Skylar Gray

Skylar Gray in an appearance (2016)

Skylar Gray (* 23 February 1986 as Holly Brook Hafermann in Mazomanie , Wisconsin ), formerly known by her real name, is an American singer , songwriter and record producer . She is under contract with Alex da Kids label Kidinakorner and was mainly made through collaborations with Fort Minor , P. Diddy , Eminem and Dr. Dre and David Guetta .

Career

1996–2010: childhood and as Holly Brook

Skylar Gray in an appearance (2011)

Her career began as a child when she and her mother Candy Kreitlow formed the folk duo Generations . This brought out three albums between 1996 and 2002 ( Dream Maker , Lift Me and Millennial Child / Waiting for You ). Gray formed her first band at the age of fifteen and performed in collaboration with jazz musicians such as Jeff Eckles and Leo Sidran.

In 2003 the singer moved to Los Angeles and recorded a demo tape under the name Holly Brook , through which Linkin Park guitarist Brad Delson became aware of her. Then, at the age of 17, she got a recording deal with Machine Shop Recordings . She worked with Mike Shinoda on the Fort Minor single Where'd You Go , which made her known to a larger audience for the first time. She also wrote the song Done with Like by singer Brie Larson with producer Jonathan Ingoldsby . Brook then worked with Ingoldsby on their debut album Like Blood Like Honey , which was released on June 6, 2006. The album was a commercial failure and failed to enter the Billboard Top 100 chart.

Brook then appeared primarily as a guest and background musician. As part of Duncan Sheik's band , she can be heard on his album Whisper House , on the album Butterflies and Elvis by Yohanna she took on a role as a background singer. Brook lost her record deal with Machine Shop Recordings.

In early 2010, Brook played one of the two main characters in the theatrical version of Whisper House . The singer then moved to a hunting lodge in Oregon because she could no longer afford the rent in Los Angeles and she wanted to rediscover her personal connection to music. From a nearby Internet café, Brook got in touch with music producer Alex da Kid , who had been recommended to her by publisher Jennifer Blakeman. This sent her instrumental pieces on which Brook wrote demo recordings and sang. One of these demo songs was the later refrain of the song Love the Way You Lie , which was finally re-recorded and released by Rihanna and Eminem . Brook received a 2011 Grammy nomination for writing both versions of the song.

In July 2010 Holly Brooks released seven songs O'Dark: Thirty EP , produced by Duncan Sheik and Jon Ingoldsby, self-distributed.

From 2011: Skylar Gray

Skylar Gray at a concert (2015)

After the worldwide success of Love The Way You Lie , Brook had offers from several labels. Eventually she decided to take on a recording contract with Kidinakorner and change her stage name. The singer has therefore been working as Skylar Gray since 2011 . This name represents the uncertainty in life. "People seem to be afraid of the unknowns, but I'm the complete opposite. I dive into the unknown because I feel like that's where all your possibilities come from. ”She went on to explain that she chose“ gray ”with an e instead of a because it looked more masculine and she was not a very feminine person.

Since the end of 2010, Gray has also increasingly appeared as a singer. She sang the refrains of the songs Coming Home by Diddy-Dirty Money and I Need a Doctor by Dr. Dre and Eminem . Her biggest performance so far was the live performance of the song with both rappers at the 2011 Grammy Awards . The producer Alex da Kid worked with her on her second solo album Don't Look Down . The first single Invisible was released on August 9, 2011 via iTunes in the USA, but then did not appear on the phonogram. Originally the album should have been called Invinsible and should have been released in 2012, but it was postponed to July 9, 2013. In Do not Look Down Alex served as Kid and the rapper Eminem as executive producers . Her song Coming Home served as the host song for the sports event WrestleMania 29 ( World Wrestling Entertainment ) in 2013 , which she performed live with P. Diddy on April 6th at Metlife Stadium New Jersey. On March 29, 2015, she played her song Rise at WrestleMania 31 , which served as the theme song for the event.

In addition to her singing activity, Skylar Gray is now increasingly working as a songwriter. For example, she was involved in the songwriting of Castle Walls by TI and Christina Aguilera . Gray has built up another mainstay with regular contributions to film soundtracks.

On April 1, 2016, Skylar Gray released a music video for the song Moving Mountains , which is also included on their third album Natural Causes , which was released on September 23, 2016.

Private

Skylar Gray (2015)

When she was a child, Skylar Gray was particularly interested in whales. She often went to Hawaii with her family to see whales. In an interview she said: “Seriously, I think I was a whale in a past life.” (Eng. “Really, I think I was a whale in my previous life” ). Skylar Gray wrote a song for the whales when she was six years old.

When her grandpa passed away, she wrote the song Words . In an interview she said: “I wrote this song about my grandfather who passed away before I had a chance to say goodbye.” (Eng. “I wrote the song about my grandfather who died before I had a chance, goodbye to say. " ).

