Skylar Grey

A vocalist known for her distinctive breathy delivery and emotional sincerity, Skylar Grey built her reputation as a sought-after songwriter through memorable anthemic contributions to tracks by Eminem on "Love the Way You Lie" and Zedd on "Clarity." Those successes preceded her own Billboard 200 breakthrough when her 2013 debut album Don't Look Down, issued under the Grey name, entered the top ten. Retaining certain hip-hop elements, Natural Causes from 2016 emphasized introspective songwriting alongside a more expansive sonic palette. Her artistic growth continued through the self-released EPs Angel with Tattoos in 2019 and Make It Through the Day in 2020. The year 2021 brought another Hot 100 entry via "Last One Standing," which featured Polo G, Mozzy, and Eminem and appeared on the Venom: Let There Be Carnage soundtrack. After resolving a four-year legal dispute with her former spouse and manager, Grey launched a fresh phase by issuing her first fully independent full-length project, the self-titled Skylar Grey, in 2022.

Holly Brook Hafermann entered the world in Mazomanie, Wisconsin, in 1986 and started performing as a very young child. Early passions for folk and jazz drew her toward Joni Mitchell's catalog, leading her to form the duo Generations with her mother, Candace Kreitlow, a partnership that lasted from her preteen period through high school. The pair issued three albums on Heartwood Productions from 1996 to 2002, often billed as Holly Brook and Candy K.

Throughout her teenage years she refined a style of pop songcraft shaped by singer-songwriter traditions, then relocated to Los Angeles in 2003 and connected with Grammy-winning producer Jon Ingoldsby. Retaining the Holly Brook identity, she secured deals with Universal Music Publishing Group and Machine Shop Records, resulting in two Ingoldsby collaborations that appeared on actress Brie Larson's 2005 album Finally Out of P.E. That same year she supplied vocals for a pair of tracks by Fort Minor, the experimental hip-hop endeavor led by Machine Shop founder Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park; one of those cuts, the single "Where'd You Go," climbed to number four on the Hot 100. Under the Holly Brook name she unveiled her debut solo album, Like Blood Like Honey, in 2006, which reached the top forty of the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart. Around the same time she supported tours by Jamie Cullum, k.d. lang, and Duncan Sheik.

After ending her association with Machine Shop she kept writing and later appeared on tracks by rapper Apathy that surfaced on the 2009 album Wanna Snuggle? She also joined Sheik's touring ensemble that year and contributed to his Whisper House LP. Sheik and Ingoldsby served as co-producers on her 2010 O'Dark:Thirty EP, after which she adopted the stage name Skylar Grey.

Her initial project under the new alias involved English songwriter and producer Alex da Kid. The resulting song "Love the Way You Lie" reached Eminem, whose version with Rihanna became a global chart-topper that hit number one on the Hot 100 and earned Grey, Alex da Kid, and Eminem a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year. Grey's own rendition of the track was included on her 2012 EP The Buried Sessions of Skylar Grey, released through Alex da Kid's Interscope imprint Kid Ina Korner.

While preparing her first full-length release as Skylar Grey she lent her voice to several notable recordings, among them hit singles by Diddy - Dirty Money on "Coming Home" and Dr. Dre on "I Need a Doctor." She joined Dre, Eminem, Rihanna, and Adam Levine for a medley of the latter song and "Love the Way You Lie, Pt. 2" at the 2011 Grammy Awards. Later that year she featured on Lupe Fiasco's "Words I Never Said," which led to a joint television appearance on The Colbert Report.

Grey launched her debut single, "Dance Without You," in June 2011; the track later featured in the 2012 film Step Up Revolution. Another 2012 release, "C'Mon Let Me Ride," produced by Alex da Kid and again featuring Eminem, entered Canada's Hot 100. The following year brought co-writing credits on Cee Lo Green's "Only You" and will.i.am's "Love Bullets," culminating in the arrival of her Kid Ina Korner debut album Don't Look Down, which included appearances by Eminem, Big Sean, and Travis Barker and peaked at number eight on the Billboard 200. The 2012 Zedd single "Clarity," co-written by Grey and featuring Foxes, captured the Grammy for Best Dance Recording in 2014. That year she also supplied vocals for Moby's "The Last Day" and reached the dance charts with a feature on David Guetta's "Shot Me Down." Balancing solo work, outside songwriting, and prominent guest spots, she returned to the U.S. Hot 100 as the featured vocalist on Nicki Minaj's late-2014 single "Bed of Lies" after performing the song with Minaj on Saturday Night Live. Around the same period she scored a top-twenty dance and electronic hit with Guetta's "Rise."

In mid-2016 Grey placed two contributions on the Billboard 200-topping Suicide Squad soundtrack, supplying her own "Wreak Havoc" and a writing credit for Kehlani's "Gangsta." Natural Causes, her sophomore album on Kid Ina Korner, arrived that September and, with Eminem appearing, reached number 68 in Canada. October brought a vocal feature on "Beneath with Me" by Deadmau5 and Kaskade.

Grey achieved her sixth Hot 100 placement with a featured role on Macklemore's 2017 single "Glorious," which peaked at number 49. The following year her composition "Everything I Need" appeared on the Aquaman soundtrack. After departing Kid Ina Korner she issued the independent EP Angel with Tattoos in 2019, followed by a second self-released EP, Make It Through the Day, in November 2020. In 2021 she contributed "Last One Standing," featuring Polo G, Mozzy, and Eminem, to the Venom: Let There Be Carnage soundtrack. Also that year she concluded divorce proceedings with her ex-husband and former manager, an agreement that involved selling her publishing catalog to cover legal expenses. She resurfaced in 2022 with her fourth album and first independent release, the self-titled Skylar Grey.