It appears some new artists get all the breaks, right? Like, why does an act like Skylar Grey have the chance to be on songs with Dr. Dre, Eminem and Diddy out the gate? While she seems fresh on the scene, Grey is an industry vet and it looks like her solo career is finally about to take off.

Grey (born with the decidedly more boring name Holly Brook Hafermann in the even more boring town of Mazomanie, Wisconsin) released her official debut single “Invisible” yesterday via a snazzy Ryan Seacrest interview and premiere on KIIS FM (a buzz single, “Dance Without You,” dropped a few weeks earlier). She’s currently working on her second album with producer Alex Da Kid (her first, Like Blood Like Honey, came out to little fanfare in 2006) titled Invisible also. As the main writer behind Em’s mega hit “Love The Way You Lie” with Rihanna, Grey, so far, has worked with Fort Minor (“Where’d You Go” and “Be Somebody”) Diddy & Dirty Money (“Coming Home”), Dr. Dre (“I Need A Doctor”) and Lupe Fiasco (“Words I Never Said”). Last year Grey released a haunting EP called O’Dark: Thirty under her original stage name Holly Brook, produced by Duncan Sheik and Jon Ingoldsby.

Her singing career began as a child, where she performed in a folk duo with her mother called Generations (they independently released three albums). She started her first band at the age of fifteen after “sneaking” into bars and cites folk icons Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan as major influences on her style.

Listen to “Invisible” below:
Skylar Grey “Invisible”

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