

## Career

### **2009–2010: Beginning and Discovery**

Christina began uploading videos to YouTube under the name zeldaxlove64 at the age of fifteen in 2009. She had been persuaded by her friend to share her videos on the website, and she stated that she agreed to do so because it would allow people to connect with her music. Her first video was a cover of *Don't Wanna Be Torn* by Hannah Montana, however, she did not earn recognition until she had posted her cover of *Party in the U.S.A.* by Miley Cyrus.

In 2010, Christina had been home schooled for her junior year of high school. She also covered the song *Just a Dream* by Nelly with YouTuber Sam Tsui, a video that would receive more than 160 million views in eight years.

### **2011: *Find Me***

In 2011, Christina placed second in the MyYouTube competition, behind singer Selena Gomez, who would later go on to become her mentor. She later performed in the UNICEF charity concert, as well as performing backup vocals for Selena's band Selena Gomez & the Scene. Christina was a part of the very first DigiTour, a social media tour originally created specifically for YouTube artists.

Christina was the opening act at the Concert for Hope, which featured artists such as the Jonas Brothers, Allstar Weekend, and Selena Gomez & the Scene. On June 14th, 2011, she released her debut extended play (EP), *Find Me*. Since she was not signed to a label at the time, the EP was released independently, although it managed to debut at #35 on the *Billboard 200* chart in the United States. Prior to the EP's release, Christina released her debut single *Advice*, although the music video was not released until the next month, on July 19th.

In July and August of 2011, Christina toured with Selena Gomez & the Scene during the *We Own the Night Tour*. On October 10th, 2011, she appeared on *The Ellen DeGeneres Show*, performing a cover of *How to Love* by Lil Wayne and her own original song, *Liar Liar*. She later performed *Higher* alongside Taio Cruz at the 39th American Music Awards of 2011 pre-show on November 20th, 2011. The same day, she performed her song *Not Fragile* with Selena Gomez & the Scene, who she would later appear with in a commercial for Xbox's Kinect.

In November of 2011, Christina appeared in a commercial for Doritos alongside Dallas Lovato. She was also featured in an episode of Disney Channel's *So Random!*, performing her single *Advice*. The episode aired on December 11th, 2011.

### **2012–2013: *With Love***

Christina moved to Los Angeles to pursue her singing career in January of 2012. She signed with Creative Artists Agency. From March 29th, 2012 to June 5th, 2012, she starred in the Disney.com webseries *Power Up: With Christina Grimmie*. Christina revealed she would be working with a band from her hometown called Rising Tide.

In June of 2012, a stripped version of Christina's song *Find Me* was released through iTunes. It was featured on the iTunes homepage in July. Although her channel was mainly focused on music, she began to pursue other interests. Her channel reached two million subscribers in April of 2013.

On August 6th, 2013, Christina released her debut studio album, *With Love*. Following this, she opened for Selena Gomez on the North American leg of her *Stars Dance Tour*, performing songs from said album. The music video for the album's lead single, *Tell My Mama*, was exclusively premiered through Billboard.com on October 3rd.

### **2014–2015: *The Voice* and Major Label Debut**

In January of 2014, Christina appeared in an episode of fellow YouTuber and friend Shane Dawson's series *Shane and Friends*. She auditioned for season six of the competitive singing show *The Voice*, performing *Wrecking Ball* by Miley Cyrus for her Blind Audition. All four coaches turned their chairs for her, and she picked Adam Levine to be her coach for the season. By the end of the season, she landed in third place, behind winner Josh Kaufman and runner-up Jake Worthington.

During the show, Adam and rapper Lil Wayne both expressed desires to sign Christina to their labels, 222 Records and Young Money Entertainment respectively, however, she instead decided to sign with Island Records. She toured with other former *The Voice* contestants during *The Voice Summer Tour*, beginning on June 21st, 2014. At the time, Christina was also writing her second studio album, which would have been her first release under a label. Her new single, *Must Be Love*, was announced on July 11th. She confirmed that it would be released on July 31st, 2014 through a livestream on July 15th.

In February of 2015, Christina collaborated with Dove Cameron on the music video for Dove's song *What a Girl Is* for her Disney Channel series *Liv and Maddie*. The video was released through both Christina's channel and the official Disney YouTube channel. She announced on March 4th, 2015 that she had been dropped from Island Records and that she was working on a new album, set to be released in late 2015. The album's lead single, *Cliché*, was released on March 16th. *Stay with Me*, the second single and a collaboration with Diamond Eyes, was released on April 27th. The song reached #5 on the iTunes Electronic chart and was featured on a dubstep compilation album, *2015 UKF Dubstep*.

