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Claire Elise Boucher (also known as c), better known by her stage persona and character Grimes, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, musician, producer, artist, model, DJ, and music video director.[1] Born and raised in Vancouver, she first became involved with the underground music scene and began recording her own experimental music while attending McGill University in Montréal.

Early Life[]

Boucher was born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia.[2] Ethnically she is French-Canadian, German, English, one eighth Italian, 1/16th Swedish, distant Breton, Belgian (Walloon), First Nations, Cornish, Irish, and Welsh.[3] When she was nine she took a "disastrous" year of violin lessons.[4] She graduated from Lord Byng Secondary School[5] and studied ballet for 11 years,[6] but stopped due to bullying:[7]

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."

When she was in high school she was accused of throwing a snow ball at the Queen, calling it "her favourite memory" in an interview with Dazed:[8]

She was driving through Vancouver for some reason. It was a snow day and everyone was outside. The teachers were like, "If anyone throws a snowball, the consequences will be huge". Everyone was obviously so amped up, waiting to see if anyone would do it. The Queen drove by and nothing happened. There was this big sigh of relief. Then this single snowball sailed through the air and hit the back of her car. Everyone erupted. It was like a madhouse. I was accused because I was a goth but I didn't throw it.

Grimes Yearbook Photo

Boucher's high school yearbook quote was by Stalin, this has been misinterpreted over the years, but in 2021 she explained in a TikTok video:[9]

I’m sure many of you guys have noticed the online narrative that I used to be an avowed communist and I have betrayed the comrades. When I started at my high school, it was covered in beautiful murals, but it was kind of a crazy high school, lots of drug use and stuff and admittedly I got into a lot of trouble there. When I was in grade 11 or something, we got this new principal who painted over all the murals gray, and they actually went through and expelled all the worst students to try to sort of bring the GPA up. And a lot of those people were my best friends. Most of my best friends got expelled from high school during that time. I don’t know if people know this about me, but a lot of those people actually ended up dying from drug-related causes or mental health-related causes and this is one of the big traumas of my life, actually. I’ve lost a lot of my best friends. So this quote was not an endorsement of Communism; it was actually a reference, I was making a dark joke comparing my school to the Soviet Union under Jospeh Stalin, that the freedom of creativity was being oppressed and people were being sent to the gulag for not conforming. Stalin murdered millions of people in the gulags and in World War II and I think there actually are redeeming qualities about Communism, but Stalin is not one of them.

In 2006, at the age of 18, she moved to Montréal, Quebec to attend Montréal's McGill University to study neuroscience.[10] During her studies, she began to record and perform under the name Grimes, taking the name from grime music after discovering the existence of the genre on MySpace.[11] However, as Grimes became a more serious endeavour for her, she began to miss a large number of classes, and began only attending to take exams, resulting in the university taking punitive actions against her and ultimately expelling her[12] by the summer of her junior year. She told SPIN:[13]

I wanted to go into research. I was into astrophysics and astronomy, but I wasn’t good enough at math and calculus to maintain that, so I got into neuroscience and psychology. Then it became clear that there were too many hoops to jump through. There was a period where two of my best friends died within a six-month period, both in traumatic ways. I thought, "If I’m not enjoying my life all the time, then what’s the point? I don’t know how long I’m going to live." I decided to only do things that I liked doing, even if it meant being really poor. When you’re desperate, you’re going to work hard at something and not give a shit about anything else.

In Montréal she began putting on concerts with her friends at Lab Synthèse, a performance space they started, which was located in an abandoned textile factory that Arbutus Records evolved out of.[14] Two of her songs were released (under her real name, Claire Boucher) on Arbutus Records' Spring 2009 Sampler.[15]

Grimes Houseboat

Grimes on the Houseboat

In 2009 Boucher attempted to sail down the Mississippi river in a houseboat,[16] recalling the incident in 2016 she claimed most of the details were "wildly blown out of proportion":[7]

We did actually have chickens, but we gave them away because it’s not nice to bring chickens on a boat. And then we had some ducks, but they escaped. Ach! I shouldn’t say this. We didn’t have a typewriter, and we weren’t trying to do Huck Finn. The main thing that’s true is the potatoes. We had lots of sacks of potatoes, but that’s not that weird.

