I am still reeling over the senseless murder of The Voice singer Christina Grimmie at the hands of a deranged gunman. There have been tributes all over social media for the singer. Reality stars from The Voice, American Idol, X Factor and more shared their condolences in the immediate wake of the tragedy.
The tributes continue to pour in. Last night, both Selena Gomez and Fifth Harmony paid tribute to the fallen singer during their respective concert performances.
Not only were Selena and Christina friends, but Selena’s parents managed them both. During the Miami stop of her Revival tour Saturday night, Selena became emotional as she dedicated “Transfiguration” to Christina.
“When she was 14, we met her and my parents and I signed her,” said Selena. “One thing about Christina and her family is that she holds her faith so closely to her.” She continued, holding back tears, “I think it’s not about a religion and it’s not about anything or good deeds. It’s just that she had faith, and I don’t really understand how this really happened, but I would like to dedicate this next song to her.”
https://youtu.be/m82Jyl6Eao8
Fifth Harmony called for a moment of silence for Christina during their set in New York at the BLI Summer Jam 2016. “Such a beautiful soul, such a beautiful talent,” said Normani Kordei on behalf of the quintet, “I remember the first time we met her, she was nothing but nice to us, and so humble. We love you and we’re praying for your family. And we know you’re smiling down from above.”
Fifth harmony praying a tribute to Christina Grimmie. My heart is crying #RIPChristina pic.twitter.com/JNV5lTPddC
— kim (@captaincabello) June 12, 2016
Christina came in 3rd the 6th season of The Voice. Josh Kaufman won that season, and he shared his memories of Christina with Billboard magazine. Josh competed with Christina and also embarked on a national tour with her the following summer. In his late 30’s at the time of the competition, Josh never failed to be impressed with her maturity and grace. Here’s an excerpt:
But here was this young “YouTube star” barely out of her teens, not just stumbling through it or just trying to have fun with it, but absolutely handling it with all the grace and graciousness that you could possibly expect of anybody. On the show, competing against her never felt like competition. That’s not to say that she wasn’t a competitor, but as with anything else, she did it the right way. She was always quick with a complement and supportive of those around her. And, of course, she was great to her fans, always giving them more time and attention than she really had to.
She knew when to be silly and when to be serious. She had wisdom and maturity beyond her years. Christina Grimmie, as it turned out, was not just a YouTube star. She was not even just a great talent. She was a true success. She achieved the kind of success that we ought to hold out as an example of what it really means to succeed — success in life in all of its facets. She strove, above all else, to be a good person and that is the best and most we can ever ask of anybody.
In 2004, the band Pantera lost their guitarist, “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott as he was murdered by a gunman while performing with his new band Damageplan in Columbus. Two crew members, a club employee, and another fan were also killed. The band calls on club owners and promoters to do a better job keeping artists safe. (Via Rolling Stone)
Lastly, Christina’s heroic brother, Marcus Grimmie, paid tribute to his sister in a Facebook post. When the gunman began firing at Christina, Marcus tackled him. The gunman then shot and killed himself.
Marcus invites fans to post photos and memories of Christina in the comments of the post.
