* En anglais uniquement
The woman behind hits such as
Eminem's “Love the Way You Lie” and
Fort Minor's "Where'd You Go," singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist
Skylar Grey (formerly
Holly Brook) began singing at the age of two. Her first muses were folk and jazz, two sounds she found in perfect harmony upon discovering the music of
Joni Mitchell. The budding songstress took the stage with her mother at the age of six and had her own band and two recordings under her belt by the time she was in high school. She continued to develop her sepia-toned piano pop throughout her teens, eventually moving to Los Angeles in 2003, where she met Grammy-winning producer -- and future co-writer and producer --
Jon Ingoldsby. Her debut album for Machine Shop Records,
Like Blood Like Honey, was released in 2006 under the name
Holly Brook (a shortening of her full name, Holly Brook Hafermann). Tours opening for the likes of
Jamie Cullum,
k.d. lang, and
Duncan Sheik would follow but the album stalled, and soon
Brook was without a recording contract. In 2006 her guest vocals on
Fort Minor’s "Where'd You Go" would help push the track into the Top Five in America, and in 2009 she would join
Duncan Sheik’s band for his Whisper House album and its accompanying tour. The year 2010 was a huge step forward for
Brook's solo career, starting with the release of the O’Dark:Thirty EP. A name change to
Skylar Grey would soon follow, along with a meeting with
Alex da Kid, who signed her to his Wonderland Music label. By the end of 2010,
Eminem, along with special guest
Rihanna, would have a hit with his own version of
Grey’s “Love the Way You Lie.” ~ James Christopher Monger & David Jeffries