Skylar Grey was the unsung hero of the Eminem-Rihanna-Dr. Dre collaboration at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday night, singing in the shadows as the Detroit rapper’s performance turned from “Love the Way You Lie” to “I Need A Doctor,” but she loved every minute of it.
“It was amazing,” the Wisconsin-bred singer/songwriter told reporters backstage at the music awards ceremony. “I’ve never played on a stage that big with an audience that vast.”
Still, the pretty brunette said she had no qualms about performing in front of a worldwide audience of millions on the Grammy stage alongside some of music’s elite.
“I wasn’t that nervous, actually,” she said.
Skylar actually wrote Rihanna’s part in “Love The Way You Lie,” and she hinted that her lyrics were inspired by Eminem’s rhymes.
“It was pretty [much] what Eminem wrote his verses about,” she said of the chorus. “Not as extreme, but same concept.”
Skylar also penned the refrain she sang in Dr. Dre’s “I Need A Doctor,” having met both Dre and Eminem through her work with Alex Da Kid. Additionally, she co-wrote Diddy Dirty Money’s current hit, “Coming Home.”
“I wrote the chorus to ‘Love The Way You Lie’ … and then he asked me to come and work on Dr. Dre’s album too,” she explained backstage.
Skylar, a newcomer to the Grammys, explained her background to reporters backstage at the event.
“I was born in Wisconsin and I started performing at age 6, performing with my mom, we had a little duo and I started writing songs with lyrics around 14,” Skylar recounted. “By the time I was 15, I had three independent albums…
“[I] dropped out of high school, moved to LA when I was 17, got a record deal and they didn’t really know what to do with me,” she laughed.
As for her future, now that Skylar’s been exposed to millions, her plans remain the same.
“I’m working on solo material right now with Alex,” she added.
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