Christina Grimmie

Christina Grimmie

Performing in 2014
Background information
Birth name Christina Victoria Grimmie
Born (1994-03-12) March 12, 1994
Origin Marlton, New Jersey, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s) Singer, songwriter, pianist
Instruments Vocals, piano, guitar, drums
Years active 2009–present
Labels Creative Artists Agency, Island Records
Associated acts Adam Levine, Before You Exit, Selena Gomez, Dove Cameron
Website Official website

Christina Victoria Grimmie, (born March 12, 1994), known on YouTube as zeldaxlove64,[1] is an American singer-songwriter known for participating in The Voice and for her covers of hit songs by contemporary pop musicians. 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.[2]

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.[3] She signed to Island Records[4] for a short time before being dropped by them.[5]

Early life

Grimmie grew up in Marlton, New Jersey where she attended Cherokee High School.[6] She is of Italian and Romanian descent.[7] Her father noticed her talent for singing when she was six years old [8] and she started playing the piano at age ten.[9] Despite having received piano lessons, she says she plays by ear.[8] In a number of her videos and interviews, Grimmie identifies herself as a Christian.[10] Grimmie was homeschooled for her junior year in 2010.[11]

Career

2009–10: YouTube recognition and discovery

Grimmie began posting videos to YouTube in 2009, at age 15. The first video she uploaded was a cover of Hannah Montana's, "Don't Wanna Be Torn."[6] She first reached YouTube stardom early on with her cover of Miley Cyrus's "Party in the U.S.A." in August 2009.[12] She is best known for her cover with fellow YouTuber Sam Tsui of Nelly's "Just a Dream", which has had more than 128 million views between the three official versions of the video as of February 9, 2016.[13][14] Since uploading her videos, she has had over 375 million views and over 2 million subscribers on her channel as of April 28, 2013, which has made her the 4th most subscribed musician on YouTube.[15] She also placed at number 2 at the top 5 of the MyYouTube competition, behind Selena Gomez, and in front of Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, and Justin Bieber.[16] As her popularity grew on YouTube, Grimmie was discovered by Gomez's stepfather, Brian Teefey, who met with her in May 2010 and became her manager.[17][18]

2011: Find Me

Grimmie has performed in the UNICEF charity concert,[19][20] and has also performed backup vocals for Selena Gomez & the Scene, and was on the first ever DigiTour in 2011, specially designed for YouTube artists. Gomez became her mentor. She has appeared on the Billboard Social 50.[21] She also opened for Selena Gomez & the Scene, Allstar Weekend and the Jonas Brothers during the Concert of Hope. She toured for six weeks with Selena Gomez & the Scene opening for them in the We Own the Night Tour.[18]

She released an EP, entitled Find Me, on June 14, 2011.[18] Her debut single 'Advice' was released to Radio Disney on June 11,[22] with the music video, directed by Sean Babas, being released on July 19 on her YouTube channel. She appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show performing with fellow YouTuber, Tyler Ward, a cover to Lil Wayne's "How to Love" that aired on October 10, 2011.[23] On November 20, 2011, Grimmie performed at the 39th American Music Awards of 2011 Pre-show alongside Taio Cruz to a special rendition of "Higher". She also performed her song 'Not Fragile' at the American Music Awards of 2011 Coca-Cola Red Carpet Show along with Selena Gomez's band the Scene. Christina Grimmie was the special musical guest performing her hit song 'Advice' on Disney Channel's So Random! which premiered on December 11, 2011.[24]

2012–13: With Love

In January 2012, Grimmie moved to Los Angeles to pursue her singing career. Grimmie was signed to Creative Artists Agency who have signed the likes of Chris Brown and Christina Aguilera in early April 2012 after moving to LA. On Disney.com, she starred in the web show 'Power Up: with Christina Grimmie, which ran from March 29, 2012 until June 5, 2012. She also revealed that she would be working with a new feature band, to be named Rising Tide, which is a teen group originally from her hometown area in New Jersey.[25] She then opened for Gomez on her North American dates of her Stars Dance Tour,[26] performing songs from her second album With Love, which was released on August 6, 2013. On October 3, 2013, her Music Video for "Tell My Mama" had its Exclusive Video Premiere on Billboard.com. The video is "about a guy that I start liking in school, and he's sort of a dangerous kid, and I am the type of girl that tells my mom about everything," says Grimmie.

