Final episode explores young singer’s lasting legacy
On June 12, hundreds gathered at Pulse nightclub for a loving tribute to the 49 people who were killed there two years earlier. The mayors of Orlando and Orange County spoke, praising the community for its unity in the tragedy’s aftermath. A video montage featured the family members of the victims reading their names and telling their stories.
Two days earlier, about 10 people gathered at The Plaza LIVE for a much smaller vigil with a similar goal: to remember a life unjustly taken. They were there to remember Christina Grimmie, the talented 22-year-old singer whose shooting death was the first casualty of perhaps Orlando’s darkest weekend.
Since her killing, fans across the globe, who call themselves Team Grimmie, have along with her family done their part to keep Grimmie’s legacy — and her music — alive. The now-annual vigil was part of that.
“I think most of us would have plans to be back here, I guess every year as long as most of us can,” said Danielle Hendrix, 24, who was at The Plaza on the night Grimmie was killed. “It’s important just to keep having a presence
and letting people know that she’s not forgotten and we won’t forget her.”
Christina Grimmie died at The Plaza LIVE but Team Grimmie has continued to grow. Her family has nurtured that following in her absence, releasing new music the star of YouTube and NBC’s The Voice had recorded before her death. They also launched a foundation in her name.
In Never Forgotten, the final episode of the Orlando Sentinel’s true-crime podcast “Christina Grimmie: The Murder of a Rising Star,” we explore the singer’s lasting legacy, as well as the lingering trauma felt by the fans who were at The Plaza LIVE when a pop concert became a murder scene.
“I won't be another ghost. No, I won't be invisible.”
So begins the chorus for “Invisible,” the single released in February 2017 by the Grimmie family. The song has become a favorite among fans for its themes of resilience and perseverance. “I won't be diminished, eclipsed, or hidden,” Grimmie sings. “You're gonna see my light blaze back to life.”
“The lyrics, they're almost haunting because they're so beautiful,” said Rheanna Nemiroff, who helped organize the vigil at The Plaza. “And, you know, she says ‘I won't be another ghost. I won’t be invisible. I won’t be eclipsed.’ And it’s true. It holds true to this day, which is why we’re here.”
Proceeds from the track’s sales went to a memorial fund, helping launch the Christina Grimmie Foundation, another element of the singer’s legacy.
The foundation has two goals: to provide financial and emotional support to families suffering after gun violence, and to support those diagnosed with breast cancer — a cause close to Christina, as her mother has battled the disease.
In a YouTube video announcing the foundation’s creation, Grimmie’s brother, Mark, and parents, Bud and Tina, said they launched the nonprofit to honor her memory and ensure the shooting is not her final act. “We’re being carried by Christina’s legacy and how awesome she was so we’re going to match that and then increase it tenfold, that’s our goal,” Mark Grimmie said.
Added Bud Grimmie: “We didn’t want the shooting to be the end of the story.”
Grimmie’s fans have found comfort in each other, sharing jokes the singer would make online and telling stories. They remind each other that there are many people, spread far and wide, who remember Christina Grimmie — and still celebrate her. But for some who were at The Plaza LIVE the night Grimmie was killed, after-effects of the violence there still linger.
“I have night terrors on a fairly frequent occasion,” said Erin Westfall, who saw the gunman, Kevin James Loibl, take his own life. “It’s like someone in my head had pressed record on a recording tape and when I go to sleep at night it’s kinda like that it’s just playing over and over again.”
Never Forgotten is the final episode of “Christina Grimmie: The Murder of a Rising Star.” You can listen to all five episodes of the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play or Spotify, or via the player links below.
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