American singer-songwriter. Her mother, Patricia Rose “Pebe” Sebert, is a singer-songwriter who co-wrote the 1978 single “Old Flames Can’t Hold a Candle to You” with Hugh Moffatt for Joe Sun. Pebe, a single mother, struggled financially while supporting herself, Kesha, and her older brother Lagan; they relied on welfare payments and food stamps to get by. Pebe moved the family to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1991 after securing a new publishing deal for her songwriting. Pebe frequently brought Kesha and her brothers along to recording studios and encouraged Kesha to sing when she noticed Kesha’s vocal talent. In 2005, at 18, Kesha was signed to Dr. Luke’s label, Kemosabe Entertainment, and his music publishing company, Prescription Songs. While furthering her career in studio, Ke$ha earned her living as a waitress. She adopted the dollar sign in her name while struggling to get by as an ironic gesture.
Kesha later sang background vocals for Paris Hilton’s single, “Nothing in This World”. Kesha appeared in the video for her friend, pop singer Katy Perry’s single “I Kissed a Girl”, and sang background vocals for the Dr. Luke-produced song, “Lace and Leather” by pop singer Britney Spears in 2008. Her breakthrough came in early 2009 after appearing on rapper Flo Rida’s number-one single “Right Round”. Her debut album, Animal, and her first extended play, Cannibal, were released in 2010. Kesha’s music and image propelled her to immediate commercial success, with Animal debuting as the number-one album in the United States. She also achieved two number-one singles, “Tik Tok” and “We R Who We R”, and a string of top-ten hits singles from the album and its re-release. At the same time, she continued to write songs for other artists, including “Till the World Ends” for Britney Spears. Warrior, her second studio album, was released in December 2012, spawning Kesha’s eighth top-ten single with “Die Young”. “Tik Tok” is among the best-selling digital singles in history, selling over 14 million units internationally.
Influenced by various genres and artists, Kesha primarily draws inspiration from music of the 1980s; Madonna, Queen, and Beck have been cited as instrumental to her music. After experimenting with country, pop rock, and electronic music, Kesha stuck with the latter. Thematically, her music generally revolves around escapism, partying, individuality, supernatural moments, rebellion, and grief. Kesha has been involved with animal rights and LGBT activism.
In October 2014, Kesha sued producer Dr. Luke for alleged sexual assault and battery, sexual harassment, gender violence, emotional abuse, and violation of California business practices which had occurred over 10 years working together. She claimed that Dr. Luke repeatedly drugged her, had sexual contact with her, with and without her consent, and that his abuse caused her eating disorder. Kesha asked the court to break her contract with Dr. Luke. On February 19, 2016, New York Supreme Court Justice Shirley Kornreich ruled against Kesha’s request for a preliminary injunction that would release her from her contract with Kemosabe Records, a label owned by Lukasz Gottwald, also known as Dr. Luke, under the umbrella of Sony Music Entertainment. The decision was made after the judge told her lawyer, Mark Geragos, that he was essentially “asking the court to decimate a contract that was heavily negotiated and typical for the industry”. According to the defense, Gottwald had already invested $60 million in her career and also offered to allow the singer to fulfill her contract and record without his involvement. The judge also cited what she felt was vagueness in Kesha’s counterclaims, referring to the lack of documentation or hospital records supporting the alleged attack.
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