Grimes was born Claire Boucher in Vancouver, BC Canada in 1988. She attended high school in Vancouver but moved to Montreal shortly after to write and perform under the name Grimes. She went to McGill University but was eventually expelled for missing over a year's worth of classes.
In 2009, Grimes and her boyfriend built a 20-foot houseboat named the "Velvet Glove in Cast Iron." The plan was to sail it down the Mississippi River from Minneapolis to New Orleans. Inside, the couple brought along a typewriter, chickens, potatoes, and a copy of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Unfortunately, the boat had engine trouble and harassment from the Minnesota police forced the couple to cut the trip short.
In 2011, Grimes played nine sets at the SXSW Music Festival in Austin, Texas. She likes to wear elaborate outfits onstage and incorporate dancers into her shows but says festival settings are not really ideal for those kinds of elaborate setups. Grimes says that "it's a bad way to perform" because you don't get a sound check and it's just not fun.
Although she writes her own songs, Grimes can't read music. She wishes she hadn't published that fact because her lack of technical ability hasn't actually hindered her career in any way.
Grimes is superstitious and believes she has a good show whenever she sees a bulldog on the street. The dogs give her positive energy so she sometimes wanders around just looking for the animal. The singer also wants to have a bulldog on her rider when she is rich and famous.
Grimes has two biological brothers and two stepbrothers. Her oldest stepbrother is also in the music business. He's a rapper named Jay Worthy and Grimes describes him as "pretty tough" and "pretty crazy." Grimes says she's even seen blood splattered in his car.
She studied ballet for over a decade, but after 11 years the training ground to a halt after Grimes showed up to class one day with a shaved head: "I think at some point in grade eight, I started smoking pot. I was just listening to System of a Down," she recalled to Fader. "I would show up to ballet, and all the kids would make fun of me, and no matter where I went everyone thought I was insane, so I was just, like, 'I cannot be here. I have to do something so I cannot be forced to do this anymore.'"
Grimes' family counts two Olympian ice-dancers in its ranks; her aunt, Karyn Garossino, and uncle, Rod Garossino, who competed together in the 1988 Winter Olympics. The following year, the pair
won the gold medal at the 1989 Canadian Figure Skating Championships.
Grimes has multiple tattoos, but she now regrets one of her earlier inkings. "There's one of an alien on my hand that seems so dated," she told Rolling Stone. "It was just so hip to be into, like alien iconography and The X-Files in the early 2010s. It seems corny now, but I thought I was a fun idea at the time."
Grimes started a relationship with technology entrepreneur Elon Musk in 2018. She gave birth to their first child, a baby boy on May 4, 2020. The pair planned on naming him X Æ A-12, but were thwarted by California law as numbers are not allowed. The baby's moniker is now written X Æ A-Xii, substituting the Roman numerals signifying "12."
In September 2021, Musk announced that he and Grimes were semi-separating. The billionaire explained that his career played a role in the split. "It's mostly that my work at SpaceX and Tesla requires me to be primarily in Texas or traveling overseas and her work is primarily in LA," he said.
Despite their semi-separation, Grimes and Elon Musk welcomed their second child, a baby girl, via surrogate in December 2021.The baby's name is Exa Dark Sideræl, but her nickname is Y.
So why X Æ A-Xii? Grimes tweeted an explanation for her son's bizarre name, explaining it's a combination of some of her favorite things:
"'X' stands for the "unknowable variable."
"Æ" is her "elven spelling" of love and/or artificial intelligence.
"A-12" is her and Musk's favorite aircraft, the Lockheed recon plane built for the CIA, "No weapons, no defenses, just speed. Great in battle, but non-violent."
The plane is known internally as "Archangel," which Grimes says is the name of her favorite song, though it isn't clear . She is possibly referencing the
title track of her 2015 album
Art Angels.
In 2023, Grimes collaborated with Silicon Valley startup Curio to develop Grok, an AI-powered plush toy that can engage with children through storytelling, games, and activities that encourage creativity and imagination. Grimes provided the voice for Grok, infusing the toy with her signature whimsical and imaginative approach.
After being diagnosed with ADHD and autism in 2025, Grimes spoke out against what she sees as a troubling trend on social media: misleading or extreme "infohazards" disguised as helpful mental health resources.
"Got diagnosed w ADHD/autism this year and realized I'm prob dyslexic, which is why I can't spell at all without spellcheck," she shared.
Reflecting on how an earlier diagnosis might have shaped her life, Grimes added, "Had we known this when I was a child, I would have worked so much less hard, been on drugs, and so many of my weird obsessions and motivations would have been seen as pathological."
Despite this, she expressed gratitude for the challenges she faced. "I could have written off certain things that were very hard for me, but I'm glad I overcame them."
