Christina Grimmie at Atlanta's Center Stage Theater on March 2, 2016. (ap)
Selena Gomez lost a friend to senseless gun violence over the weekend.
At a Miami concert on Saturday, SelGo broke down as she paid tribute to fellow singer Christina Grimmie while performing her song “Nobody.”
Grimmie, who appeared on the musical contest show “The Voice,” was shot and killed as she was signing autographs after performing at an Orlando concert venue.
“When she was 14, we met her and my parents and I signed her,” Gomez told the crowd, her voice quivering, according to Billboard. “One thing about Christina and her family is that she holds her faith so closely to her. And I think it’s not about a religion and it’s not about anything or good deeds. It’s just that she had faith, and I don’t really understand how this really happened, but I would like to dedicate this next song to her.”
Gomez then delivered an emotional rendition of Hillsong Worship’s song “Transfiguration.”
Ahead of the concert, she tweeted a photo of the two, writing: “My heart is absolutely broken. I miss you Christina.”
Gomez’s stepfather Brian Teefey, who was Grimmie’s manager, started a GoFundMe page to help her family with any financial expenses.
“Words cannot begin to describe the pain I am feeling,” he wrote on the fundraising page. “I learned this business through the eyes of a father and Christina was like a second daughter to me. All I wanted to do was assist her in achieving her musical dreams while protecting her from the pitfalls associated with the business. I never could have imagined this horrific event being one of the pitfalls needing to be avoided.”
Grimmie was most widely known from those TV appearances two years ago, when she rocked listeners with her renditions of songs including "Wrecking Ball" and "Can't Help Falling in Love," and finished third.
"The Voice" paid tribute Saturday to Grimmie on its official Twitter page: "There are no words. We lost a beautiful soul with an amazing voice."
"Christina was a natural, gifted talent that comes along so rarely," wrote singer Adam Levine, who was Grimmie's mentor on "The Voice." ''She was taken from us too soon."
Police identified the shooter as Kevin Loibl, who they said appeared to have no personal connection to Grimmie before he traveled 100 miles from his home in St. Petersburg to Orlando. Loibl fatally shot himself after being tackled by Grimmie’s brother, Marcus.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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