Eight things you need to know about Grimes before she tours the UK

Claire Boucher, aka Grimes, is the 27-year-old Canadian musician, record producer, songwriter and sometimes music video director who’s pretty much unstoppable.

From highly acclaimed awards to her unofficial title as the best person to follow on Twitter, Grimes’ unique approach to everything she does continues to make her a favourite in the electro-pop scene and beyond.

Ahead of Grimes’ UK headline AC!D tour in March 2016, we’ve rounded up eight things you need to know before you see her live (just in case you weren’t totally smitten already)…

1. Her album Visions won the Polaris Prize

Only one of the most coveted music prizes in the world, the Polaris Prize is Canada’s equivalent of the UK’s Mercury Prize.

2. She cancelled her fourth studio album

After working hard in the studio, Grimes cancelled her initial fourth studio album in 2014 stating it was ‘too depressing’. Word was that it was a double album, too!

3. Total fashion muse

Grimes may be an unlikely fashion muse for some but despite insisting she’s quite introvert and ‘a weirdo’, she’s already been hailed as a muse for some of fashion’s top designers and magazines; from Vogue to Nylon, Donatella Versace and Karl Lagerfeld.

Hey look! @Grimezsz is our October cover star. Read the full story here: http://t.co/Z9iwl3XVaL pic.twitter.com/DVjzxBHbxi

— NYLON (@NylonMag) September 16, 2015

4. Girl crushes? She has loads

Grimes’ girl crushes might not be the obvious candidates you’d expect. She cites Hildegard of Bingen; a 12 century scientist and artist who wrote about abortion and handed out pamphlets to women in the community as someone she aspires to be like. She is also a big fn of Toregene Khatun; the woman who ruled the Mongol Empire after Genghis Khan, describing her as one of “the hardest f**king fighters of all time”.

5. She makes ‘wizard rock’

If you haven’t come across Grimes’ signature blend of electro-synth-pop before, Google probably isn’t going to be much help in picking apart her sound. On Facebook though, Grimes dubs her own sound as ‘wizard rock’ and we think she’s pretty much nailed it there.

Grimes - REALiTi

Watch this video on YouTube

6. Mariah Carey inspired her

Talking about her influences in previous interviews, Grimes has said, “The first time I heard Mariah Carey it shattered the fabric of my existence and I started Grimes.”

7. Before that, she was also inspired by Marilyn Manson

Growing up, goth legend Marilyn Manson was apparently a big influence on a young Claire Boucher. “I had been raised in a really strict Catholic household and went to a really Catholic school.” she explained previously. “It sucked and Marilyn Manson represented the antithesis of all the things I was dealing with at the time.”