Colts Neck Native Jacquie Lee of ‘The Voice’ Honors Christina Grimmie With “Somebody’s Angel”
The Voice Season Five alum and Colts Neck native Jacquie Lee has written a powerful song honoring her late friend and fellow Voice alum Christina Grimmie, who was tragically murdered at a Florida meet and greet this summer.
Lee penned the new track, "Somebody's Angel," in tribute to Grimmie as well as all who were lost in 2016, a year of heartbreaking loss in the entertainment industry with the deaths of David Bowie, Prince, Glenn Frey, Gene Wilder, and Florence Henderson.
Lee was inspired to share her grief musically after meeting a homeless woman in New York City. The gospel-tinged song borrows heavily from Elvis Presley's "I Can't Help Falling in Love With You," and the video includes Lee's hand drawn artwork as well as images of all those lost in 2016, including those not in entertainment. The video ends with the two New Jersey natives sharing a moment singing karaoke at a party before fading to black with the message: "In memory of all those who are Somebody’s Angel now.”
"As I tried to get back into my routine after Christina passed, I came across a homeless woman outside of a Starbucks. She suddenly started to open up to me about the death of her mother, and I found myself talking about Christina,” writes Lee, 19, in a statement. ‘Don’t worry, she’s in a better place. She’s somebody’s angel now.’ Those words struck me and I went straight home and wrote ‘Somebody’s Angel.’ The electric guitar and blues tempo is inspired by my favorite cover Christina did of Elvis’s ‘I Can’t Help Falling in Love With You.’
“My eyes have opened up to the tragedy and loss we experience throughout our lives, and it feels like this year specifically we have all been touched by the passing of someone, whether we knew them personally or not. All of the pain, the senseless violence and the questions we don’t have answers to can be unbearable. My hope is that this song will help to heal in times of sorrow. I ran into the same woman after I recorded the track, and I told her that her words inspired a new song in memory of my friend. She said, ‘She would have wanted that,’ and I think she’s right.”
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