2014: The Voice

Grimmie auditioned for Season 6 of NBC's singing competition, The Voice, as revealed on her Facebook page.[27] During the Blind Auditions, she performed Miley Cyrus' hit song "Wrecking Ball". All four coaches, Adam Levine, Usher, Shakira, and Blake Shelton, turned their chairs for her, and she opted for Adam Levine.[28] She finished in 3rd place, behind winner Josh Kaufman and runner-up Jake Worthington.

     – Studio version of performance reached the top 10 on iTunes
Stage Song Original Artist Date Order Result
Blind Audition "Wrecking Ball" Miley Cyrus February 24, 2014 1.1 All four chairs turned
Joined Team Adam
Battles, Round 1 "I Knew You Were Trouble" (vs. Joshua Howard) Taylor Swift March 25, 2014 11.4 Saved by coach
Battles, Round 2 "Counting Stars" (vs. Sam Behymer) OneRepublic March 31, 2014 12.4 Saved by coach
The Playoffs "I Won't Give Up" Jason Mraz April 14, 2014 18.10 Saved by coach
Live Top 12 "Dark Horse" Katy Perry April 21, 2014 20.6 Saved by Public Vote
Live Top 10 "Hold On, We're Going Home" Drake feat. Majid Jordan April 28, 2014 22.5 Saved by Public Vote
Live Top 8 (Quarterfinals) "How to Love" Lil Wayne May 5, 2014 24.8 Saved by Public Vote
Live Top 5 (Semifinals) "Hide and Seek" Imogen Heap May 12, 2014 26.5 Saved by Twitter Instant Save
"Some Nights" fun. 26.9
Live Finale "Wrecking Ball" Miley Cyrus May 19, 2014 28.1 Third place
"Somebody That I Used to Know" (with Adam Levine) Gotye feat. Kimbra 28.5
"Can't Help Falling in Love" Elvis Presley 28.8

2014–present: Post-The Voice and major label debut

During the competition, Grimmie's coach Adam expressed intentions to sign her to his record deal, 222 Records, with Lil Wayne also showing interest in signing her to his record deal, Young Money Entertainment. She ultimately chose to sign with Island Records.[4] She toured with the previous contestants of The Voice including season 5 winner Tessanne Chin, runner-up Jacquie Lee, Will Champlin, season 1 runner-up Dia Frampton and fellow season 6 finalists Kristen Merlin and Jake Barker. The Voice Summer tour started on June 21, 2014 in San Antonio, Texas. She is currently writing and recording music for her sophomore album, her third major release, and first release being signed to a label. The lead single was expected to be released in July 2014, with the album following later in the year.[29] Grimmie announced via Facebook that filming for the lyric video for the single started on July 6, 2014.[30] On July 11 she announced that her new single would be called "Must Be Love."[31] On July 15, 2014 she announced via a live stream that the song would be released on July 31, 2014.[32] "Must Be Love" was produced by Elof Loelv and recorded at ZAC Recording in Atlanta, Georgia.[33]

On March 4, 2015, Grimmie announced that she had been dropped from Island Records and that she is working on a new album which is set to be released late 2015.[34] The new single from her upcoming album, "Cliché," was released on March 16, 2015. On April 27, 2015 Christina released her second single, "Stay With Me" a collaboration with Diamond Eyes, which climbed to #5 on the iTunes Electronic Charts.[35] The song also made it on to 2015 UFK Dubstep, an album showcasing the top dubstep songs of the year.[36] She was also a contestant in the iHeartRadio/Macy's Rising Star Contest. On May 27, 2015, Grimmie was revealed as the winner of the Rising Star Contest, securing her spot to open the 2015 iHeartRadio Music Festival in September.[37] On July 2, 2015, she released her third single, "Shrug".