Influences

Gray named Joni Mitchell , Bob Dylan , Neil Young , Sarah McLachlan and Death Cab for Cutie as people who had a major impact on their artistic creation.

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
2006	Like Blood Like Honey	-	-	-	-	-	First published: June 6, 2006 as Holly Brook
2013	Don't look down	-	-	-	-	US8 (3 weeks) US	First published: July 9, 2013
2016	Natural causes	-	-	-	-	-	First published: September 23, 2016

EPs

• 2005: Holly Brook EP (as Holly Brook)
• 2005: Sony CONNECT Sets (as Holly Brook)
• 2010: O'Dark: Thirty EP (as Holly Brook)
• 2012: The Buried Sessions
• 2013: iTunes Session
• 2019: Angel with Tattoos

Singles

Chart placements

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
2011	Invisible	DE86 (1 week) DE	-	-	UK63 (1 week) UK	-	First published: August 9, 2011

More singles

• 2006: What I Wouldn't Give (as Holly Brook)
• 2006: Wanted (as Holly Brook)
• 2012: C'mon Let Me Ride ( feat.Eminem )
• 2013: Final Warning
• 2013: Wear Me Out
• 2013: White Suburban
• 2014: Coming Home (Part II)
• 2015: Words
• 2015: Cannonball (feat. X Ambassadors )
• 2016: Moving Mountains
• 2016: Off Road
• 2016: Come Up for Air
• 2016: lemonade
• 2019: Shame on You
• 2019: Angel with Tattoos
• 2020: Dark Thoughts

Chart placements as a guest singer

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
2006	Where'd You Go The Rising Tied	DE18 (12 weeks) DE	AT29 (14 weeks) AT	CH62 (4 weeks) CH	-	US4th platinum (20 weeks)US	First published: April 14, 2006 as Holly Brook with Fort Minor and Jonah Matranga
2010	Coming Home Last Train to Paris	DE4th platinum (24 weeks)DE	AT8 (22 weeks) AT	CH1 platinum (32 weeks)CH	UK4th gold (17 weeks)UK	US11 × 2 Double platinum (24 weeks)US	First published: November 21, 2010 with Diddy-Dirty Money
2011	I need a doctor	DE25 (8 weeks) DE	AT38 (13 weeks) AT	CH33 (15 weeks) CH	UK8th platinum (21 weeks)UK	US4th × 2 Double platinum (20 weeks)US	First published: February 1, 2011 with Dr. Dre and Eminem
	Words I Never Said Lasers	-	-	-	-	US89 (1 week) US	First published: February 8, 2011 with Lupe Fiasco
2014	Shot Me Down Lists	DE13 gold (29 weeks)DE	AT9 gold (25 weeks)AT	CH6th gold (18 weeks)CH	UK4th silver (10 weeks)UK	-	First published: February 3, 2014 with David Guetta
	Bed of Lies The Pinkprint	-	-	-	UK73 (2 weeks) UK	US62 (6 weeks) US	First published: November 16, 2014 with Nicki Minaj
2017	Glorious Gemini	DE15 (26 weeks) DE	AT12 (28 weeks) AT	CH17 (36 weeks) CH	UK23 gold (16 weeks)UK	US49 platinum (19 weeks)US	First published: June 15, 2017 with Macklemore
	Tragic Endings Revival	DE77 (1 week) DE	-	-	-	-	First published: December 15, 2017 with Eminem
2020	Leaving Heaven Music to Be Murdered By	-	-	-	-	US61 (1 week) US	Initial release: January 17th, 2020 with Eminem

Further guest contributions

• 2010: Hero 2.0 (with Badassjackson)
• 2012: Room for Happiness (with cascade )
• 2014: New National Anthem (with TI )
• 2016: Beneath with Me (with Kaskade and Deadmau5 )
• 2017: Periscope (with Papa Roach )

Chart positions as a songwriter

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
2010	Love the Way You Lie Recovery	DE1 × 2 Double platinum (43 weeks)DE	AT1 (50 weeks) AT	CH1 × 3 Triple platinum (50 weeks)CH	UK2 × 2 Double platinum (59 weeks)UK	US1 × 2 Diamond + double platinum (29 weeks)US	Eminem feat. Rihanna
2012	Clarity Clarity	DE94 (2 weeks) DE	-	-	UK27 silver (14 weeks)UK	US8th platinum (17 weeks)US	Zedd feat. Foxes
2016	Gangsta Suicide Squad: The Album	-	AT54 (3 weeks) AT	-	UK57 (5 weeks) UK	US41 (12 weeks) US	Kehlani
2017	Walk on Water Revival	DE16 (4 weeks) DE	AT13 (4 weeks) AT	CH5 (10 weeks) CH	UK7th silver (9 weeks)UK	US14 (5 weeks) US	Eminem feat. Beyoncé
	Like Home Revival	DE52 (1 week) DE	-	-	UK84 (2 weeks) UK	-	Eminem feat. Alicia Keys
2018	Right Now single track	DE78 (1 week) DE	-	CH72 (1 week) CH	-	-	Nick Jonas vs. Robin Schulz