Career[]

2009–13: Geidi Primes, Halfaxa, Visions[]

Grimes' debut album, Geidi Primes, was released on cassette in 2010 through Arbutus Records. Later in 2010, Grimes released her second album, Halfaxa, also through Arbutus. In 2011, Grimes released a split 9 track extended play with d'Eon called Darkbloom. Her recording name was initially claimed to be a reference to Ken Grimes, an outsider artist best known for drawings of aliens.[17] However, in December 2014 she revealed on Twitter that the origin of her name was from listing her music on MySpace in the grime genre multiple times, even though she didn't know what grime music was at the time. In May 2011 she opened for Lykke Li on her North American Tour,[18] and the following August her debut album was re-released through No Pain in Pop Records, in CD and vinyl format for the first time.[19] Also in 2011, she made an appearance on Majical Cloudz's single "Dream World"[20] and collaborated with DJ/producer Blood Diamonds (now BloodPop).[21]

She signed with record label 4AD in January 2012. Her third full-length solo studio album Visions was released on January 31 in Canada through Arbutus, while being released elsewhere through 4AD the two following months.[22] Visions received critical acclaim from music critics and appeared on numerous music publications' year-end lists. NME included it on their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list in 2013. The album's promotional single, "Oblivion", also received additional acclaim. Pitchfork Media ranked "Oblivion" number-one on their 200 Best Tracks of the Decade So Far in 2014,[23] while NME went as far as to include it on their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. Grimes recorded the album in extended isolation[24] at home in Montreal, and described her writing process as being "equally enjoyable and tortuous".[25] She felt that its difficulty contributed to its success.[26] Grimes described her composition conditions as blacking out her windows, taking amphetamines, and staying awake for three weeks without eating.[27] She added that she could not make music during the day. Grimes later clarified that she "hated" hard drugs and their impact on her friends, and did not want to be associated with their use.[28]

In April 2013, Grimes posted a written statement addressing her experience as a female musician in an industry rife with sexism and expressed disappointment that her feminist stance was often interpreted as anti-male.[29] On December 17, 2013, Grimes posted to her Tumblr that she had signed to Jay-Z's management company Roc Nation, whilst still signed to 4AD.[30]

2014–17: "Go", scrapped material, Art Angels[]

On June 26, 2014, Grimes premiered her new track "Go", featuring Blood Diamonds and written for Barbadian recording artist Rihanna, on Zane Lowe's Radio 1 show and uploaded it to her official SoundCloud page and website for free download, showcasing a new sound for herself while she was still working on her fourth solo studio album.[31] On August 21, Grimes posted a teaser for the music video, directed by her and her brother Mac Boucher.[32] Despite receiving generally positive reviews from music critics, it had a polarizing reaction from fans due to its departure from her previous sound. Rolling Stone ranked it number fourteen on their Best Songs of 2014 list, calling it "a club hallucination somewhere between Rihanna and Skrillex, sung with a ravenous desire that's all her own".[33]

She eventually scrapped an entire album she had been recording and despite initial reports claiming that the cancellation was due to negative reactions to "Go', Grimes later clarified that the album was "too depressing" and "didn't want to tour for it", adding that "people's reactions do not factor in my [her] choices" and that "Go" was never intended to be on the cancelled album. She concluded her comments by saying that the album might be released someday for free.[34] On March 8, 2015, she released a self-directed video for a demo from the abandoned album, "REALiTi", which received critical acclaim from music critics, being named Best New Music by Jenn Pelly from Pitchfork, calling it the "best new Grimes song since Visions".[35]

On March 15, 2015, Grimes performed lead vocals on a new song by indie pop band Bleachers, Entropy, for the HBO TV show Girls.[36] On May 24, 2015, Grimes announced via a series of Tweets to her fans that her upcoming album will be "surprise" released sometime in October. She also said it "probably will be accompanied by two simultaneous single releases with an unspecified date" and that the "album will be a departure from previous singles 'Go' and 'REALiTi'", and had been recorded using "real instruments".[37] In the Summer of 2015, Grimes toured with Lana Del Rey for several of her Endless Summer tour dates. Grimes brought HANA on this tour to perform with her.

