Elon Musk and Grimes' Relationship: A Look Back

Elon Musk and Grimes were first linked in May 2018 and have since welcomed three children together: X Æ A-Xii, Exa Dark Sideræl and Techno Mechanicus

Grimes, Elon Musk
Grimes and Elon Musk. Photo: Taylor Hill/Getty

Elon Musk and Grimes became parents three times during their on-again, off-again relationship.

The couple was first linked in May 2018 when they made their public debut at the Met Gala. In an interview for the cover story for Vanity Fair's April 2022 issue, the Canadian musician called her relationship with the billionaire entrepreneur "very fluid."

Grimes later clarified in a tweet that the couple had broken up again since the Vanity Fair interview, but she also noted, "he's my best friend and the love of my life."

Musk and Grimes have three children together. Their first son, X Æ A-Xii, was born in May 2020, and they welcomed their daughter, Exa Dark Sideræl, via surrogate in December 2021. It's uncertain when their third child, son Techno Mechanicus, was born.

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From their public debut at the Met Gala to their children's unique names, here's a complete timeline of Elon Musk and Grimes' relationship.

May 7, 2018: Elon Musk and Grimes go public with their romance

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Elon Musk and Grimes. Neilson Barnard/Getty

Following Musk's split from Amber Heard in February 2018, the SpaceX founder sparked dating rumors with Grimes when they had a flirty interaction on Twitter in April 2018.

They later made their public debut as a couple at the Met Gala that May, with PEOPLE confirming their romance. "They've been seeing each other but have been keeping their relationship under the radar," a source said at the time.

August 2018: Elon Musk and Grimes spark breakup rumors

Just a few short months after going public with their romance, the two sparked breakup rumors when they unfollowed each other on social media, as reported by Business Insider.

Around the same time, the two made headlines when rapper Azealia Banks alleged that she spent a weekend at Musk's home with Grimes. In the tweets, Banks claimed she saw Musk use acid while dealing with business affairs. A spokesperson for Musk later told PEOPLE the claims are "absolute nonsense."

Musk and Grimes seemingly reconciled shortly after as they were spotted at a pumpkin patch in L.A. with Musk's kids in October.

December 24, 2019: Elon Musk and Grimes attend the Kardashian-Jenner family Christmas party together

Kim Kardashian, Elon Musk, Grimes
Kim Kardashian/instagram

The two confirmed they were back together when they were spotted attending the Kardashian-Jenner family Christmas party in 2019. Musk and Grimes could be seen cuddling up together in a group photo featuring Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, Travis Scott, Quavo, and Saweetie.

January 8, 2020: Grimes reveals she's pregnant with her first child

In January 2020, Grimes revealed she was pregnant with an NSFW Instagram photo that showed off her baby bump. She later ​​deleted the original post and replaced it with a more censored version.

During a digital cover story for Rolling Stone that March, Grimes confirmed that Musk was the father of her child. She also revealed that her song "So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth" is "about getting pregnant — the sort of tragedy of agreeing to it, even though it's this great thing," adding, ​​"For a girl, it's sacrificing your body and your freedom. It's a pretty crazy sacrifice and only half of the population has to do it. It was really profound to me when I decided I was going to do it, to actually go through the act of unprotected sex."

"I do actually just really love my boyfriend," she continued of Musk, explaining how she decided to welcome the idea of getting pregnant, "So I was like, 'You know, sure.' "

May 4, 2020: Elon Musk and Grimes welcome their first child together

Elon Musk Twitter
Elon Musk and son X. Elon Musk Twitter

In May 2020, Musk revealed that Grimes had given birth to their first child together, a baby boy named X Æ A-12 Musk. The baby was the first for Grimes, while Musk has five sons from a previous marriage. His first son, Nevada, died tragically of SIDS at 10 weeks old in 2002.

Shortly after, Musk shared the first photo of their baby boy, which showed him cradling X Æ A-12 in a blanket at the hospital.

July 2020: Elon Musk opens up about parenting with Grimes

In an interview with The New York Times in July 2020, Musk gave a brief update on their newborn, noting how Grimes was taking the reins on parenting.

"Grimes has a much bigger role than me right now," he said of the singer, whom he called "pretty special" and "one of the most unusual people I've ever met." He added, "When the kid gets older, there will be more of a role for me."

