KE$HA

Kesha Rose Sebert was born in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, March 1, 1987. Her mother, Pebe Sebert, a former punk-rock singer and songwriter, whose career took off in Music City, in the late ’70s, when a song she co-wrote, called “Old Flames Can’t Hold A Candle To You,” became a hit for Joe Sun in 1978 and a country chart-topper for Dolly Parton in 1980.As a single mom, Pebe was going through a bad patch, struggling to support Kesha and her older brother through her music. They were on welfare and food stamps. Pebe told Kesha that if she wanted something, just take it. In 1991, Pebe moved with her kids to Nashville, Tennessee. Kesha attended a music school, she took songwriting classes, and fell in love with country music listening to Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, and Patsy Cline. She was enthralled listening to the beautiful songs and how they all told stories. Her mother would often bring Kesha and her brothers, Lagan and Louis, along to recording studios and let her daughter sing. Pebe taught Kesha how to write songs. Kesha started helping her mother at composing lyrics. “My mom always told me I have a good voice and to practice singing, so I’d sing all the time,” Kesha said.

“I’ve always known I wanted to be a performer,” she says. “There’s video of me at age five, naked and covered in body paint, saying, I’m going to be a rock star and there’s no way anyone is going to stop me! It’s my calling. If I don’t go for it, I’m going to feel like a tool when I’m 50.”

When Kesha turned 17, she quit high school, which was crazy because she was enrolled in an International Baccalaureate program and was going to go to Columbia University and study psychology, but she wanted to move back to L.A. and pursue her music. Those were hard times for Kesha. She was working as a waitress to make ends meet and tried to further her music time in studios. In the beginning, she lived with her father when she first moved back to L.A. but later moved in with a boyfriend. At times, she had to live in car while crashing with friends.

Kesha wanted Prince to produce her music, so she gave $5 to the gardener, to let her squeeze herself under the front gate. Then she hiked up the driveway, which was lined in purple velvet, let herself in through an unlocked side door, and rode the mirrored elevator up to the third floor where Prince was jamming with his band. "It was awkward,” Kesha recalls, “but who cares, right? So I sat on one of the purple thrones in the room until he noticed me. He was like, ‘How the hell did you get in here?’” she says with a laugh. “His security kicked me out, but not before I left him my demo CD wrapped in a giant purple bow.” Prince never called her.

She sang background for Paris Hilton’s single, " Nothing in This World ". Kesha co-wrote The Veronica's single, " This Love" with Toby Gad, sang background vocals for Britney Spear's song, "Lace and Leather" and appeared in the video for Katy Perry’s single, "I Kissed a Girl". Other's she has collaborated with are Kelly Clarkson, 3OH!3, Spank Rock, Pink, Britney Spears and Avril Lavigne.

At that time she was hanging out with Dr. Luke who had been looking for a female artist with an incredible, distinctive voice who had her own style. Dr. Luke knew Kesha didn’t sound like anybody else. He was producing a song for Flo Rida and wanted a female voice in his song, so Kesha was suggested for the part by Dr. Luke. The track, "Right Round" was downloaded more than 636,000 time its first week out. But she is not credited on the song and decided not to take part in the video.

Kesha signed with RCA Records through Dr. Luke and started working on her debut album. On March 27, 2009, she appeared onstage alongside 3OH!3 at a concert at Avalon Hollywood to perform their duet, " My First Kiss ". She made her official stage debut at the 2009, Lollapalooza. Her debut single, " Tik Tok ", had been released digitally in the US in early August, and was sent to radio two months later in October. By then, Kesha had co-written a title song for Miley Cyrus, made appearances on Pitbull and Taio Cruz’s albums, and appeared on the cover of Women’s Wear Daily.

When she first heard her voice on " Right Round " on the radio, she started screaming and crying. “I may seem kind of crazy, but behind it all I have my s**t together. I’m working really hard to make this happen and it’s nice to see that hard work pay off. I mean, three years ago I was stealing canned vegetables from the dollar store to survive. Now I’m on a No. 1 song, working on my album, and have a little change in my pocket and to be able to take my mom out to dinner is the best feeling in the world.”

It is definitely Kesha’s moment. Her party anthem " Tik Tok " sold more downloads in a single week than any female artist in history, hitting number one in five countries. Kesha opened for Calvin Harris in the UK and Mickey Avalon in the US. She performed at Madison Square Garden on December 11, 2009 for the Z100 Jingle Ball.
Her debut album, " Animal ", was released on January 5, 2010. The album sold 152,000 copies in its first week in the US, debuting at number one. " Animal " was seven years in the making, and Kesha had written over two hundred songs before she finally chose the 14 tracks for the album. Kesha’s lyrics are based on her life experiences and are influenced much by the storytelling style of country music and she has expressed interest in releasing a country music album in the future. Kesha wants her music to be fun, unapologetic, rowdy, quirky, humorous, and interesting, but with substance behind it. She's an emotional person underneath all her fronting. She wants people to listen to her music and feel like they can relate.