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Adam Levine Offers To Pay For 'Voice' Contestant Christina Grimmie's Funeral
Christina Grimmie and Adam Levine druing the iHeartRadio Album Release Party with Maroon 5. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Clear Channel)
Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine has offered to pay for singer Christina Grimmie's funeral, according to the Grimmie's brother. Christina Grimmie, 22, was shot and killed by Kevin James Loibl, 27, on Friday after performing at the The Plaza Live in Orlando. The young singer was signing autographs and greeting fans when Loibl approached and shot her. Grimmie's brother, Marcus Grimmie, tackled the gunman, who then shot himself. Police said that Marcus was a hero who may have saved lives by tackling Loibl before he could harm anyone else.
Marcus Grimmie wrote in a Facebook post that Levine called his mother and offered to pay for his sister's funeral as well as his mother's flight. Grimmie had been a contestant on The Voice in 2014, the show's sixth season, ultimately finishing in third place. Levine was Grimmie's mentor on the show. In addition to Levine's offer, a GoFundMe page created by Grimmie's manager, Brian Teefey, has already collected over $175,000, according to KTLA.
Levine had also tweeted a photo with Grimmie, saying he and his wife were devastated by her death.
Behati and I are absolutely devastated and heartbroken by Christina Grimmie’s death. Our hearts go out to her family pic.twitter.com/y4OMkm0uXu
— Adam Levine (@adamlevine) June 11, 2016
Grimmie blew away judges on The Voice during her audition, singing Miley Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball." All four judges turned their chairs towards her as she performed, indicating each of them was interested in her. Grimmie chose Levine as her coach over Shakira, Usher and country star Blake Shelton.
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Grimmie and Levine together performed Gotye's "Somebody That I Used To Know" on the show.
With love.https://t.co/Kb4ZtgUI1u
— The Voice (@NBCTheVoice) June 11, 2016
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