If you're unfamiliar with Grimes, then buckle
up, because getting to know the quirky musician
is a wild ride. An artist known for her outlandish
style and persona, she's managed to stir up
plenty of buzz over the years thanks to her
unusual ways. Here is the untold truth of
Grimes.
Born in Vancouver, Canada in 1988, Claire
Boucher, who later became Grimes, was raised
by her mother, a former prosecutor, and her
father, a former banker. She also has two
brothers and two stepbrothers, who motivated
her to be a competitive child. She told Rolling
Stone:
"I remember getting really good at this Pokémon
video game because it was this ego s--- that
I had to defeat them. I did track and field
because I needed to be faster at running than
my f---ing brothers."
While Grimes' relationship with her siblings
obviously had an impact on her, she also had
a memorable grandfather. The star explained
that while visiting her grandpa during college,
he wanted to keep her safe from the, quote,
"vagrants" he hired to work on his property,
so he "locked [her] in a shipping container
with a pistol."
Grimes' youth also included Catholic school,
where she was bullied, perhaps because she
went through, quote, "a Wiccan phase" in seventh
grade, according to The Fader. However, she
says that she stopped doing witchcraft after
casting a spell and watching as a, quote,
"rosary crumbled in [her] hands," which she
understandably found "really scary."
While she's known professionally as Grimes,
in May 2018, she took to Twitter to announce
that she had decided to change her name to
the letter "c", lowercase and italicized,
which is the symbol for the speed of light.
The Verge explained:
"According to Grimes...[Elon] Musk encouraged
the change. But as Grimes noted on Twitter,
she had considered her given name Claire 'the
bane of [her] existence since [she] became
sentient,' in part because of a speech impediment,
and had long wanted to change it."
When Grimes decided that the time had come
to finally change her personally bothersome
moniker, she pointed out that,
"'C' was already her nickname among friends...and
Musk simply pointed out that she need look
no further for a new appellation."
Frankly, it makes sense that Grimes would
opt for a nickname-turned-legal-name that's
super scientific, wildly unusual, and perfectly
on-brand.
Like many other meat-abstaining famous folks,
Grimes is a vegetarian and has been for years.
She explained to Teen Vogue in 2016:
"My stepdad is Hindu and never had meat, so
it was very easy for me growing up; there
would always be vegan food around. It is political
for me, but also, to be honest, I have no
idea how to cook meat."
However, sticking to a veggie-based diet doesn't
necessarily mean that Grimes eats healthy.
The singer talked to Harper's Bazaar in March
2020 about what she was eating during her
pregnancy and revealed that she hates fruit
and, quote, "vile" vegetables. Instead, her
typical menu begins with "caffeinated cubes"
in the morning. Grimes explained:
"And I usually just, like, eat one of those
and go back to sleep, and then slowly the
caffeine enters my system, and then I, like,
wake up."
She also enjoys "butter toast", explaining:
"I melt like a stick of butter on a plate,
and then I put toast in it...completely saturated
in butter, then, I put a little bit of jam
on it and eat that, it's actually incredible."
A final dietary staple is "sludge." Yes, sludge.
This delicacy is made of a blend of a large
amount of veganaise and sriracha hot sauce,
combined with chopped veggies and couscous,
a sludgy mixture Grimes describes as surprisingly
tasty but also kinda gross.
Grimes has an interesting relationship with
gender, saying to The Fader:
"I was raised in a house with four brothers...I
wasn't raised as a boy, but I was not just
raised as a girl. I don't wanna say I don't
identify as a girl, but I don't f---ing give
a s--- about gender. The thing that I hate
about the music industry is all of a sudden
it's like, 'Grimes is a female musician' and
'Grimes has a girly voice.' It's like, yeah,
but I'm a producer and I spend all day looking
at f---ing graphs and EQs and doing really
technical work."
This attitude is perhaps why Grimes intends
to embrace gender-neutral parenting when it
comes to raising her baby. She explained in
a YouTube livestream:
"I don't want to gender them in case that's
not how they feel in their life."
Considering that Elon and Grimes' kid has
Elon Musk and Grimes for parents, no one should
be shocked that they're utilizing such forward-thinking
parenting techniques.
Grimes has always been a night person, telling
Rolling Stone she, quote, "has trouble getting
anything done before dinnertime...[and] would
prefer to go to sleep as late as 9 a.m. and
wake up at 5 p.m."
The star realizes that her nocturnal leanings
are neither typical nor necessarily healthy,
which is likely why she says that she tried
to keep regular hours when she became pregnant,
though she didn't like how it made her feel.
Interestingly enough, she also told Rolling
Stone in March 2020, while pregnant with her
first child:
"I think my kid will be nocturnal. Currently
it is! It doesn't move during the day, only
at night."
When contemplating that her child may force
her to swap her nighttime-loving schedule
for the kind of daytime living that she apparently
finds stifling to her creative output, she
seemed uncharacteristically resigned, saying,
"We'll see. I might be about to ruin my life
and career!"
Many people begin to pursue one path before
realizing that they're meant to do something
else, which is something that can be said
of Grimes. When the star went to Montreal's
McGill University in 2006, she thought she
was going to be an astrophysicist. She ended
up double majoring in philosophy and psychology,
with minors in Russian language and a field
called electro-acoustics. She told The Fader:
"We did, like, psycho-physics and s---. I
never took calculus, and you [were supposed]
to take calculus to get in, so I constantly
had to be teaching myself calculus behind
the class. I mostly just tried to prove that
I could."