Posting the cover of her upcoming album, Art Angels via Instagram on 20 October 2015, Grimes commented, "Art Angels: album cover. Music & video next week. Artwork by Grimes".[38] On 26 October 2015, she released the lead single of the album, "Flesh without Blood", accompanied with a double music video that also featured the song "Life in the Vivid Dream".[39] Shortly after, "SCREAM" was released as the second single from the album. After its November release, the album received stellar reviews, garnering an 88 (out of 100) rating on Metacritic.[40]

On January 12, 2016, Grimes announced she would be opening for Florence + The Machine on their American tour, called How Beautiful tour which would take place during Spring/Summer of the same year.

The music video for the second promotional single off Art Angels, "Kill V. Maim", was released on January 19. A music video for "California", the third promotional single, followed on May 9, 2016.

On February 2, 2017, Grimes premiered on Tidal the high budget futuristic music video of "Venus Fly", starring herself and Janelle Monáe. The video was uploaded on YouTube on February 9, 2017.[41] She won Best Dance Video for "Venus Fly" at the Much Music Video Awards.[42] That year, Grimes won a JUNO Award for Video of the Year, for "Kill V. Maim".[43] On October 19, 2017, Grimes released a cover of Tegan and Sara's "Dark Come Soon" with HANA as part of their band TRASHIQUE. The cover is a part of Tegan and Sara's The Con X: Covers album.[44]

2018-20: "We Appreciate Power", Miss Anthropocene[]

2021- : Book 1, "Player of Games", "Shinigami Eyes", collaborations, AI voice[]

Musical style[]

Grimes' music is unusual, and can be best described as a mix of elements of hip-hop, art pop, synth pop, dream pop, baroque pop, witch house, darkwave, ambient, electro R&B. She herself describes her music as ''post-Internet'' and ''ADD music''.[45] The Guardian summarised her musical style as "Sounding a little like everything you've ever heard, the whole sounds like nothing you've ever heard." Her work has been likened to various artists, including Björk, Siouxsie Sioux, and Enya. Grimes was described by Tastemakers Magazine as an "alien love-child of Aphex Twin and ABBA".

Grimes has cited the following musicians and bands as influences: Marilyn Manson, Christina Aguilera, Skinny Puppy, Nine Inch Nails, Cocteau Twins, How to Dress Well, Swans, Dizzee Rascal, Dandi Wind, Beyoncé, Mariah Carey, Enya, TLC, Aphex Twin, Outkast, Jedi Mind Tricks, Dungeon Family, Drake, Miharu Koshi, Aqua, Hildegard von Bingen, Tool, Burial, Brandy, and Lana Del Rey, as well as K-pop, medieval music, and industrial artists. She also considers Los Angeles singer and rapper Brooke Candy "a very contemporary muse".

Art[]

Grimes is also a self-taught visual artist whose work is most famously seen on her album covers, which, up until Miss Anthropocene, has been created entirely by herself. Her art is influenced by Japanese anime, manga, and comic artists such as Charles Burns and Daniel Clowes. Mimi Wong of ABC News says: "In fact, Boucher only started developing her fine art techniques because she wanted to mimic the drawing styles of anime and manga like the Sailor Moon series that became popular in the United States in the 90s".[46]

Personal life[]

Boucher has two brothers and two step-brothers. One of the step-brothers is professionally known as Jay Worthy - a rapper, who has collaborated with Boucher to create the songs "Christmas Song" and "Christmas Song II (grinch)". The former was included as a track on the Rough Trade bonus disc of her album Visions, while the latter has seen no official release, being made just for fun.[47] Her brother Mac, on the other hand, has been for most of her career her creative co-director, editing and working in behind the scenes for music videos such as "Go", "REALiTi", "Flesh without Blood/Life in the Vivid Dream", "Kill V. Maim", "Venus Fly", "We Appreciate Power", and "Violence".

