FADER PREMIERE
One of last year's biggest songs was a skeletal, bittersweet piano duet between Rihanna and Louisiana-born Mikky Ekko, the kind of mournful, indelible crowd-pleaser that makes you feel really sad and really happy at the same time. Ekko, who co-wrote "Stay" in 2012, recently shared his original, solo version of the ballad, and it's gut-wrenching in its own right. "He wrote an amazing song…that's one of my favorite songs I've ever sang and performed," Rihanna told MTV in an interview before last night's Grammy's, where "Stay" was up for a Best Duo/Group Performance award (the trophy went to "Get Lucky"). Here, Ekko's version is paired up with a simple, vaguely trippy video directed by Dylan Knight, who emphasizes the demo's tragic sweetness with unfocused close-ups and heaps of natural light.
