Angela Weiss/Getty Images Hours after the tragic death of YouTube star Christina Grimmie, the community of singers that first helped her share her voice with the world is uniting online to honor her.
Years before she placed third on NBC's hit talent competition, The Voice, the 22-year-old rose to prominence on the Internet with highly viewed covers of popular songs like Miley Cyrus' "Party in the U.S.A." and Nelly's "Just a Dream" with fellow YouTuber Sam Tsui. Her channel ultimately garnered more than three million followers and opened the doors to her touring with Selena Gomez as her opening act and performing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show before ultimately joining Adam Levine's team on The Voice.
Today, following the heartbreaking news of her passing, the same YouTube stars she connected with online are using social media to pay tribute to their beloved friend after she was fatally shot while signing autographs after a concert in Orlando.
Musician Tyler Ward, who sang with the late star on DeGeneres's show, could only express his surprise. "At a loss for words..." he wrote, also sharing a silly photo of himself with Grimmie.
Tsui, her co-star for the "Just a Dream" duet referred to Grimmie as "so purely good."
"I can't believe this...all of my thoughts and prayers with @TheRealGrimmie and everyone at her show," he wrote on his Twitter account. "At a loss for words and absolutely sick to my stomach. So lucky to have had a friend so purely good and impossibly talented. #RIPChristina"
The tributes seemed endless, many sharing good-natured descriptions of the singer, while others commenting on the tragic and confusing nature of her death.
"Heartbroken and sick! RIP sweet friend," fellow YouTube singer Noah Guthrie wrote on social media, sharing a candid photo of the two together.
YouTube beauty guru Bethany Mota also signed on to Twitter to pay her respects. "So heartbroken to hear about #ChristinaGrimmie my heart goes out to her family," she wrote. "Rest in peace, beautiful."
YouTube producer and filmmaker Kurt Schneider included a lengthy tribute in honor of the fallen star, tweeting "I can't believe you're gone."
"Rest in peace, Christina. You will be forever missed," singer Alex Goot declared on Twitter. "I literally cannot believe the tragic world we live in."