Who is Christina Grimmie? The YouTube Star Who Shot to Fame on the Voice

Christina Grimmie in May 2015

(Lisa Lake/Getty Images for iHeart Media)

By Karen Mizoguchi

updated
06/11/2016 AT 02:55 AM EDT

•originally published
06/11/2016 AT 02:30 AM EDT

Christina Grimmie, who was shot and killed at her Orlando, Florida concert on Friday, may be best known for making the final three on season six of the Voice, but before she was representing Team Adam Levine, the 22-year-old singer made her name on YouTube.

Grimmie’s loyal fan base (641k Twitter followers, 422k Instagram fan, 2.8 million Facebook friends and over 3.1 YouTube subscribers) had noticed her long before the singer earned a four-chair turn-around in 2014.

The Marlton, New Jersey native was discovered on the global video-sharing website in 2010, and it was her cover video for Miley Cyrus‘ “Party in the U.S.A” that got her signed to her first management agency. The clip now has garnered about 12.2 million views since it was first uploaded in 2009.

The year 2011 was especially great for Grimmie. She released an EP, titled Find Me, and her YouTube fame led her to be an opening act for Selena Gomez on the U.S and Canada leg of the We Own the Night Tour in 2011. That same year, Grimmie won an American Music Award for New Media Honoree and performed a duet with singer Taio Cruz at the AMA pre-show.

In 2013, Grimmie followed Gomez once again on the pop star’s Stars Dance Tour, following the release her second album With Love.

And then in 2014, Grimmie made it onto the Voice blind auditions, where she performed the Miley hit, “Wrecking Ball.” She ultimately finished in third place.