Kesha

Born in California in 1987, Kesha Rose Sebert was raised by a single mother who was a successful singer-songwriter in her own right but struggled financially, torn between the demands of her craft and the need to support her family. When the family moved to Nashville, a young Kesha’s out-there persona did not sit well with the conservative surroundings however she used the time productively to work on her music and built her craft.

When she was just 17 she was persuaded to drop out of school and return to California to pursue music by songwriter and producer ‘Dr Luke’ who subsequently signed Kesha to his label and publishing company. Slowly, with Dr Luke's tutorage, Kesha began to write songs for artists and feature as a backing singer but still had to waitress on the side in order to live.

Her first breakthrough came when she sang backing on Flo Rida’s massive hit ‘Right Round’ but, determined to make it on her own terms, she declined featuring in the video or taking any credit for the performance. The appearance did however act as a catalyst for her signing a deal with RCA and finally being able to put the finishing touches to an album that she had already been working on for 6 years.

That album became ‘Animal’ which hit the top of the Billboard charts when it was released in January 2010 birthing the massive single ‘Tik Tok’. Having worked hard to get to that point, Ke$ha wasn’t going to stop there and the success continued with the release of her second album ‘Warrior. To begin with the dollar sign in Ke$ha’s name was an ironic nod to being broke but now everyone knows that it spells success.