Skylar Grey has been part of some of the biggest songs of the past two decades: She sang and/or co-wrote Eminem and Rihanna’s “Love The Way You Lie,” Diddy’s “Coming Home,” Fort Minor’s “Where’d You Go” (as Holly Brook), and Zedd and Foxes’ “Clarity” (which Grey co-wrote but did not sing on). Now, though, she has no legal ownership over those songs: In a recent interview, Grey revealed she had to sell the rights to her catalogue due to a long and draining divorce.
Grey told Variety:
“Since 2017, I was going through a divorce and lawsuit that was just wrecking me emotionally and financially. This past year, 2021, we finally resolved it, settled. I had to sell my catalog in order to afford the settlement, which was very sad in a way, because those songs, like ‘Love The Way You Lie’ and ‘Coming Home,’ those are my babies. But at the same time, nobody can tell me I didn’t write those songs just ’cause I don’t own the rights to them anymore. I didn’t want to sell them, but it was my only way to put the past behind me.”
She added of the songs, “They’re still near and dear to my heart and yeah, I will always treasure them, but it’s different now. Every time one of those songs get used in a movie or whatever, I don’t see any of that money anymore. But unfortunately, the majority of what I got paid for my catalog went to taxes and my ex-husband [laughs]. It’s like your life’s work, and then suddenly it’s like, ‘OK, I’ve got to give the majority of this away.’ But that was my only option. Luckily, I had the option of doing something like that, otherwise I may not have gotten out of the case.”
Read the full interview here.