Christina was a contestant in the iHeartRadio/Macy's Rising Star Contest. She was revealed as the contest's winner on May 27th, 2015, resulting in her opening the 2015 iHeartRadio Music Festival in September. On July 2nd, 2015, Christina released her third single *Shrug*. She was also one of sixteen artists to record the charity single *Love Song to the Earth*, a song meant to raise awareness about climate change. She returned to *The Voice* in season nine to promote Kohl's fashion.

### **2016–2020: *Side A* and Posthumous Releases**

On February 21st, 2016, Christina released her second EP, *Side A*. She stated that *Side B* would be likely to follow, and that she hoped to release her second studio album by the end of the year.

Christina had created a four-part video series for *Side A*, titled "The Ballad of Jessica Blue". Following her death, manager Brian Teefey announced in July of 2016 that the videos would premiere through *Billboard*, and would be released through her YouTube channel afterward. The videos for *Snow White*, *Anybody's You*, *Deception*, and *Without Him* debuted on August 11th, August 18th, August 25th, and September 1st, respectively.

Christina starred in *The Matchbreaker*, released in theaters in October of 2016, which had been her motion picture acting debut. She received her only Teen Choice Award posthumously on July 31st, 2016; it was the Choice Web Star: Music award. This caused backlash amongst her fans, who claimed that her name was only used to promote the show and was not at all mentioned during the broadcast, although there had been a tribute to victims of gun violence. Further backlash occurred when Christina's name was not included in the televised "In Memoriam" segment of the Emmy Awards.

On February 17th, 2017, Christina's family released her song *Invisible* as a single. The song was included on her third and final EP, *Side B*, which was released on April 21st. Her posthumous second album, *All is Vanity*, was released on June 9th, 2017, a day short of the first anniversary of her death.

The single *Little Girl*, a song Christina had written and recorded for her mother who was battling breast cancer, was released on May 11th, 2018. Christina's mother succumbed to her illness and passed away a few months after the song's release.

Back in 2012, while working with Brennan Aerts and Khara Lord, Christina wrote and recorded a song titled *Hold Your Head Up,* which was intended for her debut studio album *With Love,* but Christina never released it herself. *Hold Your Head Up* was finally released as a single on June 13th, 2019.

Another song that Christina had wrote and recorded around 2012 was titled *Cry Wolf,* which Christina performed on June 18th, 2012 at the Gramercy Theatre. She had also performed the song live on Twitch and on another live streaming site. Christina never released *Cry Wolf.* Finally on September 15th, 2020, Christina's team and family will be releasing *Cry Wolf* as a single.

## Personal Life

Grimmie identified as a Christian. Her family attended Fellowship Alliance Chapel in Medford, New Jersey, before they moved to Los Angeles. Grimmie had cited her mother, a three-time breast cancer survivor, as a major inspiration for her musical career. On September 2, 2018, Grimmie's mother Tina Grimmie died at the age of 59 after a "courageous and brave battle with breast cancer".

Grimmie was an animal rights activist and participated in fundraising events for the Humane Society of the United States. The Christina Grimmie Animal Medical Fund was created in her honor, and she posthumously won the "Impact Award" from the industry for her animal rights activism. She also worked with PETA to promote pet adoption, after adopting a dog in 2014. In her honor, she received a leaf on PETA's Tree of Life, which honors heroes for animals. Grimmie was an anime fan, and had a Twitch channel where she frequently streamed.

## Death

(March 12, 1994 – June 10, 2016) after initially opening her arms to give him a hug. As witnesses fled the scene, Loibl was tackled by Grimmie's brother, and the men scuffled. Loibl broke free, backed against a wall, and shot himself dead. Grimmie was on the ground and bleeding from the head; after CPR was performed on her, 911 was called and she was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center in critical condition with four gunshot wounds; she was pronounced dead just before 11:00 PM local time. An autopsy revealed that Grimmie was shot once in the head and twice in the chest. Her death was declared a homicide.

