This article originally appeared on Business Insider.
Grimes says her earnings from selling NFTs outpace what she’s earned over the course of her music career.
The artist, whose given name is Claire Boucher, reflected on her venture into crypto and non-fungible tokens in a wide-ranging interview with Wired’s Steven Levy.
She launched “WarNymph,” a collection of 10 NFTs made in collaboration with her brother, Mac Boucher, in 2021. The NFTs brought in more than $5.8 million in less than 20 minutes.
“That was on my brother,” Grimes said of the money she earned selling NFTs. “He had a real vision, and we wound up doing one of the first big ones. It did actually change my life.”
When asked whether she had made more money selling NFTs than her music career, Grimes said, “Yeah.”
Grimes at the 2021 Met Gala in New York. Jamie McCarthy/Getty
Grimes, who shares two children with Elon Musk, has been releasing music since 2010 and dropped out of school in 2011. She released her breakout album, “Visions,” in 2012 and the critically acclaimed album “Art Angels” in 2015.
The musician recently released AI-voice software that allows creators to create vocals using her voice and offered to split 50% of royalties with users who made a song with the software.
“Two, in particular, were very, very good,” Grimes told Wired of user-generated tracks featuring her voice. “They’re so in line with what my new album might be like that it was sort of disturbing. It’s like, ‘Who am I, and what am I here for?’ On the other hand, it’s like, ‘Oh, sick, I might get to live forever.'”
