1994–2004: Early life and Generations As a child, Grey performed professionally in a
folk duo with her mother, Candace Kreitlow, called Generations. The group released three studio albums together.
2005–2010: Like Blood Like Honey and EPs Grey co-wrote "Done With Like" and "She Said" with Jon Ingoldsby and American actress
Brie Larson for Larson's first and only album,
Finally Out of P.E. (2005). In 2005, Grey was featured on the song "
Where'd You Go" and "Be Somebody" by
Fort Minor, a side project by American singer, rapper, and songwriter
Mike Shinoda of
Linkin Park. "Where'd You Go" was released as a single on April 14, 2006, with an accompanying
music video following soon after. The song gained commercial success and ended up becoming a top four hit on the US
Billboard Hot 100 chart and also became
certified platinum by the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). After working with music producer Jonathan Ingoldsby, Grey released her debut album, titled
Like Blood Like Honey, on June 6, 2006, under
Warner Bros. Records. The album peaked at number 35 on
Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart. During this time, Grey had landed opening spots for
concert tours with
Jamie Cullum,
k.d. lang,
Daniel Powter,
Teddy Geiger and
Duncan Sheik. Through Machine Shop Records, Grey worked with Linkin Park affiliates
Styles of Beyond and
Apathy. She was featured on two tracks, "Victim" and "No Sad Tomorrow", from Apathy's second studio album,
Wanna Snuggle? (2009). Grey toured as part of
Duncan Sheik's band and contributed substantially to his 2009 album,
Whisper House. In 2009, Grey sang backing vocals on Eurovision contestant
Yohanna's debut album,
Butterflies and Elvis. In August 2009, still under the name Holly Brook, she lent both her song "It's Raining Again" and her image to a promotional campaign for Ciao Water. In early 2010, she performed in the theatrical version of "Whisper House," playing one of the two lead ghost vocalists, along with David Poe. On June 10, 2010, she self-released the seven-song
extended play (EP),
O’Dark:Thirty. Production of the EP was handled by Duncan Sheik and Jon Ingoldsby.
2010–2011: Songwriting and name change Brook later changed her stage name to Skylar Grey. While still living in
Oregon, Grey visited New York to meet her publisher
Jennifer Blakeman, to seek help presenting her work. Blakeman had suggested that she work with English producer
Alex da Kid. Alex da Kid then sent Grey a few tracks that he had been working on, the first song finished being "
Love the Way You Lie". The song was given to American rapper
Eminem (who wrote the verses) and Barbadian singer
Rihanna. Their song became a worldwide hit, reaching number one on 26 charts and being nominated for four
Grammy Awards. Grey received a
Song of the Year Grammy nomination for "Love the Way You Lie". Grey wrote the
hook to all three versions of "Love the Way You Lie" by Eminem and Rihanna, and even recorded a solo version that was later featured on her fourth EP,
The Buried Sessions of Skylar Grey (2012). Alex da Kid went on to sign Skylar Grey to a production deal on his KIDinaKORNER
record label imprint. In 2010, Grey also co-wrote and was featured on
Diddy – Dirty Money's single "
Coming Home", which gained massive commercial success. Also in 2010, Grey co-wrote "
Castle Walls" by American rapper
T.I. and American pop singer
Christina Aguilera. On February 1, 2011, American renowned hip-hop producer
Dr. Dre released a song titled "
I Need a Doctor", featuring Eminem and Grey. "I Need a Doctor" managed to peak at number four on the US
Billboard Hot 100 chart and was certified double platinum by the RIAA. The song garnered Grey several Grammy nominations. Grey made her national television debut under her new alias during the
53rd Annual Grammy Awards, where she performed "I Need a Doctor", with Eminem and Dr. Dre. During this time, Grey announced that she had begun working on her album then-titled
Invinsible. In March 2011, it was revealed Grey signed to
Interscope Records, through Alex da Kid's KIDinaKORNER and announced she would be releasing a single in the spring. Later in 2011, Grey was featured on a song titled "
Words I Never Said", the second single from
Lupe Fiasco's
Lasers (2011). Grey released her debut single, "Dance Without You", on June 6, 2011. The song later received a music video, which was released on July 5. Grey's second single and formerly her second album's
title-track, "
Invisible", was released to radio on June 16. Grey performed alongside aspiring rapper Eli Porter on the September 20, 2011 episode of
Tosh.0. In October, Grey was featured on American DJ
Kaskade's seventh album
Fire & Ice, writing and singing on two versions of the song "
Room for Happiness", which became the album's third single and earned a Grammy nomination.
