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Grimes is a multi-talented celebrity singer and songwriter who has made waves in recent months due to her entanglement with billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk.

Grimes is an eccentric artist who always marches to the beat of her own drum, releasing music independently and never following the typical celebrity standards of fashion or beauty. With the recent birth of her first child with Musk, Grimes is in the headlines more than ever, and many fans are diving deep to learn what they can about the unique star and her background. 

When was Grimes born?

Grimes (Claire Elise Boucher)
Grimes (Claire Elise Boucher) | ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images

Grimes was born in Canada in 1988. She was raised by a mother who worked as a former Crown prosecutor and arts advocate, while her father was a professional in the biotech sciences. After graduating from Lord Byng Secondary School in 2006, Grimes went to college to study Russian language and neuroscience, but only one year after her graduation from high school, the young woman discovered her innate talent for music. 

Grimes began writing and performing music and uploading it to her MySpace page. She attracted an audience relatively quickly, and over the next few years, she consistently uploaded songs, making waves in the independent music community. In 2010, Grimes released her debut album, Geidi Primes, which was inspired by the Dune series of novels.

She quickly followed up the concept album with another release that same year, titled Halfaxa. It was the second album that put Grimes on the music industry’s radar, and she began touring extensively to promote her music. 

What is Grimes’ real name?

Grimes’ third studio album was released in 2012 and was titled Visions. The album received critical acclaim, and the single “Oblivion” was a major hit. For her third album, Grimes was honored with a slew of awards, including the Juno Award for Electronic Album of the Year.

After the overwhelming success of Visions, Grimes waited three years before releasing another album. Grimes debuted her fourth album in 2015, and a fifth album in 2020 — proving that she is a young artist with major staying power.

It is very possible that none of her success would have been possible without her early days of uploading to MySpace — and the name change that signaled her career shift. Grimes was actually born Claire Boucher, and according to Cosmopolitan, she came up with the stage name Grimes after listing “grime music” for all three of her musical interests on MySpace.

The young artist later explained on Twitter, “On myspace ur genre could be grime and u could have 3 genres so i was plural grime, b4 knowing what grime was.” Ever since that fateful day in the early 2000s, Boucher has been known as Grimes. 

Grimes is well known for her romance with Elon Musk

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These days, many pop culture fans know Grimes best for her relationship with Elon Musk. In May 2020, Grimes and Musk welcomed their first child together, a baby boy named Æ A-12.

The unusual name might have confused many fans, but shortly after his birth, Grimes took to social media to explain the reasoning behind the baby’s name: “X, the unknown variable. Æ, my elven spelling of Ai (love &/or Artificial intelligence), A-12 = precursor to SR-17 (our favorite aircraft). No weapons, no defenses, just speed. Great in battle, but non-violent.”

It is unclear what’s next for Grimes, but it seems likely that the eccentric artist will continue to expand on her music career, building on an already-solid foundation of success.