Kesha is an American singer, songwriter, and rapper.
Let’s find out some interesting facts about her!
1. Kesha was born March 1, 1987 in Los Angeles, California.
2. 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, made popular by country music artist Dolly Parton on her 1980 album Dolly, Dolly, Dolly.
3. Pebe, a single mother, struggled financially while supporting herself, Kesha, and Kesha’s older brother Lagan; they relied on welfare payments and food stamps to get by.
4. When Kesha was an infant, Pebe would often have to look after her onstage while performing.
5. Kesha says she has no knowledge of her father’s identity, though she has speculated that he may be Mick Jagger.
6. However, a man named Bob Chamberlain who called himself her father approached Star magazine in 2011 with pictures and letters, claiming them as proof that they had been in regular contact as father and daughter before she turned 19.
7. Her mother is of German and Hungarian (from Szentes) descent.
8. One of Kesha’s great-grandfathers was Polish.
9. Pebe moved the family to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1991 after securing a new publishing deal for her songwriting.
10. Pebe frequently brought Kesha and her brothers along to recording studios and encouraged Kesha to sing when she noticed Kesha’s vocal talent.
11. Kesha attended Franklin High School and Brentwood High School, but claimed that she did not fit in, explaining that her unconventional style (e.g., homemade purple velvet pants and purple hair) did not endear her to other students.
12. She played the trumpet and later the saxophone in the marching band in school, and described herself in an interview with NPR as being a diligent student.
13. After attaining a near-perfect score on her SATs, she was offered a full scholarship at Barnard College, but instead chose to drop out before graduation to pursue her music career.
14. In addition to taking songwriting classes, Kesha was also taught how to write songs by Pebe, and they would often write together when she returned home from high school.
15. Kesha began recording demos which Pebe would give to people she knew.
16. Kesha was also in a band with Lagan.
17. Kesha and Pebe co-wrote the song “Stephen” together when Kesha was 16, Kesha then tracked down David Gamson, a producer that she admired, from Scritti Politti who agreed to produce the song.
18. She dropped out of school at 17, after being convinced by Dr. Luke and Max Martin to return to Los Angeles to pursue a music career, and earned her GED after.
19. Around this time, Pebe answered an ad by reality series The Simple Life, looking for an “eccentric” family to host Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. The episode aired in 2005.
20. Luke and Martin had received one of Kesha’s demos from Samantha Cox, senior director of writer/publisher relations at Broadcast Music Incorporated, and were impressed.
21. Two of the demos were described in a cover story for Billboard, the first “a gorgeously sung, self-penned country ballad” and the second “a gobsmackingly awful trip-hop track” where Kesha raps ad lib for a minute when she runs out of lyrics near the end.
22. Dr. Luke stated in an interview for the story that it was the latter track that caught his attention, saying “when you’re listening to 100 CDs, that kind of bravado and chutzpah stand out.”
23. In 2005, at age 18, Kesha was signed to producer Dr. Luke’s label Kemosabe Records.
24. Her breakthrough came in early 2009 after appearing on American rapper Flo Rida’s number-one single “Right Round”.
25. Her debut album, Animal, and her first extended play, Cannibal, were released in 2010.
26. Kesha’s music and image propelled her to immediate commercial success, with Animal debuting as the number-one album in the United States.
27. She also achieved two number-one singles, “Tik Tok” and “We R Who We R”, and a string of top-ten singles from the album and its re-release.
28. At the same time, she continued to write songs for other artists, including “Till the World Ends” for Britney Spears.
29. Warrior, her second studio album, was released in 2012, spawning Kesha’s eighth top-ten single with “Die Young”, and her ninth and tenth Top 40 hits with “C’Mon” and “Crazy Kids”.
30. “Tik Tok” is among the best-selling digital singles in history, selling over 14 million units internationally.
31. Influenced by various genres and artists, Kesha primarily draws inspiration from music of the 1980s; Madonna, Queen, and Beck have all influenced her music.
32. After experimenting with country, pop rock, and electronic music, Kesha stuck with the latter.
33. Thematically, her music generally revolves around escapism, partying, individuality, supernatural moments, rebellion, and grief.
34. Kesha has been involved with animal rights and LGBT activism.
35. She has received several awards and nominations, including her win for MTV Europe Music Award for Best New Act in 2010.
36. As of November 2013, she has reportedly sold over 33 million records (albums, tracks, and ringtones) in the United States and 60 million records worldwide.
37. Her recorded output has been curtailed since 2013 due to a legal dispute with her former producer Dr. Luke, in which a series of lawsuits (known collectively as Kesha v. Dr. Luke) were exchanged between the two parties. Kesha alleged physical and emotional abuse and employment discrimination against Dr. Luke, while Dr. Luke claims breach of contract and defamation against Kesha.
38. Kesha has not released any solo studio recordings during the legal dispute, but has continued to perform live, and has appeared as a guest musician in collaborations with several artists, including Zedd, Ben Folds, and The Flaming Lips.
39. Kesha is a vegetarian and an ordained minister, having been ordained online. She also has performed legal commitment ceremonies for both gay and heterosexual couples.
40. She talked about her sexual orientation with Seventeen magazine in 2013, “I don’t love just men. I love people. It’s not about a gender.” She made a similar statement to Out magazine in 2010, when she confessed to simply “liking people”: “I wouldn’t say I’m gay or straight. I don’t like labeling things anyway.”
41. On January 3, 2014, Kesha checked into Timberline Knolls Residential Treatment Center, a rehab facility in Lemont, Illinois, for eating disorder treatment.
42. Kesha’s mother Pebe Sebert confirmed that the eating disorder Kesha was suffering with is bulimia nervosa and that she had been struggling with it since she was signed.
43. She also alleged that Dr. Luke was partly the cause of Kesha’s eating disorder, saying that Luke had allegedly told her to lose weight after he signed her, comparing the shape of her body to a refrigerator. Sebert asserted that this had caused Kesha’s disorder to worsen.
44. Kesha had completed her treatment on March 6, 2014, after spending two months in rehab.
45. She’s a massive fan of scrapbooks, and admitted that they always lifted her up when she was feeling down.
46. She gave her cousin, Kalan, a prison tattoo of a whale on her foot.
47. She has various tattoos including a skull, crossbone and dollar sign.
48. She was once told by Iggy Pop that she has a “nice pair of pipes”.
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