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Claire Elise Boucher (; born March 17, 1988), known professionally as Grimes, is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Her early work has been described as extending from " lo-fi R&B" to futuristic
dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...
, and has incorporated influences from electronic music, hip hop, and
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
. Her lyrics often touch on science fiction and
feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
themes. She has released five
studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
s. Born and raised in Vancouver (later moving to Montreal), Grimes began releasing music independently in the late
2000s File:2000s decade montage3.png, From top left, clockwise: The World Trade Center on fire and the Statue of Liberty during the 9/11 attacks in 2001; the euro enters into European currency in 2002; a statue of Saddam Hussein being toppled durin ...
, releasing two albums, ''
Geidi Primes ''Geidi Primes'' is the first studio album by Canadian musician Grimes. It was released through Arbutus Records on January 10, 2010. In 2011, the album was released in the United Kingdom through No Pain in Pop Records on CD and LP, containing ...
'' and ''
Halfaxa ''Halfaxa'' is the second studio album by Canadian electronic music artist Grimes. It was released in Canada on October 5, 2010, by Arbutus Records, and in the United Kingdom and mainland Europe in May 2011 by Lo Recordings. Background Whil ...
'', in 2010 on
Arbutus Records Arbutus Records is a Montreal based record label and Artist Management, management company founded by Sebastian Cowan in 2009. The label is named after the street by the same name in Vancouver, where Cowan grew up. The label have also begun expand ...
. She subsequently signed with
4AD 4AD is a British record label owned by Beggars Group. It was founded in London under the name "Axis" (after the Hendrix album) by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980 as an imprint of Beggars Banquet Records. The name was changed to 4AD af ...
and rose to prominence with the release of her third studio album, ''
Visions Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to: Perception Optical perception * Visual perception, the sense of sight * Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight * Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain un ...
'', in 2012. ''Visions'' includes the singles "
Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...
" and "
Oblivion Oblivion may refer to: Film * ''Oblivion'' (1994 film), an American space Western * ''Oblivion'' (2013 film), an American post-apocalyptic science fiction film Literature * ''Oblivion'' (''Power of Five''), a 2012 novel by Anthony Horowitz * ...
" and received the Canadian music industry
Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...
for Electronic Album of the Year. Following this, her fourth studio album, '' Art Angels'', was released in 2015 and received critical praise as several publications named it the best album of the year. Her fifth studio album, ''
Miss Anthropocene ''Miss Anthropocene'' is the fifth studio album by Canadian musician Grimes, released on February 21, 2020. It marked her first album in over four years, since she released ''Art Angels''. It was officially announced on March 19, 2019. The album ...
'', was released in 2020. Outside of music, Grimes had a voice role in the 2020 action role-playing video game '' Cyberpunk 2077'' and is a judge on the music competition game show ''
Alter Ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I", " doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a differen ...
''.


Early life

Boucher was born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, on March 17, 1988. She is of
French Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...
(including Québécois), Italian, Ukrainian, and
Métis The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which derives ...
descent. She was raised Roman Catholic, and attended Catholic school. Her mother, Sandy Garossino, is a former Crown prosecutor and arts advocate; her father, Maurice Boucher, a former banker, works "in the business side of biotech". In 2006, Boucher graduated from
Lord Byng Secondary School Lord Byng Secondary School is a public secondary school located in the West Point Grey neighbourhood on the west side of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The school opened in 1925 and was named in honour of The Lord Byng of Vimy, a hero of Vim ...
and relocated from Vancouver to Montreal to attend McGill University focusing on neuroscience and Russian language, but left the university in early 2011 before finishing her degree.


Career


2009–2011: Career beginnings, ''Geidi Primes'', and ''Halfaxa''

According to the timestamps on her original Myspace page, Boucher began writing music under the name Grimes in 2007. Her performer name was chosen because at the time, MySpace allowed artists to list three musical genres. She listed "grime" for all three, without knowing what the grime music genre was. Grimes is self-taught in music and visual art. In January 2010, Grimes released her debut album, ''
Geidi Primes ''Geidi Primes'' is the first studio album by Canadian musician Grimes. It was released through Arbutus Records on January 10, 2010. In 2011, the album was released in the United Kingdom through No Pain in Pop Records on CD and LP, containing ...
'', a concept album inspired by the ''
Dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...
'' series, followed by her second album, ''
Halfaxa ''Halfaxa'' is the second studio album by Canadian electronic music artist Grimes. It was released in Canada on October 5, 2010, by Arbutus Records, and in the United Kingdom and mainland Europe in May 2011 by Lo Recordings. Background Whil ...
'', in October of the same year. After the release of ''Halfaxa'', she began to publicly promote her music and tour beyond Montreal. In 2011 Grimes released five songs on her side of the split 12" with d'Eon, '' Darkbloom'' (through both Arbutus and
Hippos in Tanks Hippos in Tanks was a record label founded in 2010 by Barron Machat and Travis Woolsey. The label specialized in electronic music. It was named the best label of 2011 by '' FACT''. Following the death of Machat in 2015, ''The Fader'' praised the ...
). Beginning in May 2011, Grimes opened for Lykke Li on her North American Tour, 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. In 2011, she collaborated with DJ/producer Blood Diamonds.


2011–2014: ''Visions''