On February 21, 2016, Grimmie released her second EP, titled "Side A", which consisted of four songs. Grimmie stated that the simple title "Side A" would mean that a "Side B" is likely to follow. In February and March 2016, she also opened for Rachel Platten on her Wildfire Tour, where Grimmie performed many of the songs from her new EP live for the first time.

Influences

She 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."[38] Grimmie cited Christina Aguilera as her main influence vocally.[38] She also said she admires Beyoncé for her vocals.[38] She said she likes dubstep and DJ music, as well as rock 'n roll and heavy metal, listening to Metallica, Pantera, Iron Maiden, and Tool.[39]

Discography

Studio albums

List of albums, with selected chart positions and certifications
Title Album details Peak chart positions
US
[40]		 US
Indie
[41]		 BEL
(FL)
[42]
With Love 101 20 167

Extended plays

List of albums, with selected chart positions and certifications
Title Album details Peak chart positions
US US
Indie		 CAN
Find Me 35 6 44
Side A
  • Released: February 21, 2016
  • Label: Independent
  • Formats: Digital download
 — 25 —

Singles

As main artist

Single Year Peak chart position Album
US
Heat
[43]		 Radio Disney
"Advice" 2011 — 3 Find Me
"Liar Liar" 15 —
"Tell My Mama" 2013 — — With Love
"Must Be Love" 2014 — 1 Non-album single
"Cliché" 2015 — — TBA
"Shrug" — 5
"—" denotes items which failed to chart.

As featured artist

Single Year Peak chart positions Album
US
"Stay With Me"
(Diamond Eyes featuring Christina Grimmie)		 2015 — TBA
"Love Song to the Earth"
(Paul McCartney, Jon Bon Jovi, Sheryl Crow, Fergie, Colbie Caillat, Natasha Bedingfield, Leona Lewis, Sean Paul, Johnny Rzeznik, Krewella, Angelique Kidjo, Kelsea Ballerini, Nicole Scherzinger, Christina Grimmie, Victoria Justice and Q’Orianka Kilcher)		 — —
"What a Girl Is"
(Dove Cameron featuring Christina Grimmie and Baby Kaely)		 — Liv and Maddie: Music from the TV Series

Releases from The Voice

Title Album details
The Complete Season 6 Collection
Single Peak chart positions Original Artist
US
[44]		 CAN
[45]
"Wrecking Ball" — — Miley Cyrus
"I Knew You Were Trouble" — — Taylor Swift
"Counting Stars" — — OneRepublic
"I Won't Give Up" — — Jason Mraz
"Dark Horse" — — Katy Perry
"Hold On, We're Going Home" 74 64 Drake feat. Majid Jordan
"How to Love" 79 79 Lil Wayne
"Hide and Seek" — — Imogen Heap
"Some Nights" — — fun.
"Can't Help Falling in Love" 74 68 Elvis Presley
"Somebody That I Used to Know" 66 47 Gotye feat. Kimbra
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Music videos

Year Title Director
2011 "Advice" Sean Babas
2013 "Tell My Mama" David Turvey
"Feelin' Good" N/A
2015 "Cliché" N/A
"What A Girl Is" N/A
"Shrug" N/A
2016 "Snow White" N/A
"Anybody's You" N/A
"Deception" N/A
"Without Him" N/A

Filmography

Year Title Role
2011 So Random! Herself-Performer
2011 The Click Clique Herself
2012 Power Up with Christina Grimmie Host
2012 Remixed[46] Herself-Performer
2012 Dancing With the Stars (season 15)[47] Performer
2013 Dancing With the Stars (season 16)[48] Performer
2014 Dancing With the Stars (season 19)[49] Performer
2016 The Matchbreaker Emily Atkins