Boucher has numerous tattoos, many of which she has done herself or with her friends, while others have been done by professional tattoo artists.

Boucher has stated that she is a vegetarian unless she deems it inconvenient for others to cater to her nutritional needs.[48]

Boucher has been associated with drug use. While that was true in the past, especially with the making of Visions,[49] she does not use hard substances, citing her hatred of them as they have caused the deaths of many of her friends.[50] She told Dazed in 2015:[51]

I wouldn't want to be responsible for anyone taking drugs as an important part of being creative, or feel that it's necessary, because it's not. Sometimes I play shows and there are a bunch of 15-year-olds in the audience with their parents and I'm like, "I can't continue to romanticise this in public." [..] I think it's good to be a little transparent. [About narcotics previously playing a part in kick-starting her creative process.] It's the truth. If anything, I actually feel really proud that I've gotten to a lot healthier place in my life. You can either keep being a dick and f***ing around with your health, or you can get healthy because you need to play shows every day and it's really hard. I think it's good that there's an obvious trajectory. You can look at pictures of me from two years ago and I look so much less healthy than I do now. I'm not trying to pretend that anything didn't happen.


On May 17th, 2018, Boucher announced that she would be changing her name to c (lowercase and in italic)[52] as a reference to the speed of light in a vacuum, a universal constant, because her birth name, Claire, had been "the bane of [her] existence since [she] became sentient"[53] and because her friends were already calling her 'c' as a nickname.[54]

Boucher has a lisp and she has no intention to fix it.[55] in 2023 she was diagnosed with autism after initially being misdiagnosed with restless legs syndrome and schizoaffective disorder.[56]

Boucher has had three notable relationships during her life. One was with Devon Welsh, another Canadian musician that she met while attending McGill university. Another was with Jamie Brooks. The most famous of all was with the tech entrepreneur and billionaire Elon Musk. They met in early 2018 after discovering on Twitter that they both came up with the same pun relating to Rococo and the thought experiment Roko's basilisk.[57][58] They had been in an off-and-on relationship until 2022, when they 'split up'[59], though they nevertheless have retained positive affection for each other since then.

Boucher has three children, and has expressed the desire to keep them out of the public eye.[citation needed] Her first son X Æ A-XII[60] (referred to as X) was born in May 4, 2020,[61][62] after a traumatic birth which lead the couple to use a surrogate for their daughter Exa Dark Sideræl (nicknamed Y) born in December 2021.[63] In 2023 it was revealed the couple had a third child, a second son, Techno Mechanius (nicknamed Tau).[64] In the biography Elon Musk, it was published that Tau was born in June 2022 via surrogate in the week of Fathers Day.[65] Boucher has explained the meaning behind X and Exa's names, telling Vanity Fair she is "prepared" for Exa to dislike her name, as she dislikes her own, and would help her pick a new one.[66] c has a tattoo of her three children's names in the fictional language Marain, created by Iain M Banks.

Discography[]

Albums[]

See List of Songs for her complete discography.

Tours[]

Headlining[]

Opening act[]

  • Lana Del Rey – The Endless Summer Tour (2015)
  • Florence + The Machine – How Beautiful Tour (2016).

Awards[]