Following extensive touring and positive reception to her first two albums and ''Darkbloom'' contribution, Grimes signed with record label 4AD in January 2012. Her third studio album, ''
Visions Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to: Perception Optical perception * Visual perception, the sense of sight * Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight * Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain un ...
'', was released on January 31, 2012 in Canada through Arbutus Records, February 21, 2012 in the United States through 4AD, and various dates in March 2012 elsewhere. appeared on a number of publications' year-end lists and is considered Grimes' breakout album. '' NME'' included it on their
500 Greatest Albums of All Time * Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time * NME's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is a 2013 special issue of British magazine '' NME'', available digitally or in newsstands on October 23. The li ...
list in 2013. ''Visions'' won the Electronic Album of the Year Award and Grimes was nominated for the Breakthrough Artist of the Year at the
Junos Junos OS (also known as Juniper Junos, Junos and JUNOS) is a FreeBSD-based network operating system used in Juniper Networks routing, switching and security devices. Versioning Junos OS was first made available on 7 July 1998, with new feature ...
. Grimes also won the Artist of the Year Award at the 2013
Webbys The Webby Awards are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over two thousand industry experts and technology innovators. Categories include ...
. The album's second single, "
Oblivion Oblivion may refer to: Film * ''Oblivion'' (1994 film), an American space Western * ''Oblivion'' (2013 film), an American post-apocalyptic science fiction film Literature * ''Oblivion'' (''Power of Five''), a 2012 novel by Anthony Horowitz * ...
", was named the best song of 2012 by '' Pitchfork'' and was produced into a music video co-directed by
Emily Kai Bock Emily Kai Bock (born 1983 or 1984) is a Canadian writer and film director. In 2017, her short film '' A Funeral for Lightning'' was included in TIFF's annual Canada's Top Ten list of the top 10 Canadian short films of the year, selected by a pane ...
and Grimes. '' Pitchfork'' ranked "Oblivion" at number one on their 200 Best Tracks of the Decade So Far list in 2014. In interviews following the album's release, Grimes explained that she was assigned a strict deadline by which to have her third album finished far before it was complete, resulting in her recording the bulk of ''Visions'' while isolated in her Montreal apartment for three consecutive weeks. Notably, this intensive recording session included a period of nine days without sleep or food and with
blacked out ''Blacked Out'' is a studio album by American country rap duo Moonshine Bandits from California. It was released on July 17, 2015 via Average Joes Entertainment. It features guest appearances from Bubba Sparxxx, Colt Ford, Crucifix, Demun Jones, D ...
windows, since she generally could not make music as readily during the day, and doing "tons of amphetamines" She described the writing process as being "equally enjoyable and tortuous", feeling that its difficulty contributed to its success. Grimes went on the Visions Tour from 2012 to 2014 with supporting acts
Born Gold Cecil Frena is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and pop music experimentalist. Previously, Frena made music under the name Gobble Gobble, before he made the change in 2011 to Born Gold. His first album, ''Bodysongs'', was released mid-2011. His sec ...
, Myths,
Elite Gymnastics Jaime Brooks (born May 5, 1984) is a Canadian-American songwriter and musician. Career 2009–2013: Elite Gymnastics Elite Gymnastics, self-described as a "multimedia art project", was an electronic music duo from Minneapolis, Minnesota a ...
, and Ami Dang. In March 2012, Grimes collaborated with Cop Car Bonfire's Tim Lafontaine and went under the name, Membrain. They released an EP called, ''Sit Back, Rewind''. In May 2012, Grimes was featured on Blood Diamonds's song "Phone Sex". In July 2012, Grimes toured as a supporting act with
Diplo Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is the co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer, a member of the supergroup LSD with ...
and Skrillex on the Full Flex Express Canadian Train Tour. In August 2012, Grimes made her American television debut on ''
Late Night With Jimmy Fallon ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by comedian Jimmy Fallon. About pag ...
''. In April 2013, Grimes posted a written statement addressing her experience as a female musician as rife with sexism and expressed disappointment that her feminist stance was often interpreted as anti-male. When speaking about her preference to produce all her studio albums herself, she said, "I don't wanna be just like the face of this thing I built, I want to be the one who built it". In December 2013, Grimes employed the services of
Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...
's management company, Roc Nation.


2014–2017: ''Art Angels''

On June 26, 2014, Grimes premiered the new track "Go", produced by and featuring Blood Diamonds. It was a track that had been written for and rejected by
Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the ...
and was premiered on Zane Lowe's radio 1 show. '' Rolling Stone'' ranked it number fourteen on their Best Songs of 2014 list. In July 2014, Grimes was featured on
Bleachers Bleachers (North American English), or stands, are raised, tiered rows of benches found at sports fields and other spectator events. Stairways provide access to the horizontal rows of seats, often with every other step gaining access to a row ...
' song "Take Me Away" from their album, '' Strange Desire''. On August 19, 2014, Grimes was featured in the music for the remix of Haim's ''
My Song 5 "My Song 5" is the sixth and final single from American pop rock band Haim's debut studio album, ''Days Are Gone'' (2013). A re-recorded version of the song, featuring rapper A$AP Ferg, was released as a single on August 15, 2014. A music video fo ...
''. On March 8, 2015, Grimes released a self-directed video for a demo version of "
Realiti Realiti may refer to: * ''Realiti'' (TV series), a Malaysian series * "Realiti" (song), by Grimes See also * Reality (disambiguation) {{disambiguation ...
" from an abandoned album. It 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''." On March 15, 2015, Grimes and
Bleachers Bleachers (North American English), or stands, are raised, tiered rows of benches found at sports fields and other spectator events. Stairways provide access to the horizontal rows of seats, often with every other step gaining access to a row ...
released their collaboration, "Entropy" for the HBO TV show '' Girls''. In the summer of 2015, Grimes toured with Lana Del Rey for several of her Endless Summer Tour dates. She then toured in the fall of 2015 as the headliner of her own Rhinestone Cowgirls Tour with opener Nicole Dollanganger. Speaking of her upcoming fourth album, scheduled for a "surprise" release in October, Grimes said that record was recorded with "real instruments", a departure from the primarily synth and sampler driven composing of her prior releases. On October 26, 2015, Grimes released the lead single of the album, "
Flesh Without Blood "Flesh Without Blood" is a song by Canadian singer, songwriter and music producer Grimes, released on October 26, 2015, as the lead single from her fourth studio album, ''Art Angels'' (2015). The same day, Grimes released the "Flesh Without Blood/ ...
", as well as a two-act music video comprising both "Flesh Without Blood" and "Life in the Vivid Dream", another song from the upcoming album. The album, titled '' Art Angels'', was released in November to favourable reviews, garnering an 88 (out of 100) rating on Metacritic and the Best New Music designation from ''Pitchfork''. Jessica Hopper of ''Pitchfork'' described ''Art Angels'' as "evidence of Boucher's labor and an articulation of a pop vision that is incontrovertibly hers... an epic holiday buffet of tendentious feminist fuck-off, with second helpings for anonymous commenters and music industry blood-suckers." ''Art Angels'' was named best album of the year by '' NME'', ''
Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...
'', and ''
Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several award ...
''. It peaked at number 1 on the ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' US Top Alternative Album Chart and number 2 on the ''Billboard'' Top Independent Album chart. Grimes won the 2016 International award at the Socan Annual Awards and the 2016 Harper's Bazaar Musician of the Year Award in October. In the spring of 2016, Grimes toured Asia and Europe with supporting act
Hana Hana or HANA may refer to: Places Europe * Haná, an ethnic region in Moravia, Czech Republic * Traianoupoli, Greece, called Hana during the Ottoman period * Hana, Norway, a borough in the city of Sandnes, Norway West Asia * Hana, Iran, a city ...
on the Ac!d Reign Tour. Grimes continued touring through the summer of 2016, performing at various music festivals across North America and opening for
Florence and the Machine Florence and the Machine (stylised as Florence + the Machine) are an English indie rock band that formed in London in 2007, consisting of lead vocalist Florence Welch, keyboardist Isabella Summers, guitarist Rob Ackroyd, harpist Tom Monger, and ...
on select dates of the How Beautiful Tour. Continuing the series of music videos for songs off ''Art Angels'' that began with "Flesh Without Blood" and "Life in the Vivid Dream" ("Act I" and "Act II", respectively), Grimes released the music video for "Kill V. Maim" ("Act III") on January 19, 2016, and the music video for "California" ("Act IV") on May 9, 2016. Grimes crafted a slightly remixed version of "California" for the music video to achieve a less "dissonant" visual/auditory mix. This alternate version of California has not otherwise been officially released for sale or streaming. On August 3, 2016, Grimes released the song "Medieval Warfare" as part of the soundtrack of the summer blockbuster '' Suicide Squad''. On October 5, 2016, Grimes with friend and collaborator Hana Pestle, more commonly known by stage name
Hana Hana or HANA may refer to: Places Europe * Haná, an ethnic region in Moravia, Czech Republic * Traianoupoli, Greece, called Hana during the Ottoman period * Hana, Norway, a borough in the city of Sandnes, Norway West Asia * Hana, Iran, a city ...
, released "The Ac!d Reign Chronicles", a lo-fi series of seven music videos including songs by Grimes ("Butterfly", "World Princess Part II", "Belly of the Beat" and "Scream") and Hana ("Underwater", "Chimera" and "Avalanche"), each starring in their respective segments. Additional appearances include Aristophanes in Scream and two of Grimes' backup dancers, Linda Davis and Alyson Van, throughout the series. "The AC!D Reign Chronicles" were recorded over the course of two weeks during the duo's time touring Europe and were made with minimal production, shot exclusively on iPhones with no crew aside from her brother, Mac Boucher, who assisted with filming. In 2016, Grimes helped write Troye Sivan's song ''
Heaven Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...
'' from the album, '' Blue Neighbourhood''. 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. She won Best Dance Video for "Venus Fly" at the Much Music Video Awards. In 2017, Grimes won a JUNO Award for Video of the Year, featuring "Kill V. Maim". On October 19, 2017, Grimes released a cover of Tegan and Sara’s "Dark Come Soon" with
Hana Hana or HANA may refer to: Places Europe * Haná, an ethnic region in Moravia, Czech Republic * Traianoupoli, Greece, called Hana during the Ottoman period * Hana, Norway, a borough in the city of Sandnes, Norway West Asia * Hana, Iran, a city ...
. The cover is a part of Tegan and Sara's '' The Con X: Covers album''.