May 8, 2021: Grimes makes a guest appearance on SNL as Elon Musk hosts

Elon Musk, grimes
Will Heath/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images (2)

When Musk hosted Saturday Night Live on May 8, 2021, Grimes made a surprise cameo during a Super Mario-themed sketch in which she played Princess Peach.

Grimes later revealed that she suffered a panic attack shortly after her guest appearance, which led to a hospitalization.

"Forgot to post these cuz I somehow caused myself to have a panic attack and went to the hospital yesterday which tbh was quite scary and I suppose it's a good time to start therapy 😑😑😑," she wrote alongside photos of her posing with musical guest Miley Cyrus. "But nonetheless - wowwwww @mileycyrus is good live and so chill! So grateful to the SNL team for being so kind and letting me sneak in as princess peach [and] so proud of my beautiful E (which I know will upset the grimes fans so I apologize in advance) but he killed it."

September 2021: Elon Musk and Grimes break up

In September 2021, Musk revealed that he and Grimes broke up during an interview with The New York Post's Page Six. "We are semi-separated but still love each other, see each other frequently and are on great terms," he told the publication.

"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 added. "She's staying with me now and Baby X is in the adjacent room."

October 2021: Grimes confirms she's still living with Elon Musk

Shortly after their split, Grimes revealed she's still living with Musk in an Instagram post shared in October 2021.

"I was really stressed when paparazzi wouldn't stop following me this wk but then I realized it was opportunity to troll," she wrote on Instagram, posting a screenshot of the photos in the New York Post with the headline, "Grimes seen reading Karl Marx following split with world's richest man Elon Musk."

She added, "Full disclosure I'm still living with E and I am not a communist (although there are some very smart ideas in this book -but personally I'm more interested in a radical decentralized UBI that I think could potentially be achieved thru crypto and gaming but I haven't ironed that idea out enough yet to explain it. Regardless my opinions on politics are difficult to describe because the political systems that inspire me the most have not yet been implemented)."

December 2021: Elon Musk and Grimes welcome their second baby together

Elon Musk, grimes
Elon Musk/Twitter

In December 2021, Musk and Grimes welcomed their second child together via surrogate. Grimes confirmed the news during her interview with Vanity Fair in March 2022, revealing that they welcomed a baby girl named Exa Dark Sideræl, whom they've nicknamed Y.

March 2022: Grimes reveals she and Elon Musk are back together

During her cover story with Vanity Fair, Grimes also revealed that she and Musk are back together, although their relationship is "very fluid."

"There's no real word for it. I would probably refer to him as my boyfriend, but we're very fluid," she explained in a Vanity Fair cover story. "We live in separate houses. We're best friends. We see each other all the time… We just have our own thing going on, and I don't expect other people to understand it."

"This is the best it's ever been," she said of their relationship. "We just need to be free."

March 10, 2022: Grimes reveals she and Elon Musk have broken up

The day that her Vanity Fair story hit stands, Grimes tweeted that their relationship status had changed since the interview.

"Me and E have broken up *again* since the writing of this article haha, but he's my best friend and the love of my life, and my life and art are forever dedicated to The Mission now, I think Devin wrote that part of the story rly well. Sique - peace out," she wrote.

August 9, 2023: Biography reveals how Elon Musk wooed Grimes on their second date

Elon Musk Once Surprised Grimes with Wild Autopilot Ride on Date

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According to Walter Isaacson's biography about Musk, the Tesla founder took Grimes on a wild car ride on their second date.

The author shared a passage from the book on X that said: "While driving her to a restaurant, he showed how fast the car accelerated, then took his hands off the wheel, covered his eyes, and let her experience Autopilot. 'I was like, oh s---, this guy is f---ing crazy,' she says. 'The car was signaling and changing lanes by itself. It felt like a scene out of a Marvel movie.' At the restaurant, he carved 'EM+CB' on the wall."

September 9, 2023: Biography reveals that Elon Musk and Grimes welcomed a third child

Walter Isaacson's biography revealed that Musk and Grimes secretly welcomed a third child — son Techno Mechanicus, who also goes by “Tau."

March 23, 2024: Grimes debuts relationship with DJ Anyma

Grimes Debuts New Relationship with DJ Anyma: ‘Beauty and the Beast

Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic; Roberto Serra - Iguana Press/Getty

Grimes announced her romance with DJ Anyma on Instagram. The news came roughly two years after she and Musk called it quits for the third and final time.

"Beauty and the Beast,” Grimes captioned several loved-up photos of the new couple.