Holly Brook

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Biography

Holly Brook Hafermann (born February 23, 1986) better known by her stage name Skylar Grey , is a 5-time Grammy -nominated American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Grey was signed to Machine Shop Recordings under the name Holly Brook. She released her debut album as Holly Brook, Like Blood Like Honey , in 2006. She co-wrote the three versions of " Love the Way You Lie " with Alex da Kid , who signed her to his Wonderland Music label. She was featured as a guest vocalist on Fort Minor 's " Where'd You Go (Fort Minor song)|Where'd You Go " and "Be Somebody", Diddy-Dirty Money 's " Coming Home (Diddy-Dirty Money song)|Coming Home ", Dr. Dre 's " I Need a Doctor " and Lupe Fiasco 's " Words I Never Said ".

Life and career

2001–2010: Early life and career beginnings

Grey performed professionally as a child in a folk duo with her mother called Generations.Samara Kalk, , Wisconsin State Journal , December 27, 2001. Together, (with producer/engineer Randy Green) they independently produced three albums, Dream Maker , Lift Me , and Millennial Child/Waiting For You . Grey started her first band at the age of fifteen after 'sneaking' into bars, working with jazz musicians including Jeff Eckles, Tim Whalen and Leo Sidran in Madison, Wisconsin.

In 2003, Grey moved to Los Angeles and recorded a demo as Holly Brook , which would be her stage name for several years. This demo led to her being signed in the fall of 2004 by Linkin Park guitarist Brad Delson to the band's vanity label , Machine Shop Recordings; she was 18 years old. Her voice is featured on the Fort Minor songs " Where'd You Go (Fort Minor song)|Where'd You Go " and "Be Somebody". Working with producer Jonathan Ingoldsby, Brook released her debut album, Like Blood Like Honey , on June 6, 2006. She landed opening spots for tours with Jamie Cullum , KD Lang , Daniel Powter , Teddy Geiger and Duncan Sheik .

In 2010, Brook lent both her song "It's Raining Again" and her image to a promotional campaign for Ciao Water. Prior to this, she has appeared on albums by other artists, including Brie Larson 's Finally Out of P.E. , and Fort Minor 's The Rising Tied . Brook has toured with as part of Duncan Sheik 's band, and appears heavily on his 2009 album Whisper House . At the beginning in 2010 she also performed in the theatrical version of "Whisper House," playing one of the two lead ghost vocalists along with David Poe. Also in 2010, she self-released the seven-song O’Dark:Thirty EP , produced by Duncan Sheik and Jon Ingoldsby. In 2009, Brook appeared as a backing vocalist on Eurovision contestant, Yohanna 's debut album, Butterflies and Elvis .

2011: Invinsible

Brook later changed her name to Skylar Grey. She explained that “it represents the unknowns 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 explained to Beatweek that she chose "grey" with an e rather than an a because “I like to do things the original way" and because "it’s more masculine. I’m not a very feminine person." via Beatweek Magazine

She was still living in Oregon and had no recognition as Skylar Grey. Grey went to New York to meet her publisher, Jennifer Blakeman , who played Grey the song " Airplanes (song)|Airplanes " by B.O.B and Hayley Williams which was produced by Alex da Kid. Grey liked what she heard so Blakeman introduced them via e-mail. Alex da Kid sent Grey a few tracks he had been working on and the first song she wrote was "Love The Way You Lie".

Producer Alex da Kid signed her to a production deal on his KIDinaKORNER imprint. via Billboard She wrote the hook to all three versions of " Love the Way You Lie " by rapper Eminem and Rihanna as well as all of the lyrics and melody to versions II and III of the song. She can be heard performing the demo for all versions of the song. Grey earned a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year for her writing contributions to "Love the Way You Lie". via Billboard She also co-wrote Diddy-Dirty Money's "Coming Home", via Rap-Up along with " Castle Walls " by T.I. and Christina Aguilera . via Rap-Up On March 10, 2011, Diddy-Dirty Money performed the single "Coming Home" with Grey and Dirty Money vocalists, Dawn Richard and Kalenna Harper, live on American Idol .

She is also a writer and featured guest on "I Need a Doctor". via RollingStone Grey is also featured on Lupe Fiasco's third studio album Lasers (album)|Lasers , on the second single, "Words I Never Said" and was also featured in the live performance of the song, with Lupe, on The Colbert Report on May 9, 2011. Grey made her live performance debut under her new alias during the 53rd Grammy Awards , performing "I Need a Doctor" alongside Eminem and Dr. Dre. She is currently working on her solo studio album Invinsible (Skylar Grey album)|Invinsible with Alex Da Kid. She has signed to Interscope Records through Da Kid's KIDinaKORNER, and her first promotional buzz single "Dance Without You" was released on June 6, 2011, with the official music video being released on July 5. The first official single "Invisible" was released to radio on June 16. On July 9, 2011, Grey performed live at the World Peace Event in Washington, DC, appearing along with the 14th Dalai Lama .
On 6 August, she performed at the 20th Lollapalooza festival as both a solo artist and with Eminem during the song "I Need A Doctor". The next day, while passing by the area where YouTube sensation Karmin (band)|Karmin was recording their cover of "I Need A Doctor," Grey joined the duo for an impromptu performance. She performed alongside rapper Eli Porter on the September 20, 2011 episode of Tosh.0 .

Grey also featured on Kaskade 's 2011 album Fire & Ice (Kaskade album)|Fire & Ice , writing and singing on two versions of the song "Room For Happiness".

Influences

Grey has listed Joni Mitchell , Marilyn Manson , Bob Dylan , Neil Young , Sarah McLachlan and Death Cab for Cutie as her influences.

Discography

Like Blood Like Honey (2006)

The Buried Sessions of Skylar Grey (2012)

Invinsible (album)|Invinsible (2012)

Copyright Citations

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