2018–2021: ''Miss Anthropocene'' and collaborations

In February 2018, Grimes wrote on
Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
, "well no music any time soon after all." It was later revealed that this was due to a clash with her label, 4AD. She later revealed on an Instagram post that she would eventually be releasing two albums, and that "they would be separated by a period of time", with the first being released with 4AD, and the second with an undisclosed label. Grimes stated that this first album would be "highly collaborative and haracterized bymost glorious light", with the second highlighting themes of "pure darkness and chaos". On April 10, 2018, Grimes was featured on " Pynk," the third single from Janelle Monáe's album, ''
Dirty Computer ''Dirty Computer'' is the third studio album by American singer and songwriter Janelle Monáe, released on April 27, 2018, by Wondaland Arts Society, Bad Boy Records and Atlantic Records. It is the follow-up to her studio albums '' The ArchAndro ...
''. On May 30, 2018, Grimes was featured on "Love4Eva" by Loona yyxy, the lead single from South Korean girl group Loona's third sub-unit's debut EP '' Beauty & the Beat''. On June 15, 2018, she was featured in a video for Apple's Behind the Mac series on their YouTube channel, with a preview of a song from her upcoming album titled "That's What the Drugs Are For", later released as "
My Name Is Dark "My Name Is Dark" is a song by Canadian musician Grimes. It was released on November 29, 2019, and is the third single from her fifth studio album ''Miss Anthropocene.'' The original title was "That's What the Drugs are For". A lyric video was pu ...
". On the same day, she posted two Twitter videos previewing two songs from her upcoming album, "adore u (beautiful game)" and "4ÆM". In 2018, Grimes composed the theme music for Netflix's animated series ''
Hilda Hilda is one of several female given names derived from the name ''Hild'', formed from Old Norse , meaning 'battle'. Hild, a Nordic-German Bellona, was a Valkyrie who conveyed fallen warriors to Valhalla. Warfare was often called Hild's Game. Th ...
''. On October 19, 2018, Grimes was featured on
Jimmy Urine James Euringer (born September 7, 1969), known professionally as Jimmy Urine, is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the lead singer and programmer of electropunk band Mindless Self Indulgence. Early life James Eurin ...
’s "The Medicine Does Not Control Me" from the album, ''Euringer''. On October 31, 2018, Grimes was featured on "Play Destroy" by Poppy on her album '' Am I a Girl?'' Shortly after the release of "Play Destroy", Poppy accused Grimes of bullying during the making of "Play Destroy" stating: Grimes responded by saying: On November 29, 2018, Grimes released the single, "
We Appreciate Power "We Appreciate Power" is a song by Canadian musician Grimes, featuring American musician Hana (American musician), Hana. It was released on November 29, 2018, billed as the lead single from her fifth studio album ''Miss Anthropocene'', however it i ...
" featuring
Hana Hana or HANA may refer to: Places Europe * Haná, an ethnic region in Moravia, Czech Republic * Traianoupoli, Greece, called Hana during the Ottoman period * Hana, Norway, a borough in the city of Sandnes, Norway West Asia * Hana, Iran, a city ...
, which was described as an industrial rock and
nu metal Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, sometimes called aggro-metal) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop, alternative rock, funk, industrial, and grunge. Nu met ...
song. On December 11, 2018, Grimes performed the song on '' The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon''. Grimes also appeared on Bring Me the Horizon's "
Nihilist Blues "Nihilist Blues" (stylised in all lowercase) is a song by British Rock music, rock band Bring Me the Horizon featuring Canadian singer Grimes. Produced by vocalist Oliver Sykes and keyboardist Jordan Fish, it is featured on the group's sixth stu ...
" from their sixth album, ''
Amo Amo or AMO may refer to: Places *Amo, Indiana, United States, a town in Hendricks County * Amo Creek, a river in Alaska *Amu Darya, a river in Central Asia, sometimes referred to as "Amo" *Amo Township, Cottonwood County, Minnesota *Kampong Amo, ...
''. On August 13, 2019, Grimes posted an advertisement for the
Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...
by Stella McCartney Fall 2019 collection on Instagram, stating that she would release the first single off her upcoming album, ''
Miss Anthropocene ''Miss Anthropocene'' is the fifth studio album by Canadian musician Grimes, released on February 21, 2020. It marked her first album in over four years, since she released ''Art Angels''. It was officially announced on March 19, 2019. The album ...
'', on September 13, 2019. She released the music video for " Violence", featuring
i_o Io, IO, iO, I/O, i/o, or i.o. may refer to: *Io (mythology), daughter of Inachus in Greek mythology, and lover of Zeus who was turned into a cow *Io (moon), a moon of Jupiter Arts and media Fictional elements *Scylla Io, one of Poseidon's Mar ...
, on September 5, 2019. On October 25, 2019, an unfinished version of the album was leaked online. On November 15, 2019, she released two versions of the single "So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth" and performed "4ÆM" at the 2019 Video Game Awards in order to introduce herself as Lizzy Wizzy, a voiced character in the game Cyberpunk 2077. On November 29, 2019, Grimes released the single "My Name Is Dark". On December 13, 2019, Grimes released the single "4ÆM". ''Miss Anthropocene'' was released on February 21, 2020. On February 12, 2020, she released the single "
Delete Forever "Delete Forever" is a single recorded by Canadian musician Grimes. It was released on February 12, 2020, under the label 4AD as the fifth and final single off of her fifth studio album, ''Miss Anthropocene''. The song is a folk, Britpop, and dan ...
", which was partly inspired by the death of Lil Peep and the ongoing opioid crisis. On February 27, 2020, Grimes released a music video for the song "Idoru". On April 1, 2020, Grimes released a music video for the song "You’ll Miss Me When I’m Not Around" and asked fans to finish the video because it only features Grimes and a green screen. On June 17, 2022, Grimes was featured on
Ashnikko Ashton Nicole Casey (born February 19, 1996), known professionally as Ashnikko ( ), is an American singer, rapper, and songwriter. They rose to prominence with their 2019 single "Stupid" with (Yung) Baby Tate, which gained viral popularity on t ...
's song, "
Cry Crying is the dropping of tears (or welling of tears in the eyes) in response to an emotional state, or pain. Emotions that can lead to crying include sadness, anger, and even happiness. The act of crying has been defined as "a complex secreto ...
" from her mixtape, ''
Demidevil ''Demidevil'' (stylized in all caps) is the debut mixtape by American singer-songwriter and rapper Ashnikko. It was released on January 15, 2021, through Parlophone and Warner Records. The mixtape was supported by four singles: "Cry" featuring ...
''. Grimes made an appearance on the
Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as
dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representati ...
and often abbreviated as s is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television Television channel, channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programme ...
sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is ...
show, '' The Eric Andre Show''. Her collaboration with Janelle Monáe, " Pynk", was featured on episode 5 of the television series, ''
I May Destroy You ''I May Destroy You'' is a British black comedy-drama television limited series created, written, co-directed, and executive produced by Michaela Coel for BBC One and HBO. The series is set in London with a predominantly Black British cast. ...
''. Her song "
Oblivion Oblivion may refer to: Film * ''Oblivion'' (1994 film), an American space Western * ''Oblivion'' (2013 film), an American post-apocalyptic science fiction film Literature * ''Oblivion'' (''Power of Five''), a 2012 novel by Anthony Horowitz * ...
" was featured on episode 9 of the same series. Grimes collaborated with Benee on the dance-style song "Sheesh" on the latter's debut album, ''
Hey U X ''Hey U X'' is the debut studio album by New Zealand singer-songwriter Benee, released on 13 November 2020 by Republic Records. ''Hey U X'' was primarily written by Benee and frequent collaborator Josh Fountain, who also executive produced the ...
'', released on November 11, 2020. Her song, "Kill V Maim" was featured in the soundtrack of the 2020 film, ''
Mainstream Mainstream may refer to: Film * ''Mainstream'' (film), a 2020 American film Literature * ''Mainstream'' (fanzine), a science fiction fanzine * Mainstream Publishing, a Scottish publisher * ''Mainstream'', a 1943 book by Hamilton Basso Mu ...
''. On December 11, 2020, Grimes and other associated artists, all using aliases, released a ''Cyberpunk 2077''-themed DJ mix album on Apple Music, titled ''This story is dedicated to all those cyberpunks who fight against injustice and corruption every day of their lives!''. It contains two new songs by Grimes, "Samana" and "Delicate Weapon". On December 18, 2020, nine months after the release of her fifth studio album, ''Miss Anthropocene'', Grimes changed the cover art for the album on all streaming platforms. The new cover art is a painting by Rupid Leejm that Grimes commissioned to use. In discussing the process of choosing the cover art originally, “I polled a bunch of ppl and everyone said not to use it (??) but I wish I trusted my gut. I fucking LOVE this painting." On January 1, 2021, Grimes released ''Miss Anthropocene: Rave Edition'', a remix album featuring new versions of songs on the album by artists including BloodPop,
Channel Tres Sheldon Young (born May 26, 1991), known professionally as Channel Tres, is an American rapper, singer and record producer from Compton, California. Tres is best known for his singles "Controller" and "Topdown". Early life Young grew up in sou ...
, Richie Hawtin, and
Modeselektor Modeselektor is a German electronic music duo consisting of Gernot Bronsert and Sebastian Szary. History The group members met in 1992 in Berlin with group member Szary performing live acid house music at illegal underground parties, under t ...
, along with two remixes from her '' Cyberpunk 2077'' Apple Music DJ mix.


