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Kesha
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
Kesha Rose Sebert, written Ke$ha until 2014, is an American singer, rapper and songwriter, born in 1987 in Los Angeles. Her mother Pebe Sebert is a singer-songwriter who wrote, among other things, a song that made Dolly Parton famous. In 1991 the family moved to Nashville. As a child Kesha went along to recording studios and wrote songs with her mother. At seventeen she left school when Max Martin persuaded her to return to Los Angeles to make music. She turned down a scholarship to Barnard College.
Music and breakthrough
With Animal (2010) she reached number one in the American album chart, with the singles Tik Tok and Your Love Is My Drug. Warrior (2012) followed with Die Young and later Rainbow (2017), which also reached number one, and High Road (2020). We R Who We R and Timber with Pitbull also reached the top of the Hot 100. Between Warrior and Rainbow her career stood still because of a legal dispute with her former producer Dr. Luke, whom she accused of abuse in 2014. The case was settled out of court in 2023.
Influence
Kesha also wrote songs for others, such as Till the World Ends for Britney Spears, and for Ariana Grande and Miley Cyrus. Billboard ranked her 26th among the best artists of the 2010s. She grew into one of the recognisable pop stars of her time, with a mix of singing and rapping, an idiosyncratic style and lyrics that she writes herself.