Do you need to be good at blindfold chess to become a GM?

Is it impossible to become a GM without being good at blindfold chess? What’s a good method to improve visualization of the whole chess board (seeing 64 squares in your head)

Deja Vu.

Out of everyone who can play blindfold chess, I assume something like 1% of them actually practice it. Usually the ability to play blindfold chess is some combination of genetics (how well you can visualize) and having played chess a long time.

I've known one 1600 USCF player who can play 3 (one time 4) blindfold games at once.
I can barely do 1, and it's at a pretty low level of play if it gets open and tactical.
There is one master on chess.com who has said he can't play a full blindfold game.

So is it necessary to be good at blindfold to be an international GM

IMO you're mixing up cause and effect.

If you purchase a tiger, then you are a pet owner.

But select a random pet owner on the street, and it's extremely unlikely they own a tiger.

If you're a GM, then you can play blindfold chess.

But if you train blindfold chess it's probably completely useless in terms of becoming a GM.

If you want to be a GM (or own a tiger) then set out to do specifically that. Don't get distracted by associated subsets / supersets.

Not really. Many GMs were able to solve endgame puzzles blindfolded at 10-12 years like Nihal Sarin

Let me try again...

A consequence of being super-rich is being able to afford an expensive car.

Buying an expensive car doesn't make you super rich.

A consequence of being a GM is being able to play blindfold chess...

Then how did GMs be able to play blindfold way BEFORE they became one? 

by learning to play blindfold or having the intuition to do so

before/ after gm is irrelevant

I can't play blindfold chess to save my life and I am not great at chess so there does seem to be some correlation.

When they were small children their parents had them eat their fruit loops with their eyes closed.

Well, I think we should be good at blindfold chess to increase your chances of becoming a GM. It'll practice your visualization skills to calculate better.

A good chess friend can play blindfold quite comfortably but his grade is under 1900. I had always imagined that it would give the same advantage as being able to move the pieces around as much as you liked before moving which should be a great advantage.

Thanks. How should I practice them? When I try to visualize a chess board after a few moves in the opening I can’t see the whole board. How do I get better at that? For example in the Ruy Lopez, if I try to visualize it, I can only see the middle of the board (like the bishop on b5, pawns on e5 and e4) and not everything else.

You should find a playing partner on chess.com and change the piece set settings to blindfold. Maybe play with an easy bot first, because practice makes perfect after all. Once you practiced a lot and familiar with playing blindfold, then make the bot's level higher to make playing more challenging. Keep continuing and you'll improve.

Also, you should try to solve studies blindfolded. At first, choose simple endgame puzzles with fewer than 10 pieces. Then increase the level so it would be harder.

I disagree. I taught myself how to play 3 simul blindfold games by practicing a lot

But you can't do it immediately right? A person his strength can just do only one at a time.

Honestly playing more blindfold games isn't that much harder than playing 1. I just switch between them but they appear as they were before each time I switch

It can be very bad for blindfold beginners (no offense please.) Because some of the chess players haven't developed their chessboard photographic memory yet.