2021–present: ''Alter Ego'', collaborations, ''Fairies Cum First'', and ''Book 1''

On March 5, 2021, Grimes signed with
Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
. On May 8, 2021, Grimes made an appearance on an
SNL ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...
sketch as Princess Peach alongside Elon Musk. Her song "California" was featured in the
computer-animated Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes ( still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refe ...
film
The Mitchells vs. the Machines ''The Mitchells vs. the Machines'' is a 2021 Computer animation, computer-animated science fiction comedy, science fiction comedy film produced by Sony Pictures Animation. The film was directed by Mike Rianda (in his feature directorial debut) an ...
. In June 2021, she appeared in Doja Cat's music video " Need to Know". Later in June, she started a new partnered Discord server called "Grimes Metaverse Super Beta" and a new podcast "Homo Techno", co-hosted with science communicator Liv Boeree. She used the Discord server to tease new music frequently, and released a snippet of a song called "Shinigami Eyes" which she continued to promote in subsequent social media posts, as well as an upcoming collaboration with British DJ Chris Lake. Grimes spoke about an upcoming concept album with Billboard, describing it as a "space opera". In July 2021 Grimes, alongside
will.i.am William James Adams Jr. (born March 15, 1975), known professionally as will.i.am (pronounced "Will-I-am"), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is the founding and lead member of the musical group Black Eyed Peas. ...
,
Alanis Morissette Alanis Nadine Morissette ( ; born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her emotive mezzo-soprano voice and confessional songwriting, Morissette began her career in Canada in the early 1990s with tw ...
, Nick Lachey, and
Rocsi Diaz Raquel Roxanne "Rocsi" Diaz also known as just Rocsi, is an Honduran-born television and radio personality and model. She is best known as the co-host on the BET program ''106 & Park'' from 2006–2012. She was a correspondent on ''Entertainment ...
were revealed as judges on ''
Alter Ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I", " doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a differen ...
'', a new singing competition series in which the contestants make the use of motion capture technology to portray themselves as "dream avatars". On July 21, 2021, Grimes preview the song "100% Tragedy". On July 23, 2021, Grimes made a cameo appearance in the short film Discord: The Movie, alongside Awkwafina, Danny DeVito, and J Balvin. On September 30, 2021, Grimes released a new song titled "Love". The song was recorded in response to her split from Elon Musk and the increased media attention from it. On December 3, 2021, Grimes released a new song titled "Player of Games". On the same day, she also announced the title of her sixth studio album, ''Book 1''. In December 2021, Grimes teased a collaboration with the Weeknd on Discord saying that the collaboration would be released in 2022. In January 2022, Grimes partnered with the video game Rocket League for the Neon Nights event. The event ran from January 26 to February 8, 2022, and featured Grimes-themed items and her songs "Shinigami Eyes" and "Player of Games". In January 2022, Grimes announced a 10th anniversary vinyl of her album ''Visions''. On January 26, 2022, Grimes released "Shinigami Eyes". A week later, on February 3, 2022, Grimes announced her forthcoming EP titled ''Fairies Cum First''. In April 2022, Grimes was featured on the song, "Last Day" by the Russian band IC3PEAK from the album ''Kiss of Death''. Grimes was featured in the music video for
Bella Poarch Denarie Taylor (born February 9, 1997), known professionally as Bella Poarch ( ), is a Filipino-born American singer and Internet celebrity, social media personality. On August 17, 2020, she created List of most-liked TikTok videos, the most li ...
's "Dolls" which was released on July 15, 2022. Grimes is an opening act on select dates for Swedish House Mafia's "Paradise Again Tour" alongside Kaytranada, ZHU, and
Alesso Alessandro Renato Rodolfo Lindblad (born 7 July 1991), better known by his stage name Alesso (), is a Swedish DJ and music producer. He has worked with numerous artists, including Tove Lo, Theo Hutchcraft, Ryan Tedder, Hailee Steinfeld, Calvi ...
. The tour ran from July 29 to November 13, 2022. Grimes appeared on Bella Poarch's song, "No Man's Land" from the ''Dolls'' EP, which was released on August 12, 2022. In August 2022, Grimes was featured on the cover of '' Vogue Plus China'', in which she did an interview and further discussed her upcoming collaboration with the Weeknd. She confirmed that the song is called "Sci Fi" and is set for release in mid-2022. She also provided more details about her upcoming studio album and EP, stating, "all these projects
ill ILL may refer to: * ''I Love Lucy'', a landmark American television sitcom * Illorsuit Heliport (location identifier: ILL), a heliport in Illorsuit, Greenland * Institut Laue–Langevin, an internationally financed scientific facility * Interlibrar ...
come together and merge into one project at the end." On September 17, 2022, she revealed that she has twenty songs for her upcoming album and teased that the album might be divided into two albums. She also confirmed that the album was in the process of being mixed.