She ended up ditching school after the summer
of her junior year, following what she describes
as a breakdown and lots of drug-taking. However,
we see a lot of echoes of her scientific interests
in the themes and aesthetics of her musical
output. So, maybe her brief post-secondary
experience wasn't a complete waste of time,
after all.
When university didn't work out for Grimes,
it would have been understandable if she had
attempted to pursue a path that involved a
career that was somewhat simple and stable.
However, she told The Independent that she
instead,
"ended up on a houseboat on the Mississippi
with a few chickens and a lot of potatoes."
Unfortunately, according to The Fader, Grimes
had to give her fowl friends away, quote,
"because it's not nice to bring chickens on
a boat." She nonetheless revealed that she,
quote, "had some ducks, but they escaped,"
and "lots of sacks of potatoes," finally claiming,
quote, "that's not that weird". Hmm. Debatable.
Apparently, the living situation was not entirely
legal, as Grimes describes the boat being
impounded by police and its multi-species
occupants sent to search for shelter elsewhere.
You might ask yourself, "why would Grimes
live this way at all?" Grimes said that it
was likely her way of dealing with her not-so-great
life at the time, which had included, a job
putting up posters in freezing weather, a
recent breakup with a longtime boyfriend,
and the deaths of two friends in a single
year.
If you've ever seen one of Grimes' videos,
such as "Genesis," "Kill V. Maim," and "Flesh
without Blood/Life in the Vivid Dream", you'll
know that she likes to use her body to express
herself creatively in the same way that she
uses her music, too. One of the reasons she's
likely so comfortable with her body is that
she spent 10 years studying ballet. She told
The Fader:
"I think at some point in grade eight, I started
smoking pot. I was just listening to System
of a Down. I would show up to ballet, and
all the kids would make fun of me, and no
matter where I went everyone thought I was
insane, so I was just, like, 'I cannot be
here. I have to do something so I cannot be
forced to do this anymore.'"
That unfortunate ending to her dance pursuits
is perhaps why ABC News notes that she now
looks back at that time and claims that she
had, quote, "a pretty intense history with
ballet."
Grimes' past as a dancer and current status
as a music industry star should mean that
it's not surprising to discover that she's
also a visual artist who designs her own album
art and merch, even having solo shows in galleries.
Not only has Grimes exhibited her own work,
in 2012, she also curated a charity art show
at the Audio Visual Arts Gallery in Manhattan,
which featured her paintings and drawings,
as well as pieces from other Canadians. Beyond
that, the star once ran an Instagram account
dedicated to sharing work from her creative
admirers.
In describing her artistic influences, Grimes
has repeatedly identified a lifelong obsession
for anime, and a deep interest in the work
of graphic novel artists like Charles Burns
and Dan Clowes that developed later in life.
It's clear that Grimes' artistic preferences
are as contemporary as her other interests.
"Despite being required to disclose that this
is an advertisement, I need to say that this
is one of the greatest pieces of art in the
21st century."
Grimes may have been born in Canada, however,
as an adult, she's made her home in the United
States. In 2018, the singer picked up a 3,721-square-foot
residence in Pasadena, California, according
to The Observer, apparently getting an unbeatable
discount on the $2 million price tag.
While the performer embraces an unusual lifestyle,
one way that she started leading a typical
celebrity-like life was by purchasing what
sounds like an enviable, star-worthy abode.
The home featured vaulted ceilings and exposed
beams for the living room, as well as a large
fireplace and windows running floor to ceiling.
Kitchen appliances were all stainless steel,
and the home also featured a breakfast nook
and granite countertops, as well as a large
foyer and library.
When she first moved to California, she told
The Fader,
"I got to a place where I didn't need to run
away from the entertainment industry anymore.
I just had to do that to make sure I could
get to a place psychologically where I wouldn't
go insane."
However, according to Rolling Stone, as of
March 2020, she was living with Elon Musk,
in, quote, "one of the multiple Los Angeles
properties owned by her boyfriend."
While we don't know the exact details about
her current residence, we have no doubt it's
the kind of place that most people could only
dream about calling home.
Grimes is a creative force, an intriguing
star, and a rather rich woman who's estimated
to be worth at least $3 million, according
to Celebrity Net Worth. While she's obviously
doing fine on her own, her fortune is nothing
compared to Elon Musk's $36 billion.
Grimes opened up about money in March 2020,
revealing that she used to be worried about
income inequality, telling Rolling Stone,
"It was something I spoke about a lot before
dating my boyfriend."
However, because she believes Musk isn't just
"buying yachts" with his fortune, she apparently
finds it easier for her to accept his wealth,
saying,
"If someone's just gonna take...all his money
[and put it] into making the world better?…I
admire it a lot. I think it's great. To me,
it does not contradict my beliefs."
Grimes also noted that she doesn't accept
any of Musk's money to fund her work because
his fortune is supposedly, quote, "devoted
to essential projects."
As she declared to the outlet, quote, "Grimes
is funded by Grimes," adding,
"I don't want to divert funds from, like,
Tesla, to my stupid art project. I can't say
the things I say and believe what I believe
and then take money from my boyfriend."
However, she added, quote, "I mean, I would
like child care."
While Grimes' success has come along with
perks like fame and fortune, there have also
been drawbacks, such as a serious danger to
her safety. She told The Fader:
"I get threats constantly, all female musicians
do...It's, like, part of the job."
She added that when she plays a show, she
has, quote, "to have...three bodyguards in
front of the stage," along with "bodyguards
on the side."
She admitted that while her Grimes persona
was meant to create a personal world where
everything was as she wished, it has instead
become a daunting reality that she has to
deal with. Thankfully, she still has her music
as an escape.
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