Year Awards Category Work Outcome
2012 Polaris Music Prize Best Canada Album of 2012 Visions Nominated
2016 Best Canada Album of 2016 Art Angels Nominated
2012 Antville Music Video Awards Video of the Year Oblivion Nominated
Best choreography Nominated
Best performance Nominated
2012 UK Music Video Awards Best Alternative Video - International Oblivion Nominated
2020 Best Pop Video - UK Cry (with Ashnikko) Nominated
2012 MuchMusic Video Awards Dance Video of the Year Genesis Nominated
2015 Video of the Year Go Nominated
Best Post-Production Nominated
Best Director Nominated
2013 Juno Awards Breakthrough Artist of the Year Herself Won
Electronic Album of the Year Visions Won
2017 Alternative Album of the Year Art Angels Nominated
Recording Package of the Year Nominated
Video of the Year Kill V. Maim Won
2018 Video of the Year Venus Fly Won
2023 Dance Recording of the Year Shinigami Eyes Nominated
2013 Webby Awards Artist of the Year Herself Won
2017 Online Film & Video - Music Art Angel (Documentary) Nominated
2013 NME Awards Best Solo Artist Herself Nominated
Best Music Video Oblivion Nominated
2014 Best Band Blog or Twitter (now X) actuallygrimes Nominated
2016 Best International Solo Artist Herself Nominated
Best Album Art Angels Nominated
2016 A2IM Libera Awards Video of the Year Kill V. Maim Won
2016 AIM Independent Music Awards Independent Video of the Year Kill V. Maim Nominated
2016 International Dance Music Awards Best Alternative/Indie Rock Dance Track Flesh without Blood Nominated
Best Breakthrough Artist (Solo) Herself Nominated
2016 Harper's Bazaar Women of the Year Awards Musician of the Year 2016 Herself Won
2017 Canadian Independent Music Awards Single of the Year Flesh without Blood Nominated
2020 Best Art Vinyl Best Vinyl Art Miss Anthropocene Nominated
2020 Rober Awards Music Prize Best Pop Artist Herself Nominated
2021 GAFFA Awards Best International Solo Act Herself Nominated
Best International Album Miss Anthropocene Nominated
2021 Hungarian Music Awards Best Foreign Electronic Album Miss Anthropocene Nominated
2022 Berlin Music Video Awards Best Cinematography Player of Games Nominated


References[]