Artistry


Musical style

Grimes' music has been described with a number of labels, including
synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s ...
,
electropop Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. Writer Hollin Jones has described it as a variant of synth-pop with heavy emphasis on its electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a re ...
, art pop, indie pop, dream pop, experimental pop,
pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...
, avant-garde pop, lo-fi,
dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
,
witch house ''Witch House'' is a fantasy novel by American writer Evangeline Walton. It was published in 1945 by Arkham House in an edition of 3,000 copies. It was the first full-length novel to be published by Arkham House and was listed as the initial bo ...
, electronic, glo-fi, bedroom pop, and
electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to r ...
with elements of
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
, hip hop, R&B, folk,
drum and bass Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...
, and classical. According to '' Vulture'', " rimes moved awayfrom the creepy, lo-fi R&B of her early releases to the futuristic
dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...
of her... hirdalbum, ''
Visions Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to: Perception Optical perception * Visual perception, the sense of sight * Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight * Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain un ...
''." For her fourth studio, '' Art Angels'', Grimes learned how to play guitar and violin. She stated "I didn’t want to play the keys, ’cause I don’t want to be considered synth-pop." '' Rolling Stone'' described the album as a "
ove away from her Ove or OVE may refer to *Ove (given name) *Ové, a surname *Ove Peak in Antarctica *''A Man Called Ove (novel)'', a novel by Fredrik Backman *''A Man Called Ove'', a 2015 Swedish film based on the novel *Danish Organisation for Renewable Energy (Or ...
hazy synth-pop toward an off-kilter guitars-and-beats sound," and "uses rock sounds in a really different context." Grimes described her fifth studio album ''
Miss Anthropocene ''Miss Anthropocene'' is the fifth studio album by Canadian musician Grimes, released on February 21, 2020. It marked her first album in over four years, since she released ''Art Angels''. It was officially announced on March 19, 2019. The album ...
'' as "mostly ethereal
nu metal Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, sometimes called aggro-metal) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop, alternative rock, funk, industrial, and grunge. Nu met ...
." '' The Guardian'' summarised her musical style: "By sounding a little like everything you've ever heard, the whole sounds like nothing you've ever heard." '' The Japan Times'' wrote that Grimes' "otherworldly, Ableton-assisted music is crammed full of hooks fit to sit alongside
Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the ...
and Taylor Swift in the Top 40". '' Dazed'' stated: "In a sense, she'd always thrived on being too pop for indie and too indie for pop". Her lyrics were described by ''The Guardian'' as "generally elusive and impressionistic, shying away from specifics". Grimes is a
soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261  Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...
. '' The Daily Telegraph'' described her vocals as "sweet, thin and hazy." She utilizes looping and layering techniques, particularly with vocals; many of her songs feature layers of over fifty different vocal tracks which create an "ethereal" sound. Her lyrical themes include science fiction, feminism, and climate change. Her fifth studio album ''Miss Anthropocene'' has been considered to be a loose
concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...
about an "
anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...
goddess of climate change" inspired by Roman mythology and villainy. Heather Phares of AllMusic described the album as a "brooding embodiment of climate change." Grimes described her music as "
ADD Addition (usually signified by the plus symbol ) is one of the four basic operations of arithmetic, the other three being subtraction, multiplication and division. The addition of two whole numbers results in the total amount or '' sum'' of ...
music", shifting frequently and dramatically – "I go through phases a lot." She said "Most music with traditional verse, chorus and bridge structures can probably be considered 'pop.' But I think most people think about Top 40 these days when they use the word 'pop,' and I'm emphatically not from that world." She said that
Panda Bear The giant panda (''Ailuropoda melanoleuca''), also known as the panda bear (or simply the panda), is a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its bold black-and-white coat and rotund body. The name "giant panda" is sometimes use ...
's 2007 album ''
Person Pitch ''Person Pitch'' is the third solo album by American recording artist Noah Lennox under his alias Panda Bear, released on March 20, 2007, by Paw Tracks. Departing stylistically from his prior work as both a member of Animal Collective and a solo a ...
'' "jumpstarted" her mind. She explains, "Up until that point I had basically only made weird atonal drone music, with no sense of songwriting. I barely understood anything about music ... But suddenly all music clicked into place and seemed so simple and easy. I was pretty much able to spontaneously write songs immediately after listening to this album once."


Influences

Her work has been likened to various artists, including
Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...
, Julianna Barwick, Siouxsie Sioux, and Enya. She has stated that she loves British rock bands like Bring Me the Horizon and
Foals A foal is an equine up to one year old; this term is used mainly for horses, but can be used for donkeys. More specific terms are colt for a male foal and filly for a female foal, and are used until the horse is three or four. When the foal is ...
. She was described by ''Tastemakers Magazine'' as an "alien love-child of
Aphex Twin Richard David James (born 18 August 1971), best known as Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born British musician, composer and DJ. He is known for his idiosyncratic work in electronic music, electronic styles such as techno, ambient music, ambient, and jun ...
and ABBA". While making her third studio album, Grimes was listening to Aphex Twin,
Black Dice Black Dice is an American experimental noise music band based in Brooklyn, New York and consisting of brothers Bjorn and Eric Copeland along with Aaron Warren. Formed in 1997, the group was initially inspired by hardcore and noise rock, but subse ...
, Dungeon Family, Michael Jackson, New Edition, Outkast,
Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the band ...
,
Burial Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...
,
TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an As ...
,
Mariah Carey Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the whi ...
and stated "I'm into the really caustic beats, the kind of sharp drum and bass kind of stuff. Really nice vocals too, with lots of tight harmonies at the same time." Grimes cites Blink-182 as an influence in her Amoeba Records “What’s In My Bag?” episode where she picked one of their live DVDs. Grimes considers
Blue Hawaii ''Blue Hawaii'' is a 1961 American musical romantic comedy-drama film directed by Norman Taurog and starring Elvis Presley. The screenplay by Hal Kanter was nominated by the Writers Guild of America in 1962 in the category of Best Written Americ ...
"a big part of my family in Montreal." Grimes stated that
Cocteau Twins Cocteau Twins was a Scottish rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth by Robin Guthrie (guitars, drum machine) and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981 and replacing Heggie with multi-instrum ...
are "one of the first bands I was into that was considered alternative." In a tweet, Grimes replied to someone saying that her recent influences were Chris Isaak,
St. Vincent Saint Vincent may refer to: People Saints * Vincent of Saragossa (died 304), a.k.a. Vincent the Deacon, deacon and martyr * Saint Vincenca, 3rd century Roman martyress, whose relics are in Blato, Croatia * Vincent, Orontius, and Victor (died 305) ...
, and
Mindless Self Indulgence Mindless Self Indulgence (often referred to as MSI) is an American electropunk band formed in New York City in 1997. Their music has a mixed style which includes punk rock, alternative rock, electronica, techno, industrial, hip hop, and breakb ...
. The theories of her second studio album, ''
Halfaxa ''Halfaxa'' is the second studio album by Canadian electronic music artist Grimes. It was released in Canada on October 5, 2010, by Arbutus Records, and in the United Kingdom and mainland Europe in May 2011 by Lo Recordings. Background Whil ...
'' were inspired by Hildegard von Bingen. Before releasing her fourth studio album, '' Art Angels'', Grimes described one of her upcoming songs as a glam rock track inspired by David Bowie and Queen. ''Art Angels'' was also influenced by
Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Commonly nicknamed the "Piano Man (song), Piano Man" after his album and signature song of the same name, he has led a commercially successful career as a solo ...
,
Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...
, and The Godfather movies. Grimes said that while touring with How to Dress Well, his song "Suicide Dream 2" "made me tear up every night... ndafter this tour I got really re-inspired, went home, and immediately wrote ongs thatare, in my opinion, the best shit I’ve ever done. Early on, Grimes stated that "an early diet of the
Spice Girls The Spice Girls are a British girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Melanie Brown, also known as Mel B ("Scary Spice"); Melanie Chisholm, or Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"); Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"); Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"); and Vict ...
, Marilyn Manson, OutKast and
Skinny Puppy Skinny Puppy is a Canadian industrial music group formed in Vancouver in 1982. The group is among the founders of the industrial rock and electro-industrial genres. Initially envisioned as an experimental side-project by cEvin Key (Kevin Crompton ...
drove her to build pop songs out of the harsher sonic textures she rarely heard on the radio." Grimes considers her female pop idols/influences to be
Mariah Carey Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the whi ...
,
Dandi Wind Dandi Wind was a post-industrial band created in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 2003. The band consisted of duo Dandilion Wind Opaine and Szam Findlay. Dandi Wind released two albums, 2006's Concrete Igloo and 2008's Yolk of the Golden ...
, and
Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...
. Some of her other influences include Jedi Mind Tricks, Kenji Kawai, Yoko Kanno,
Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese contemporary artist who works primarily in sculpture and installation, and is also active in painting, performance, video art, fashion, poetry, fiction, and other arts. Her work is based in conceptual art and shows some attributes ...
,
Geinoh Yamashirogumi is a Japanese musical collective founded on January 19, 1974 by Tsutomu Ōhashi, consisting of hundreds of people with different occupations. They are known for both their re-creations of globally-known folk music, along with music combining tr ...
, Alicia Keys,
Panda Bear The giant panda (''Ailuropoda melanoleuca''), also known as the panda bear (or simply the panda), is a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its bold black-and-white coat and rotund body. The name "giant panda" is sometimes use ...
, Bikini Kill, Kate Bush,
Al Green Albert Leornes Greene (born April 13, 1946), better known as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including " Take Me to the River", ...
,
Salem Salem may refer to: Places Canada Ontario * Bruce County ** Salem, Arran–Elderslie, Ontario, in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie ** Salem, South Bruce, Ontario, in the municipality of South Bruce * Salem, Dufferin County, Ontario, part ...
,
Marilyn Manson Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He came to prominence as the lead singer of the band which shares his name, of which he remains the only constant member since it ...
, Trent Reznor, Tool, Yeah Yeah Yeahs,
Paramore Paramore is an American rock band from Franklin, Tennessee, formed in 2004. The band currently consists of lead vocalist Hayley Williams, guitarist Taylor York and drummer Zac Farro. Williams and Farro are founding members of the group, whil ...
, Enya,
Joanna Newsom Joanna Newsom (born January 18, 1982) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Born and raised in Northern California, Newsom was classically trained on the harp in her youth and began her musical career as a keyboardist in the San Francisc ...
,
medieval music Medieval music encompasses the sacred and secular music of Western Europe during the Middle Ages, from approximately the 6th to 15th centuries. It is the first and longest major era of Western classical music and followed by the Renaissance ...
, medieval choral music,
K-pop K-pop (), short for Korean popular music, is a form of popular music originating in South Korea as part of South Korean culture. It includes styles and genres from around the world, such as pop, hip hop, R&B, experimental, rock, jazz, gos ...
, and '' The Legend of Zelda''.