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Work Outcome
2011 American Music Awards New Media Honoree (Female) Herself Won[50]
2011 Youth Rock Awards 2011 Rockin’ Indie Artist of the Year Won[51]
2012 Intense Radio's Music Awards Best Female Cover Artist Won[52]
2012 Intense Radio's Talent Awards Best Female Cover Artist Nominated
2012 Intense Radio's Talent Awards Overall Best Cover Artist Nominated
2013 Radio Disney Music Awards Biggest Viral Artist Nominated
2013 Grimmex Radio's Talent Awards Best Female Cover Artist Nominated
2014 Young Hollywood Awards Viral Superstar Nominated
2014 Teen Choice Awards Choice Web Star: Music Nominated
2015 Choice Web Star: Music Nominated
2015 iHeart Radio Rising Star iHeart Contest Won

Concert Tours

Opening act

Public Tours

References

  1. ↑ Fanlala. "Christina Grimmie Is the Next YouTube Sensation." Fanlala.com. February 11, 2011.
  2. ↑ Chen, Christine (June 6, 2012). "YouTube Stars Do New York". Betabeat. Retrieved June 22, 2012.
  3. ↑ Wagmeister, Elizabeth (May 20, 2014). "‘The Voice’: Justin Bieber Wants Christina Grimmie To Win". HollywoodLife.com. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  4. 1 2 "NBC’s ‘The Voice’ alum Christina Grimmie signs with Island Records". July 4, 2014. Retrieved May 3, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Voice USA pop sensation Christina Grimmie on why she won't get undressed to impress". March 4, 2015. Archived from the original on May 12, 2015. Retrieved May 3, 2015.
  6. 1 2 Linnehan, Robert (January 26, 2011). "Marlton singer taking her talents to L.A." (PDF). The Marlton Sun. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 9, 2013. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
  7. ↑ zeldaxlove64 (July 31, 2013). "LIVE Q&A Listening Party w/Surprise! 4PM PST". Youtube. Retrieved August 7, 2013. Listen at 27:27
  8. 1 2 Levy, Mallory (June 10, 2011). "Exclusive Interview with Christina Grimmie". Joonbug.com. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
  9. ↑ "Christina Grimmie – About". Retrieved April 12, 2013.
  10. ↑ jgardiner (May 24, 2011). "Christina Grimmie: A Real Depiction Of A Jersey Shore Native (EXCLUSIVE)". GlobalGrind. p. 2. Archived from the original on November 12, 2013. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
  11. ↑ goomradio (August 19, 2010). "Christina Grimmie Interview on Goom Radio". YouTube. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
  12. ↑ "Christina Grimmie Talks YouTube Stardom". YouTube. July 8, 2011. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  13. ↑ "Just A Dream" by Nelly – Sam Tsui & Christina Grimmie (Kurt's/Sam's upload), Retrieved February 29, 2016
  14. ↑ "Just A Dream" by Nelly – Sam Tsui & Christina Grimmie (Christina's upload), Retrieved February 29, 2016
  15. ↑ Christina Grimmie's YouTube Channel, Retrieved May 15, 2011
  16. ↑ "MyYouTube". Youtube.com. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  17. ↑ Smith, Grady (July 8, 2011). "YouTube sensation Christina Grimmie: The 17-year-old singer talks about her new album and opening for Selena Gomez on tour". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
  18. 1 2 3 "exclusive interview: christina grimmie". Seventeen.com.
  19. ↑ Peel, Sarah (October 30, 2010). "Christina Grimmie UNICEF Performance – Selena Gomez Introduction". BSCkids.com. Archived from the original on March 20, 2012. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
  20. ↑ "Christina Grimmie Opens for Selena Gomez Tonight!". Fanlala.com. October 26, 2010. Retrieved May 29, 2012.
  21. ↑ Caulfield, Keith (January 13, 2011). "A Canoodling Justin Bieber Bullets to No. 1 on Social 50 Chart; Snoop's 'Wet' Rise; Christina Grimmie YouTube Phenom". Billboard. Retrieved February 21, 2011.