The Orlando Police Department said Loibl had traveled by taxicab to Orlando from his home in St. Petersburg, Florida, bringing two handguns, two extra magazines full of ammunition, and a large hunting knife. "The suspect traveled to Orlando apparently to commit this crime and then had plans to travel back to where he came from," Orlando Police Chief John Mina said. According to Orlando police, the bags of the attendees would normally have been checked, but there were no metal detectors at the venue, nor were the attendees frisked. One witness complained that the security was concerned about food and beverages being brought into the theatre, but did not catch Loibl's guns. Witnesses described Loibl as "nervous" and "kinda creepy". Though Loibl did not have an arrest record in his home county, he had previous run-ins with the police and purchased the guns legally. He did not appear to know Grimmie personally; nor did Grimmie know of him. He also had no diagnosis of any mental illnesses, but had a history of violence. Police did not offer a motive, but said that Loibl had shown an "unhealthy and unrealistic infatuation" with the singer and tried to make himself more physically attractive for her through weight loss, hair plugs, and eye surgery. The *Orlando Sentinel* described his motive as "If I can’t have you, then nobody else can — and I'm going to possess you by taking your life." Although Loibl lived "like a hermit", his family said that they were not aware of his plans to travel to Orlando nor that he possessed any guns. They also stated that they had never heard of Grimmie, or seen Loibl talk about her, nor watch *The Voice*. However, his "only friend in the world" claimed to have known about Loibl's obsession, though not its extent; Loibl's co-workers stated the same. They also said Loibl would be "angry and defensive" when questioned about his obsession, and before the shooting had stated he was "tired and ready to ascend."

Grimmie was buried at Berlin Cemetery, in a private ceremony on June 16. The following day, thousands of friends and fans attended a public memorial held in Medford, New Jersey.

### Aftermath and reactions

Dozens of artists and other celebrities took to social media in response to Grimmie's death. *The Voice* tweeted, "There are no words. We lost a beautiful soul with an amazing voice". Her former coach, Adam Levine, wrote that he and his wife were "absolutely devastated and heartbroken ... This is yet another senseless act of extreme violence." Blake Shelton wrote "I'm stunned and disgusted and heartbroken that we lost that sweet little girl." Longtime friend and former tour-mate Selena Gomez was performing only a few miles away from Grimmie at the Amway Center when she was shot.The following morning she wrote, "My heart is absolutely broken. I miss you, Christina." Gomez also tearfully dedicated her performance of Hillsong's "Transfiguration" to Grimmie's memory at her Miami concert the following night on June 11, and then canceled a meet-and-greet scheduled to take place that night, citing fear and grief. Gomez later checked into rehab and put her tour on hold. Many others dedicated performances to Grimmie, such as Justin Bieber, Sabrina Carpenter, Demi Lovato, Maroon 5, Twenty One Pilots, Charlie Puth, and Rachel Platten. Dove Cameron, who had previously collaborated with Grimmie, expressed her grief over the course of a few days on Twitter. Before You Exit, with whom Grimmie had performed before the shooting, tweeted, "Today we lost an angel, sister, and a beloved friend." The family of the perpetrator of Grimmie's death left a handwritten note on their doorstep offering their condolences and apologies for their son's actions, with "no other comments". Susan Wojcicki, the CEO of YouTube, paid tribute by saying the YouTube family was "heartbroken" and "shocked" to hear of Grimmie's murder, with YouTube officially paying tribute on their website. Many YouTubers made tribute videos for Grimmie, and on June 17, a montage of clips featuring Grimmie titled "In Loving Memory Of Christina Grimmie" was posted on her official YouTube channel, which gained upwards of 2.5 million views and 33,000 comments in the first four days. Songs written and recorded in Grimmie's memory include Tyler Ward's "A Song for Christina"; Before You Exit's "Clouds"; MAX's "Christina's Song" and "Blink of an Eye" by Tori Kelly. In Season 11 of *The Voice*, the coaches performed "Dream On" at the start of the show, as a tribute to Grimmie. In Season 12, Team Adam performed "Hey Jude" as another tribute to Grimmie; her family was in the audience.

On June 11, a GoFundMe was created by Grimmie's manager to cover funeral costs and expenses for the Grimmie family, raising over $170,000 in two days and surpassing its goal of $4,000. It received over 25,000 shares through social media, but soon after, Adam Levine offered to pay for all expenses. Also, a petition was created on change.org to honor Grimmie, a fan of the video game series *The Legend of Zelda*, by naming an NPC after her in the upcoming *Legend of Zelda* game set to be released in 2017. It was signed by over 70,000 people, including her brother Marcus, though nothing ever came of it. Grimmie was scheduled to appear at E3 2016, the former president of Nintendo of America, Reggie Fils-Aimé, gave his condolences to Grimmie and the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting before giving his Nintendo E3 2016 speech on announcing *The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild*.