2012–2014: ''Don't Look Down'' and collaborations In August 2012, Grey appeared twice as a guest vocalist on American hip-hop supergroup
Slaughterhouse's second album,
Welcome to: Our House (2012). In September 2012, Grey's song "Building a Monster", was featured on the soundtrack to Tim Burton's
Frankenweenie. In 2012, Grey co-wrote Russian-German producer
Zedd's 2012 single "
Clarity" featuring
Foxes, which won the
Grammy Award for
Best Dance Recording in 2014. In February 2013, American recording artist
CeeLo Green released a single titled "
Only You", which he co-wrote with Grey. On March 8, 2013, Grey performed a six-song set for "Guitar Center Sessions" on
DirecTV. Grey also contributed an exclusive song, titled "Slowly Freaking Out", to the soundtrack album for the film 2013 film
The Host, based on the novel by
Stephenie Meyer, In April 2013, Grey contributed to
will.i.am's fourth solo album
#willpower, on the song "Love Bullets". On October 31, 2012, Grey announced Eminem would be executive producer for her album whose title she had changed from
Invinsible to ''
Don't Look Down''. The album was preceded by the singles "
C'mon Let Me Ride", "Final Warning", and "Wear Me Out". Grey's second album, ''
Don't Look Down, was released July 5, 2013.The album debuted at number eight on the US Billboard'' 200 chart, selling 24,000 copies in the United States. In September 2013, Grey released a music video for her
cover version of
Daft Punk's hit single "
Get Lucky". On September 5, 2013, Grey was featured on the song "Don't Turn On Me" by
50 Cent and produced by
Alex da Kid for 50 Cent's album,
Street King Immortal. The track gained millions of views on
YouTube before the first week of December 2013, however the song would go unreleased due to 50 Cent delaying and eventually canceling the album in July 2021.In October 2013, Grey appeared on the track "The Last Day" on
Moby's eleventh album,
Innocents. On October 17, 2013, Grey previewed a new cover of
Robert Palmer's "
Addicted to Love" in a trailer for the 2014 remake of
Endless Love. In November 2013, she appeared on Eminem's eighth studio album,
The Marshall Mathers LP 2, on a track titled "Asshole". On January 20, 2014, Grey released a song titled "
Shot Me Down", with
David Guetta. The song was successful charting in the top ten in several countries. In March 2014, a new collaboration with American recording artist
Kid Cudi, titled "Hero", was recorded for the
Need for Speed film and released on the film's official soundtrack. In August 2014, Grey appeared on American rapper
T.I.'s song "
New National Anthem", from his ninth album,
Paperwork. In November 2014, Grey featured on
Shady XV, a
compilation album performed by various artists of
Shady Records, on "Twisted" alongside
Eminem and
Yelawolf. In 2014, Grey teamed up with American rapper
Nicki Minaj to co-write the song "
Bed of Lies", from Minaj's third album,
The Pinkprint. Grey sang on the recording and performed it with Minaj at the
2014 MTV Europe Music Awards and the December 6, 2014 episode of
Saturday Night Live.
2015–2017: Natural Causes and soundtracks Grey confirmed on her official
Instagram account that her third studio album would be released in 2015. In February 2015, Grey released a song from the
Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack called "
I Know You". Also in February, Grey confirmed she has a song on the
Furious 7 soundtrack, called "I Will Return." In March 2015, she released her version of "
Addicted to Love" on iTunes, and also re-released the song "Words," which was deleted from the
iTunes Store in 2013. On March 29, 2015, Grey appeared at her third
WrestleMania event, performing a medley of "
Rise" and "Money and the Power" at the
thirty-first annual event, with
Travis Barker and
Kid Ink. On May 18, 2015, electronic music producer
Deadmau5 released a short demo on
SoundCloud in collaboration with
Kaskade, featuring vocals by Grey, titled "
Beneath with Me". On October 6, 2016, a music video for the song was released.
Natural Causes, Grey's third studio album, was released on September 23, 2016. The album received positive reviews and was a moderate commercial success. It was preceded by the singles "Moving Mountains", the Eminem-produced "Come Up For Air", and "Lemonade". In the fall of 2016, Grey went on her Natural Causes Tour with morgxn. In 2017, Grey provided vocals for the song "Wreak Havoc" and wrote Kehlani's "
Gangsta" for the
Suicide Squad soundtrack. Grey later co-wrote Kehlani and
G-Eazy's song "Good Life" for
The Fate of the Furious: The Album soundtrack. Grey collaborated with
G-Eazy again, writing "Pick Me Up" for his album
The Beautiful & Damned. On March 31, 2017, American rock band
Papa Roach released their song, "Periscope", featuring guest vocals by Grey. Grey was also featured on American rapper
Macklemore's single "
Glorious", released on June 25, 2017. The platinum selling single topped the charts in numerous countries. Grey collaborated with Eminem on his album
Revival, co-writing the collaborations "Walk On Water" with
Beyoncé, "Like Home" with
Alicia Keys, "Need Me" with
Pink, and "Tragic Endings" with Grey herself. Previous collaborator
Kaskade released his debut
Christmas album
Kaskade Christmas on November 24 and featured Grey singing a cover of "
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" retitled "O Come Emmanuel".
