Christina Grimmie: A YouTube Star, an Obsessed Fan, and a Murder in Orlando
DISGRACELAND
Exactly Right and iHeartPodcasts
4.6 • 13.4K Ratings
🗓️ 19 May 2026
⏱️ 40 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Viral YouTube star Christina Grimmie built her career one click, one song, and one fan at a time. Her breakout run on the NBC singing competition show The Voice was watched by millions. But one obsessed fan watched her a little too closely. Listen to find out how viral fame, fan access, and one man’s delusion turned into murder – and why time has never let Christina Grimmie’s story go.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is exactly right. Double Elvis. Disgrace and is a production of Double Elvis. I'm The stories about Christina Grimmie are heartbreaking. |
| 0:31.1 | She was murdered by a crazed fan, stalked, hunted, gunned down in cold blood. |
| 0:41.3 | She was a rising star, and at 22 years old, she had already gone viral on YouTube and finished third in a season of NBC's singing competition show, |
| 0:48.5 | The Voice. But despite her public image as a pop singer, Christina prepared for her own concerts by listening to thrash metal at full volume. |
| 0:59.2 | She appreciated great music and inspired to be someone who would make great music for the rest of her life. |
| 1:07.6 | Unlike that music I played for you at the top of the show, that wasn't great music. |
| 1:13.3 | That was a preset loop from my Melotron called Heartbreaking Thrash, MK1. |
| 1:20.3 | I played you that loop because I can't afford the rights to Once Dance by Drake, featuring WizKid and Kyla. |
| 1:29.0 | And why would I play you that specific slice of champagne, papy cheese? |
| 1:33.5 | Could I afford it? |
| 1:35.4 | Because that was the number one song in America on June 10, 2016, |
| 1:41.4 | and that was the day Christina Grimmie was gruesomely shot and killed after her show in Orlando, Florida during a meet and greet with her adoring fans. |
| 1:51.7 | On this episode, a crazed fan, a singer on the come-up, a murder, and the viral TV star Christina Grimmie. |
| 2:01.6 | I'm Jake Brennan, and this is Disgraceland. 15-year-old Christina Grimmie sat in her New Jersey home, watching the second hand of the clock |
| 2:28.7 | take another slow lap around the dial. Her eyes and thumbs ached from hours playing Zelda. Not that she would |
| 2:37.2 | admit it, and just like she wouldn't admit that she was a little tired of listening to albums by her |
| 2:41.8 | beloved Metallica and System of the Down, but right now it seemed as though there was nothing to do |
| 2:47.4 | but watched the time tick away. It was the summer of 2009, and like many other |
| 2:54.1 | kids in America, Christina Grimmie was not only bored, she was constantly being reminded that she |
| 3:00.9 | was bored. The ticking of the family clock. The rhythmic shuffle of sprinklers on lush green lawns. |
| 3:10.2 | The languid drip of a leaky faucet coming from an otherwise quiet kitchen. |
| 3:15.5 | Every tick, every sprinkle, every drip. |
... |
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