Visual art

Grimes designs her album art for all of her albums, gig fliers, comic book covers, and merchandise. She has done exhibitions showcasing her works and has stated that "
he has He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
always been a visual artist". Her art is influenced by Japanese anime,
manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
, and
comic a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...
artists such as Charles Burns and Daniel Clowes. Her illustrations have appeared in gallery shows, including at Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. She created an alternate cover for
Image Comics Image Comics is an American comic book publisher and is the third largest comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry in both unit and market share. It was founded in 1992 by several high-profile illustrators as a venue for creator-ow ...
' ''
The Wicked + The Divine ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
'', and designed a capsule collection of t-shirts for Hedi Slimane's Saint Laurent, in 2013. That year, she also curated a two-day event at the Audio Visual Arts Gallery in New York City with a silent auction to benefit the Native Women's Association of Canada's campaign to raise awareness of violence against aboriginal women in Canada. In early 2021, she sold original digital art in the form of non-fungible tokens for $5.8 million. In May 2022, she said on Twitter she was joining the board of Unicorn DAO, "to help their mission to fund/ develop female and non-binary lead art and projects."


Personal life

Boucher has a step-brother who raps under the name Jay Worthy; they collaborated on the single "Christmas Song", released on the Rough Trade bonus disc of her ''
Visions Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to: Perception Optical perception * Visual perception, the sense of sight * Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight * Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain un ...
'' album. One of her brothers, Mac Boucher, was involved in the making of some of her music videos, such as "Violence", "Go", "
Realiti Realiti may refer to: * ''Realiti'' (TV series), a Malaysian series * "Realiti" (song), by Grimes See also * Reality (disambiguation) {{disambiguation ...
", "Flesh Without Blood/Life in the Vivid Dream", "Kill V. Maim", "Venus Fly" and "We Appreciate Power". In 2009, Boucher and a friend attempted to sail down the Mississippi River to New Orleans from Minneapolis in a
houseboat A houseboat is a boat that has been designed or modified to be used primarily as a home. Most houseboats are not motorized as they are usually moored or kept stationary at a fixed point, and often tethered to land to provide utilities. How ...
they built. Following several mishaps, including engine trouble and encounters with law enforcement, the houseboat was impounded by the city of Minneapolis. Boucher claims that elements of the story were exaggerated in the newspapers that reported on it at the time. The adventure has been turned into an animated video narrated by
T-Bone Burnett Joseph Henry "T Bone" Burnett III (born January 14, 1948) is an American record producer, guitarist and songwriter. He rose to fame as a guitarist in Bob Dylan's band during the 1970s. He has received multiple Grammy awards for his work in film ...
. In the past, Boucher has been open about her drug use, stating during the creation of ''
Visions Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to: Perception Optical perception * Visual perception, the sense of sight * Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight * Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain un ...
'' in 2012, she "blacked out the windows and did tons of
amphetamine Amphetamine (contracted from alpha- methylphenethylamine) is a strong central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is used in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), narcolepsy, and obesity. It is also commonly used ...
and stayed up for three weeks and didn't eat anything". In 2014, Boucher wrote a blog post expressing her aversion to hard drugs, distancing herself from her previous endorsement, saying she does not want drug use] to be part of ernarrative". "Losing people to drugs and alcohol is the worst because they destroy any good memories you have of them before forcing you to deal with the empty space they leave behind. I want people to know that I hate hard drugs. All they've ever done is kill my friends and cause me to be unproductive." As a singer, Boucher is known for having a
lisp A lisp is a speech impairment in which a person misarticulates sibilants (, , , , , , , ). These misarticulations often result in unclear speech. Types * A frontal lisp occurs when the tongue is placed anterior to the target. Interdental lisping ...
; she stated that she "likes it", and has no desire to undergo speech therapy. Since 2018, she has been called ''c'' (the symbol for the speed of light) in her personal life. In August 2022, Grimes announced on Twitter that she was planning to undergo body modification such as "elf ear mods" and "vampire teeth caps". She expressed concerns about ear cartilage and the surgery being risky for her music career.


