Christina Victoria Grimmie (March 12, 1994 – June 11, 2016) was an American singer and songwriter known for participating in The Voice and for her covers of hit songs by contemporary pop musicians. Grimmie grew up in Marlton, New Jersey where she attended Baptist Regional Elementary School and Cherokee High School. She was of Italian and Romanian descent. Her father noticed her talent for singing when she was six years old and she started playing the piano at age ten. Despite having received piano lessons, she said she played by ear. In a number of her videos and interviews, Grimmie identified herself as a Christian. Grimmie was homeschooled for her junior year in 2010. In June 2011, she released her debut EP, Find Me. In June 2012, she told a reporter that she wanted to stop doing covers and start writing only original music. In 2014, Grimmie participated in Season 6 of NBC's singing competition, The Voice and finished in third place. Adam Levine, her coach on the show, announced in the finale that regardless of the results, he was signing Grimmie to his label, 222 Records. Justin Bieber and Lil Wayne also supported Grimmie on the show and Lil Wayne offered to sign Grimmie on his label, Young Money Entertainment. She signed to Island Records for a short time before being dropped by them.
Grimmie grew up listening to contemporary Christian artist Stacie Orrico: "She has a really awesome voice and I was so drawn to it. I think the reason I do have a soul voice is because I grew up listening to her and she was my huge, huge influence. I wanted to sound just like her, I wrote songs that kinda sounded like something she would do." Grimmie cited Christina Aguilera as her main influence vocally. She also said she admired Beyoncé for her vocals. She said she liked dubstep and DJ music, as well as rock 'n roll and heavy metal, listening to Metallica, Pantera, Iron Maiden, and Tool. On June 10, 2016, Grimmie was shot by an unknown male assailant following a Before You Exit concert in Orlando, Florida. Grimmie was shot three times while signing autographs after a performance at the Plaza Live in Orlando, Florida. The suspect committed suicide. She was hospitalized in critical condition and pronounced dead hours later due to her injuries. The unknown gunman then fatally shot himself after being tackled by her brother. She was taken to a hospital in critical condition; her death was confirmed on June 11.
Christina Grimmie, a singer known for competing on The Voice, died Friday night after she was shot after a concert in Orlando, police confirmed. Grimmie and the pop/punk band Before You Exit were signing autographs and selling merchandise after their show at the Plaza Live Theater when a man walked up to her and shot her, Orlando Sgt. Wanda Miglio said in a news conference. Grimmie's brother tackled him. The suspect then shot himself. "This should have been something that was fun and exciting," Miglio said, "and for something like this to happen is just a tragedy."Grimmie was taken to the Orlando Regional Medical Center. No one else was reported injured. Miglio called Grimmie's brother a hero, crediting him with stopping the suspect from hurting anyone else. The suspect, who was not identified, is dead, Miglio said. He had two guns in his possession, but Miglio said she has no information about the type of gun used, the motive or whether he and Grimmie knew each other. She said she did not know how many rounds were fired. Grimmie, who started out performing music on YouTube, is known for competing on the sixth season ofThe Voice in 2014. She finished in third place. She is working on an album signed under the label Island Records. At Friday's show, Grimmie was the last to perform before the show wrapped up, Miglio said. News of the shooting spread quickly on social media. #PrayforChristina has started trending on Twitter as fans and celebrities expressed their concern.