  1. http://wayback.archive.org/web/20120528204914/http://www.tvmcgill.com/2011/01/18/on-display-claire-boucher/
  2. http://www.straight.com/article-394584/vancouver/sound-says-most-grimes
  3. https://ethnicelebs.com/grimes
  4. https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rollingstone.com%2Fmusic%2Fmusic-features%2Fgrimes-rolling-stone-digital-cover-960843%2F
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  6. http://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/grimes-claire-boucher
  7. 7.0 7.1 https://web.archive.org/web/20160609125543/http://www.thefader.com/2015/07/28/grimes-cover-story-interview
  8. https://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/19961/1/grimes-ready-to-fly
  9. https://www.nylon.com/life/grimes-communism-joseph-stalin-yearbook-quote
  10. http://radio3.cbc.ca/#/blogs/2011/5/Today-on-Appetite-for-Distraction-Grimes
  11. http://www.straight.com/article-607216/vancouver/
  12. http://pitchfork.com/features/rising/8689-grimes/
  13. https://www.spin.com/2012/12/grimes-interview-2012-big-year/
  14. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/08/fashion/claire-boucher-known-as-grimes-mines-beauty-from-the-dark-side.html
  15. http://arbutusrecords.com/?shopp_product=arbutus
  16. https://www.startribune.com/this-boat-don-t-float/49134952/
  17. http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/lucyjones/100061672/sxsw-2012-grimes-on-drugs-religion-and-the-secret-behind-her-unusual-name/
  18. http://radio3.cbc.ca/#/blogs/2011/5/Today-on-Appetite-for-Distraction-Grimes
  19. http://wayback.archive.org/web/20131112213621/http://sunonthesand.com/2011/grimes-set-to-re-release-debut-album-geidi-primes/
  20. http://www.gorillavsbear.net/2011/06/28/video-majical-cloudz-featuring-grimes-dream-world/
  21. http://dummymag.com/mixes/2011/07/07/dummy-mix-79-blood-diamonds/
  22. http://pitchfork.com/news/44967-grimes-signs-to-4ad-listen-to-new-track-genesis-from-visions/
  23. http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/9466-the-top-200-tracks-of-2010-2014/10/
  24. http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/apr/28/grimes-visions-montreal
  25. http://wayback.archive.org/web/20141208181713/http://www.7digital.com/features/interviews/grimes
  26. http://wayback.archive.org/web/20141208181713/http://www.7digital.com/features/interviews/grimes
  27. http://www.cmj.com/feature/in-an-altered-zone/
  28. http://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/21303/1/grimes-pens-anti-drugs-note-on-tumblr
  29. http://actuallygrimes.tumblr.com/post/48744769552/i-dont-want-to-have-to-compromise-my-morals-in-order
  30. http://www.spin.com/articles/grimes-roc-nation-signed-jay-z-claire-boucher/
  31. http://www.complex.com/music/2014/06/grimes-go-f-blood-diamonds
  32. http://pitchfork.com/news/56329-grimes-previews-sweeping-go-video/
  33. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/50-best-songs-of-2014-20141203/grimes-go-20141202
  34. http://www.stereogum.com/1787656/grimes-says-that-she-isnt-scrapping-music-because-of-negative-reactions/news/
  35. http://pitchfork.com/news/58769-grimes-shares-video-for-previously-unheard-track-realiti/
  36. http://pitchfork.com/news/58252-grimes-and-bleachers-share-entropy-from-hbos-girls/
  37. http://pitchfork.com/news/59687-grimes-says-new-album-coming-in-october/
  38. https://instagram.com/p/9Bf8GkDfo7/?taken-by=actuallygrimes
  39. http://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/17777-grimes-flesh-without-blood/
  40. http://www.metacritic.com/music/art-angels/grimes
  41. https://www.flavorwire.com/599464/grimes-and-janelle-monaes-venus-fly-video-now-on-youtube
  42. https://www.eonline.com/news/860853/iheartradio-much-music-video-awards-2017-winners-the-complete-list
  43. https://exclaim.ca/music/article/here_is_the_full_list_of_2017_juno_winners
  44. https://consequence.net/2017/10/grimes-covers-tegan-and-saras-dark-come-soon-stream/
  45. https://www.wmagazine.com/story/on-the-verge-grimes
  46. http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/entertainment/2012/12/grimes-artistic-genesis-experimental-electronic-musician-flirts-with-pop/
  47. https://youtu.be/blwvG9EmcB4
  48. http://wayback.archive.org/web/20140202233655/http://actuallygrimes.tumblr.com/post/49047067339/yummmmm-too-bad-im-a-vegan-now
  49. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/apr/28/grimes-visions-montreal
  50. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/grimes-delete-forever-lil-peep-951653/
  51. http://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/26282/1/grimes-weird-science
  52. https://twitter.com/Grimezsz/status/997220116361166848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E997220116361166848%7Ctwgr%5Ef2b9bc2be5d40d70d7a91552891ebf1866ba4773%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=
  53. https://twitter.com/Grimezsz/status/997224790174744576?tfw_creator=alecleach_&tfw_site=highsnobiety&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=
  54. https://www.nme.com/news/music/grimes-changing-name-something-quite-brilliant-2321929
  55. https://letslearnhowto.com/singers-with-lisps
  56. https://uproxx.com/indie/grimes-autism-diagnosis/
  57. https://www.vox.com/2018/8/16/17692700/azealia-banks-elon-musk-grimes-explained
  58. https://pagesix.com/2018/05/07/elon-musk-quietly-dating-musician-grimes/
  59. https://twitter.com/Grimezsz/status/1501959073591296002
  60. Due to California naming laws the 12 had to be changed to Roman Numerals https://x.com/Grimezsz/status/1257836061520101377?s=20
  61. https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/grimes-announces-shes-knocked-shares-233233363.html
  62. https://www.vulture.com/2020/05/elon-musk-and-grimes-welcome-first-baby-together.html
  63. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/mar/10/grimes-elon-musk-second-child-y
  64. https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/elon-musk-grimes-children-biography-b2408556.html
  65. Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson (page 597)
  66. Meaning behind X's name: https://x.com/Grimezsz/status/1257836061520101377?s=20 Meaning behind Exa's name: https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2022/03/grimes-cover-story-on-music-and-mars
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