11 Jun 2016

RIP Christina Grimmie

We were deeply saddened to learn last night that Christina Grimmie was shot and killed after her concert while signing autographs for fans at her Orlando show. She was shot several times by a deranged fan who had traveled from another city in Florida to kill her – armed with two guns and a hunting knife and with the hope that he could get away after an incident like this. During the shooting, the gunman was tackled by Christina Grimmie’s brother and in the altercation the gunman then shot and killed himself.

To hear about her death last night was not only heartbreaking, but left us feeling confused and cold. Christina was just 22 years old with a whole life ahead of her. If you’ve been following Yow Yow! for a long time, then you know that we blogged about her back in 2010 because of her YouTube covers. They were phenomenal. She had started filming her covers at just 15 years old and back then and even up until yesterday she was a positive, energetic, and spritely young woman. Christina later on went to compete on The Voice where she ended up taking 3rd place – a really big deal for her fans. I still remember being glued to my TV that season and rooting for her every step of the way.

I think another reason why I adored Christina so much was because she was also a scene kid. She reminded me of myself and my friends at that age and she had no problem admitting that she was super nerdy. Her YouTube username is, zeldaxlove64, after all.

Christina tragically died last night giving back to her fans in a setting that was supposed to be memorable, exciting, and overall a happy moment. I was attending concerts regularly by the age of 15 and back then I remember showing up early during load-in and staying a little bit later after the sets of my favorite bands so that I could talk with the band members. Never in my life did I ever think that anything dangerous or life-threatening would happen in that moment. This gunman took away the life of someone who cared so much about their fans and also ruined this experience for her fans who will always remember this moment as something that ended in tragedy. RIP Christina Grimmie.