Kesha HOW I FOUND MYSELF AGAIN

SHE'S SURVIVED MENTAL HEALTH STRUGGLES, A BITTER LEGAL BATTLE AND 15 YEARS OF POP STARDOM. NOW AT PEACE WITH HER PAST, KESHA'S IN CONTROL

- By JACK IRVIN

Kesha discovered art’s healing properties at a young age. Raised by songwriter and single mom Pebe Sebert, Kesha didn't have much—but the family had music. “When I was little, we were on food stamps,” says the pop star, 38. “I remember thinking, ‘What makes people really happy when they’re having a hard time? Happy songs do that.’”

That lesson continues to ring true. Music carried Kesha through battles with disordered eating, anxiety and depression—and an emotional, nearly 10-year legal battle with producer Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald, whom she unsuccessfully sued for sexual assault and more; he countersued for defamation, they settled in 2023, and her contract with Sony Music later ended. Now she’s releasing a new album, [Period], and returning to the proudly sleazy dance-pop that fans first fell in love with when she broke out with “TiK ToK” in 2009. “I just had to realize I am the girl I’ve always been,” says Kesha.

You’re free from old contracts and executives now and releasing music independently on your own label, Kesha Records. How does that feel?

It makes me really emotional. I have a phone alert that says, “You are free. Are you following your joy?” For so many years I couldn’t say that [I was]. Now I’m reteaching my body how to be a free woman, dance like a free woman, sing like a free woman.