  22. ↑ "MAJOR UPDATE! Album on June 13th Dudes!!". YouTube. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  23. ↑ "Christina Grimmie Performs 'How to Love' – The Ellen DeGeneres Show". Ellen.warnerbros.com. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  24. ↑ "Christina Grimmie Performs On ‘So Random!’". ClevverTV. December 7, 2011. Archived from the original on May 14, 2012. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  25. ↑ "‘The Voice’ 2014: Christina Grimmie Talks about Blind Audition; Things to Know About the YouTube Celebrity Who Made All Four Judges Turn [Video]". February 27, 2014. Archived from the original on May 21, 2015. Retrieved May 3, 2015.
  26. ↑ "Christina Grimmie Will Join Selena On Her "Stars Dance" Tour!". May 22, 2013. Archived from the original on May 22, 2015. Retrieved May 3, 2015.
  27. ↑ "Christina Grimmie on Facebook". Retrieved May 3, 2015.
  28. ↑ Christina Grimmie Audition: "Wrecking Ball" (The Voice Highlight) on YouTube
  29. ↑ "Ever-evolving Christina Grimmie working on 'Voice' tour, new music". July 4, 2014. Retrieved May 3, 2015.
  30. ↑ "Christina Grimmie on Facebook". Retrieved May 3, 2015.
  31. ↑ "Christina Grimmie on Facebook". Retrieved May 3, 2015.
  32. ↑ "Christina Grimmie "Must Be Love" (Official Lyric Video Premiere)". Retrieved May 3, 2015.
  33. ↑ ""Must Be Love" In Studio – A Sneak Peak at the NEW Single (Coming July 31st)". Retrieved May 3, 2015.
  34. ↑ "Voice USA pop sensation Christina Grimmie on why she won't get undressed to impress". March 4, 2015. Retrieved May 3, 2015.
  35. ↑ "Instagram". Instagram. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
  36. ↑ https://ukf.com/video/ukf-dubstep-2015-album-mix. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  37. ↑ "Christina Grimmie". Macy's iHeartRadio Rising Star. Retrieved September 8, 2015.
  38. 1 2 3 jgardiner (May 24, 2011). "Christina Grimmie: A Real Depiction Of A Jersey Shore Native (EXCLUSIVE)". GlobalGrind. p. 5. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
  39. ↑ jgardiner (May 24, 2011). "Christina Grimmie: A Real Depiction Of A Jersey Shore Native (EXCLUSIVE)". GlobalGrind. p. 4. Archived from the original on December 24, 2013. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
  40. ↑ "Christina Grimmie – Chart history". Retrieved May 3, 2015.
  41. ↑ "Christina Grimmie – Chart history". Retrieved May 3, 2015.
  42. ↑ "Discografie Christina Grimmie". Retrieved May 3, 2015.
  43. ↑ "Christina Grimmie – Chart history". Retrieved May 3, 2015.
  44. ↑ "Christina Grimmie – Chart history". Retrieved May 3, 2015.
  45. ↑ "Christina Grimmie – Chart history". Retrieved May 3, 2015.
  46. ↑ "REMIXED: KEONE MADRID & MARI MARTIN & CHRISTINA GRIMMIE [DS2DIO". YouTube. June 25, 2012. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
  47. ↑ "Season 15 – Dancing With the Stars: All-Stars, Episode 8". Dancing with the Stars Episode Guide 2012. TVGuide.com. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
  48. ↑ "Season 16 – Dancing With the Stars, Episode 18". Dancing with the Stars Episode Guide 2013. TVGuide.com. Retrieved May 14, 2013.
  49. ↑ "Season 19 – Dancing With the Stars, Episode 12". Dancing with the Stars Episode Guide 2014. TVGuide.com. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
  50. ↑ Cohen, Joshua (November 14, 2011). "Exclusive: DeStorm, Christina Grimmie, Karmin Get AMA Honors". News.tubefilter.tv. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  51. ↑ "And the winners are…". Youth Rocks Awards. Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  52. ↑ "Grimmex Radio". Retrieved February 1, 2013.
  53. ↑ Platten, Rachel. "SO excited that @hunterhunted123 + @therealgrimmie will be joining me on my #WILDFIRE tour!". Retrieved December 28, 2015.

External links

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