The legendary singer-songwriter and producer Skylar Grey has announced that she decided to sell her entire musical catalog in order to finance her divorce. The prolific musician was responsible for many hits, including Eminem and Rihanna’s “Love The Way You Lie,” Diddy’s “Coming Home,” and many other tracks from Eminem and other artists.
Skylar Grey offered a statement on the decision to Vanity. Consequence Sound quotes the artist as explaining that “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.” the artist stated. The songwriter went on to note the songs that it was most difficult to part with: “…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.”
However, she is reassured by the fact that selling her rights does not take away from her achievements in writing the music, stating “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…”
Skylar Grey is the latest in a long series of artists who have decided to sell their music catalogues, in whole or in part, to companies for money. Recently, Primary Wave announced that it had bought rights to much of Julian Casablancas’ share of The Strokes’ catalog. Other artists, including Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, have made similar decisions. Consequence Sound notes that unfortunately, the payout Skylar Grey received for this sale was not nearly as large as many of those other famed artists.
Skylar Grey has previously released a song titled “Partly Cloudy With a Chance of Tears,” along with a music video.