Soundtrack contributions

• 2012: Dance Without You (Ricky Luna Remix) ( Step Up Revolution )
• 2012: Building a Monster ( Frankenweenie )
• 2013: Slowly Freaking Out ( The Host )
• 2015: I Know You ( Fifty Shades of Gray )
• 2015: I Will Return ( Fast & Furious 7 )
• 2016: Wreak Havoc ( Suicide Squad: The Album )
• 2018: Everything I Need ( Aquaman )

statistics

Chart evaluation as a singer

DE  AT  CH  UK  US Number one albums DE-DE AT-AT CH-CH UK-UK US-US Top 10 albums DE-DE AT-AT CH-CH UK-UK US1US Albums in the charts DE-DE AT-AT CH-CH UK-UK US1US

DE  AT  CH  UK  US Number one singles DE-DE AT-AT CH1CH UK-UK US-US Top 10 singles DE1DE AT2AT CH2CH UK3UK US2US Singles in the charts DE7thDE AT5AT CH5CH UK6thUK US6thUS

Chart evaluation as a songwriter

DE  AT  CH  UK  US Number one singles DE1DE AT1AT CH1CH UK-UK US1US Top 10 singles DE1DE AT1AT CH2CH UK2UK US2US Singles in the charts DE5DE AT3AT CH3CH UK5UK US4thUS

Awards for music sales

Golden record  Canada 2014: for the single Shot Me Down 2 × platinum record  Canada 2018: for the single Glorious

Note: Awards in countries from the chart tables or chart boxes can be found in these.

Country / Region	silver	gold	platinum	diamond	Sales	swell
Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources)
Germany (BVMI)	-	gold1	3 × platinum3	-	1,050,000	musikindustrie.de
Canada (MC)	-	gold1	2 × platinum2	-	200,000	musiccanada.com
Austria (IFPI)	-	gold1	-	-	15,000	ifpi.at
Switzerland (IFPI)	-	gold1	4 × platinum4th	-	135,000	hitparade.ch
United States (RIAA)	-	-	9 × platinum9	diamond1	19,000,000	riaa.com
United Kingdom (BPI)	3 × silver3	2 × gold2	3 × platinum3	-	3,200,000	bpi.co.uk
All in all	3 × silver3	6 × gold6th	21 × platinum21st	diamond1

Web links

Commons : Skylar Gray  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official website of Skylar Gray
• Skylar Gray in the Internet Movie Database (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Millennial Child / Waiting for You. Amazon.com, accessed February 20, 2013 . 
2. ↑ Skylar Gray - Career, Nature Living, Stalker and more (from 0:02:30) on YouTube
3. ^ Charles McNulty: Theater review: 'Whisper House' at San Diego's Old Globe * . In: The Los Angeles Times , January 24, 2010. Retrieved February 20, 2013. 
4. ^ Dom Jones: Skylar Grey's Songwriting Clinic and her Cabin in the Woods. April 25, 2016. Retrieved February 4, 2017 . 
5. ^ Grammy nomination on Billboard
6. ↑ HOLLY BROOK - O'Dark Thirty
7. ↑ Skylar Gray ( Memento of the original from December 22, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at kidinakorner.com 
8. ↑ Mandi Bierly: Skylar Gray talks penning 'I Need a Doctor,' her name change, and why her upcoming album may have a sound we've never heard before . In: EW . February 24, 2011. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
9. ↑ Skylar Gray: the Beatweek interview with the future of pop music ( Memento of the original from July 31, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. via Beatweek Magazine 
10. ↑ Diddy Dirty Money feat. Skylar Gray - Coming Home on Rap-Up
11. ↑ Guest appearance on I Need a Doctor RollingStone
12. ↑ Work on a second solo album
13. ↑ Invinsible ( Memento of the original from June 12, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
14. ↑ Skylar Gray - Invisible
15. ↑ Don't Look Down on July 9, 2013
16. ↑ Nick Williams: Singer / Songwriter Skylar Gray Reveals Sophomore Album Title & Release Date: Exclusive. August 15, 2016, accessed August 31, 2016 . 
17. ↑ http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/museum/exhibits/toys/musicians.asp
18. ↑ http://www.ew.com/article/2011/02/22/skylar-grey-interview-eminem-dr-dre
19. ↑ http://www.rap-up.com/2011/12/24/exclusive-skylar-grey-to-release-buried-sessions-ep-in-january/
20. ↑ Influences
21. ↑ ^{a b c d} Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US