Singer-songwriter Skylar Grey, who has helped craft hits like “Love the Way You Lie” by Eminem ft. Rihanna, says she had to sell the rights to her songs to pay for her divorce.
“Since 2017 I was going through a divorce and lawsuit, that was just wrecking me emotionally and financially,” Grey, 36, told Variety. “This past year, 2021, we finally resolved it, settled, I had to sell my catalogue 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.”
Grey’s song catalogue includes “Beauty Marks” by Ciara, “Right Now” by Nick Jonas with Robin Schulz and “Falling in Love Again” by Canada’s Céline Dion.
“They’re still near and dear to my heart and yeah, I will always treasure them,” Grey said of her songs, “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.”
Grey, whose real name is Holly Hafermann, said the majority of what she got for her catalogue went to taxes and her ex-husband.
“It’s like your life’s work, and then suddenly it’s like, ‘Okay, I’ve got to give the majority of this away.’ But that was my only option.”