TRENDING

Just over a week ago, tragedy struck when Christina Grimmie was shot and killed at a meet and greet at The Plaza Live after her show in Orlando, Florida. Despite the heartache and sadness that comes with an event like this, there is so much to remember her by and lessons to take away from her amazing life. 

For those of us who have been fans from the start, we first knew Christina by her username, Zeldaxlove64. Zeldaxlove64 came from her Youtube channel where her talents initially became recognized. Grimmie’s first video was a cover of Miley Cyrus’ song "Don’t Wanna Be Torn," which quickly received thousands and thousands of views, eventually totalling over one million. As she continued to upload videos of her covers, her fan base grew.

Grimmie dabbled with other gigs as her name became more known. She opened for her mentor and friend Selena Gomez during her We Own the Night Tour and even had a show on Disney.com for a little while. But it wasn’t until she decided to audition for season 6 of The Voice that she became a national sensation. When Grimmie hit the stage covering "Wrecking Ball" by Miley Cyrus, all four coaches immediately wanted her, but she when asked to pick one, she decided to join team Adam Levine. Between their efforts, she ended up coming in third overall, which lead to a frenzy of producers asking to sign her.

Grimmie’s life was not without trials though. Throughout her lifetime, her mother battled breast cancer three times. But instead of letting the pain of watching her mother battle cancer cripple her, Grimmie used it as inspiration for the emotion behind her music and for her lyrics to her albums Find Me and With Love. In addition to this, Grimmie didn’t immediately rise to fame; she spent almost five years between her first Youtube video and auditioning for The Voice working towards becoming known. But despite the time this took, she chose to never give up.

Although Christina Grimmie’s life was cut short, there is so much to remember and marvel at from this amazing girl's life: her confidence that can be seen every time she hit the stage, her love for her family and her love for the music. She had the beautiful gift of being able to connect the audience to a song through her powerful voice and expressive emotion, which only added to the impact she had on so many lives.

Despite this tragedy, let us take away the lessons that Christina Grimmie taught us: to stay hopeful, to follow our dreams and to never give up. You can watch her memorial service online here.

Please feel free to share your favorite memories of and from Christina in the comments below.

Photo credit: Christina Grimmie

by Sarah Fritz | 6/20/2016