Relationships

From 2007 to 2010, Boucher was in an on-and-off relationship with
Devon Welsh Devon Welsh (born September 3, 1988) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. From 2010 to 2016, he was the frontman of the electropop duo Majical Cloudz. He released his debut solo album, '' Dream Songs'', in 2018. Early life and education Welsh wa ...
, then lead vocalist of
Majical Cloudz Majical Cloudz was a Canadian music group from Montreal consisting of singer-songwriter Devon Welsh and Matt Otto. The group disbanded in March 2016. History Welsh, the son of actor Kenneth Welsh and Corinne Farago, The two met in 2007 at a first-year dorm party while studying at McGill University. From 2012 to 2018, Boucher was in a relationship with electronic musician
Jaime Brooks Jaime Brooks (born May 5, 1984) is a Canadian-American songwriter and musician. Career 2009–2013: Elite Gymnastics Elite Gymnastics, self-described as a "multimedia art project", was an electronic music duo from Minneapolis, Minnesota a ...
, who supported her on the Visions Tour performing as Elite Gymnastics. In 2018, Boucher began a relationship with business magnate Elon Musk. They met after discovering on Twitter that they both came up with the same pun relating to Rococo and the thought experiment Roko's basilisk. On May 4, 2020, she gave birth to their son, whom they named "" (pronounced "Ex Ash A Twelve" or "Ex Ay Eye"). The name reportedly violated the naming law in California, where the child was born, and was subsequently changed to "X Æ A-Xii". According to an image of the birth certificate, the letter "X" is the child's first name, and "AE A-XII" the middle name. He is Musk's seventh child. Grimes said via
Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
that Go Won of the South Korean girl group Loona, with whom she collaborated in 2018, is her son's godmother. The couple "semi-separated" in September 2021. In January 2022, Grimes said of her relationship with Musk: "I would probably refer to him as my boyfriend, but we're very fluid." She further revealed that their second child, a daughter named Exa Dark Sideræl Musk (nicknamed Y), was born in December 2021 via
surrogate A surrogate is a substitute or deputy for another person in a specific role and may refer to: Relationships * Surrogacy, an arrangement where a woman agrees to carry and give birth to a child for another person who will become its parent at bi ...
. In March 2022, following publication of the interview (which had been delayed two months before its publication), Grimes tweeted that she and Musk had broken up again but said "he's my best friend and the love of my life."


Discography

Studio albums *''
Geidi Primes ''Geidi Primes'' is the first studio album by Canadian musician Grimes. It was released through Arbutus Records on January 10, 2010. In 2011, the album was released in the United Kingdom through No Pain in Pop Records on CD and LP, containing ...
'' (2010) *''
Halfaxa ''Halfaxa'' is the second studio album by Canadian electronic music artist Grimes. It was released in Canada on October 5, 2010, by Arbutus Records, and in the United Kingdom and mainland Europe in May 2011 by Lo Recordings. Background Whil ...
'' (2010) *''
Visions Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to: Perception Optical perception * Visual perception, the sense of sight * Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight * Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain un ...
'' (2012) *'' Art Angels'' (2015) *''
Miss Anthropocene ''Miss Anthropocene'' is the fifth studio album by Canadian musician Grimes, released on February 21, 2020. It marked her first album in over four years, since she released ''Art Angels''. It was officially announced on March 19, 2019. The album ...
'' (2020) *''Book 1'' (TBA)


Filmography


Film


TV


Games


Tours


Headlining

* Halfaxa Tour (Canada, 2010) * Darkbloom Tour (North America and Europe, 2011) * Visions Tour (World, 2012–2014) * Rhinestone Cowgirls Tour (North America, 2015) * Ac!d Reign Tour (Asia/Europe, 2016) * March of the Pugs Tour (North America, 2016)


Supporting

* Lykke LiWounded Rhymes Tour (2011) *
Diplo Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is the co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer, a member of the supergroup LSD with ...
and Skrillex – Full Flex Express Canadian Train Tour (2012) * Lana Del Rey
The Endless Summer Tour The Endless Summer Tour was the third headlining concert tour by Americans, American recording artist Lana Del Rey in support of her third studio album, ''Ultraviolence (album), Ultraviolence'' (2014). The tour began on May 7, 2015, in The Woodla ...
(2015) *
Florence and the Machine Florence and the Machine (stylised as Florence + the Machine) are an English indie rock band that formed in London in 2007, consisting of lead vocalist Florence Welch, keyboardist Isabella Summers, guitarist Rob Ackroyd, harpist Tom Monger, and ...
How Beautiful Tour (2016) * Swedish House Mafia – Paradise Again Tour (2022)


Awards and nominations


Notes


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Grimes 1988 births Living people 4AD artists 21st-century Canadian women singers Ableton Live users Album-cover and concert-poster artists Anglophone Quebec people Arbutus Records artists Art pop musicians Canadian bloggers Canadian electronic musicians Canadian experimental musicians Canadian feminists Canadian keyboardists Canadian music video directors Canadian people of Italian descent Canadian people of Métis descent Canadian people of Ukrainian descent Canadian sopranos Canadian women artists Canadian women bloggers Canadian women film directors Canadian women in electronic music Dream pop musicians Experimental pop musicians Female music video directors Feminist artists Feminist bloggers Feminist musicians Film directors from Montreal Film directors from Vancouver Franco-Columbian people Juno Award for Electronic Album of the Year winners Juno Award for Video of the Year winners McGill University alumni Musicians from Montreal Musicians from Vancouver Musk family People with speech impediment Quebecers of French descent Roc Nation artists Science fiction fans Synth-pop singers Women keyboardists