Grimmie's death led to calls for increased security at performing arts venues, and also created a discussion about gun control and mental health. American heavy metal band Pantera, noting the similarities between Grimmie's murder and the deaths of former Pantera guitarist Darrell Abbott and three others in 2004, urged concert promoters and club owners to impose stronger measures to protect artists from "gun wielding fanatics. Sadly, that's not the case and another rising star had to pay the consequences with her life."

The Plaza Live reopened four days after the shooting, and paid tribute to Grimmie. Management asked Orlando police to help evaluate the club's security. Some singers in Las Vegas—including Cali Tucker, another season six contestant on *The Voice*—were given escorts after their performances. In California, VidCon added metal detectors and security officers, and banned informal meet-and-greets, in the wake of Grimmie's shooting. Video personalities including Joey Graceffa were assigned private security. An industry attorney said the extra measures are "expensive, and fans don't like it. But this is the new reality."

The Pulse nightclub shooting occurred the night after Grimmie's murder, and also took place in Orlando, Florida; it was only four miles from where Grimmie was shot. While police confirmed that the two shootings had no connection, *Billboard* published "An Open Letter to Congress: Stop Gun Violence Now" on June 23 demanding background checks for every gun purchase and an outright ban on sales to suspected terrorists. The inspiration for the letter came from both shootings, and *Billboard*'s editors said the ease with which "dangerous people" can get guns is the one connection between Grimmie's murder and the Pulse shooting. The letter was signed by nearly 200 music industry luminaries, including artists Cher, Jennifer Lopez, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Thom Yorke, surviving Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, and executives Daniel Glass, Irving Azoff, and Russell Simmons.

In February 2017, Grimmie's family announced their plans to create a foundation in her honor named "The Christina Grimmie Foundation". The foundation's purpose is to support those affected by gun violence and/or breast cancer. The foundation frequently hosts events in Grimmie's honor, to ensure that Grimmie's death is "not the end of her story." Later that month, an episode of *48 Hours* titled "Stalked" aired focusing on Grimmie's murder.

On the second anniversary of Grimmie's murder, the city of Orlando paid tribute, as did the police force. That same month, a podcast titled "Christina Grimmie: The Murder of a Rising Star" was released, with separate episodes all focusing on key components of her murder. After the Jacksonville Landing shooting occurred in August 2018, BBC News compared Grimmie's murder with it, along with other shootings that had occurred in Florida.

### Lawsuit

In December 2016, six months after her murder, Grimmie's family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against several entities, including the concert promoter, the foundation that owns the venue, and the security company working the event. In January 2017, the venues requested that the judge dismiss the lawsuit, claiming Florida law does not allow business owners to be held liable for attacks on their property. A hearing on the motion to dismiss the lawsuit was set for May 23. The lawsuit was dismissed but Grimmie's family was given an opportunity to re-file the suit. The judge stated that the suit did not make enough of a distinction between the concert promoter and the venue owner.

In May 2017, the family's attorney, Brian Caplan, said that Grimmie's family would file a new complaint after a Florida judge dismissed the original lawsuit.

On April 9, 2018, just short of a year after the Grimmie family filed a new complaint in a Florida court, it was revealed that a judge rejected the defendants' AEG Live and the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra Plaza Foundation motions to dismiss the case, and has allowed the family's lawsuit to move forward. In their lawsuit the Grimmie family alleges that the defendants "failed to take adequate security measures to ensure the safety of the performers and the attendees at the concert venue." Grimmie's family is also being allowed to move forward on claims of "negligent infliction of emotional distress". The judge determined more research on the claims is needed before going forward. No time frame has been given on the next steps in the case or when a decision would be reached.

## Discography

### Studio albums

 With Love | * Released: August 6th, 2013
* Label: Maker Music
* Format: CD, digital download
* Label: UMG, Republic
* Format: CD, digital download

### Compilation albums

 The Complete Season 6 Collection (The Voice Performance) | * Released: May 20th, 2014
* Label: UMG, Republic
* Format: Digital download
* Label: So Broken Up
* Format: CD, digital download

### Extended plays

 Find Me (EP) | * Released: June 14th, 2011
* Label: Indepedent
* Format: CD, digital download
* Label: LH7 Management
* Format: CD, digital download
* Label: UMG, Republic
* Format: CD, digital download

### Music videos

 "Tell My Mama" | 2013
 "Feelin' Good" | 2014
 "Snow White" | 2016