Many people may have heard of Christina Grimmie - most probably from her time on "The Voice," but others like myself knew her long before then. Back when I first discovered her, she was simply a small YouTuber who did covers of songs in her bedroom. After competing on "The Voice" and placing third, she skyrocketed. As a long time member of Team Grimmie, I was absolutely shocked when I woke up Saturday morning to go to work and saw the news all across my feed on Facebook.
Friday night, Christina Grimmie was holding a fan meet and greet after her concert with Before You Exit when she was shot in the head by gunman Kevin Loibl. She later died from her injuries in the hospital. At first, I was in disbelief - someone so young and with so much ahead of her couldn't simply be gone. Could she? Someone I had had the absolute honor of watching grow from a small youtber to a singer who opened for the iHeartRadio festival. And suddenly the bright light she shed on the world was gone, in an instant as a man decided to take her away from the world. I was searching for a motive, and for a while I couldn't find one. Then an article by the Santa Monica Observer was released that suddenly, for me, clicked the pieces into place. Christina's murder is being investigated as a hate crime.
"It is difficult to find motive in the insane ravings of a madman like Kevin James Loibl. But it has become increasingly apparent to police from an examination of Loibl's cell phone and computer records, that singer Christina Grimmie was murdered because of her outspoken Christian faith."
One of the traits I so admired most was her open admiration, love, and faith in the Lord. She was outspoken about her beliefs and she held tight to her core values as a Christian - making sure to never swear in her videos, taking to her social media to let the world know of her beliefs, and making sure that everyone knew that when she sand she sang for Him.
Christina, to me, was so much more than just a person who sang - I've watched her grow as a person, a singer, and have admired her so much. She is such an inspiration to me and to have her light taken from the world so suddenly was so hard. She was a friend, though one I never talked to, that I always wanted to check up on what she was doing. She was on my list of people I wanted to see in concert. I was, and still am, so immensely proud of her and her accomplishments. Especially that she still retained her core values and beliefs even when she became bigger and more well known.
Her life was stopped short by a man with a gun, she was on track to become even bigger than she already was and that was all taken away from her in an instant. Please remember to keep the Grimmie family and friends in your prayers, they will need them. And to fellow members of Team Grimmie, know you're not alone and that your pain and morning over Christina are just as valid, no matter what anyone says about never knowing her in real life. We have all watched and kept up with her life for so long, it's only expected that we hurt just as much as her friends would.
Heaven gained another beautiful voice to join its ever expanding choir. #RIPhristinaGrimmie, you'll be missed.