2018–2020: Angel with Tattoos and Make It Through The Day On January 25, 2018, Grey released a cover of
Ben E. King's "
Stand by Me", which was featured in a
Budweiser Super Bowl LII commercial. A portion of the proceeds from the song went to the
American Red Cross to benefit those affected by natural disasters. A music video was released on February 2, 2018. In an interview with
Uproxx published on January 26, 2018, Grey revealed that she was working on her fourth album and is planning on including her own version of "
Walk on Water", which she had written for
Eminem and
Beyoncé, on the album. Later that year, Grey co-wrote and performed the single "Everything I Need", for
James Wan's superhero blockbuster film
Aquaman. In May 2019 Grey, along with fellow artists
Jamie N Commons and
Gallant, released a new version of
Soul Asylum's 1993 "
Runaway Train". The video for the song was made in collaboration with the
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and utilizes
geotargeting to show viewers missing children in their local area. The video was later nominated for a
VMA. On July 19, 2019, Grey announced on social media that she had left
Interscope Records/
KIDinaKORNER and that she would release her fourth studio album
Angel with Tattoos. The first single released was titled "Shame On You".
Angel with Tattoos was released as an EP on October 18, 2019, and she released the music video for the title-song of the album on the same day. Grey announced that the album is open ended, and songs will be added over time, stating; "Who knows? It could end up with a hundred songs, it could stop at five.”. On August 7, 2019, Grey released a new song titled "New Kind Of Love" that was featured on ''
Hulu's re-make of "Four Weddings And A Funeral". In the Aug. 24 issue of Billboard'', Grey revealed that she had left
Interscope Records due to "creative differences;" that her departure had been "amicable;" and that she had signed with Crush Music in 2017. In 2019, Grey and her fiancé Elliott Taylor wrote "Falling In Love Again" for
Celine Dion's
Courage.
Train also released a song featuring Grey titled "Mai Tais". The song was featured on the
CBS show
Magnum P.I. On January 17, 2020, Eminem released his eleventh studio album,
Music to Be Murdered By, featuring a song featuring Grey titled "Leaving Heaven". Furthermore, Grey co-wrote and produced the song, making her the first sole female to produce an Eminem song. On July 14, 2020, Grey revealed her then-upcoming album title,
Dark Thoughts. The project was preceded by the singles "Dark Thoughts", a cover of "
Goosebumps", and "Sunscreen". The project was eventually scrapped as Grey announced she started working on a new album via various social platforms on January 16, 2021. Some singles released in 2020 were compiled as part of
Make It Through the Day - EP, released on November 6, 2020.
2021–present: Skylar Grey and Lofi Chill Vibes albums On September 30, 2021, Grey's song "
Last One Standing" was featured on the soundtrack for the film
Venom: Let There Be Carnage with
Eminem,
Polo G, and
Mozzy featured on the song. After the release of several singles, Grey's eponymous fourth studio offering,
Skylar Grey was released on April 28, 2022. On July 15, 2022, Grey's song "My Heart Has Teeth", another collaboration with
Deadmau5, was featured on the soundtrack for the series
Resident Evil (2022). On October 27, 2022, Grey's song "Walking On Fire", produced by Th3rdstream, was featured on the soundtrack for the series
Vampire Academy. In 2023, Grey announced that she would be re-recording her back catalog after selling her masters to settle her 2021 divorce. The plan was to release a greatest hits collection in 2023, including Grey's original version/demo of "
Love the Way You Lie", later recorded and released by
Eminem and
Rihanna and Grey's version of "
Coming Home" (released by
Diddy-
Dirty Money). Grey released her next album
Lofi Chill Vibes with Skylar Grey on August 11, 2023, featuring
lo-fi versions of Grey's back catalog. Grey co-wrote and featured on Eminem's song "
Temporary" from his 2024 album
The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce). Grey generated minor controversy in 2026 when she filmed scenes for an upcoming documentary in her
former high school, with some members of the local community voicing their displeasure at the provocative nature of the content. Grey apologized and vowed to remove any identifying material in the footage before publication. ==Artistry==