Kesha bares all and celebrates, ‘First day I’ve owned my voice in 19 years’

Kesha is hinting that new music could be on the horizon with social media posts featuring the artist undressing in nature to signify her newfound freedom.

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“First day I’ve owned my voice in 19 years,” the GRAMMY-nominated pop star wrote on her Instagram story alongside a photo of her glistening as she stands in a stream.

With those nine words, Kesha is referring to the finale of the series of lawsuits spanning almost a decade in which she accused her former producer, Dr. Luke , of multiple abuses, including drugging and raping her in 2005. Dr. Luke denied the allegations and countersued for breach of contract and defamation.

After a lengthy legal battle beginning in 2014, Kesha and Dr. Luke ultimately settled out of court in June of 2023, officially breaking ties that began when an 18-year-old Kesha signed to Dr. Luke’s record label.

Kesha had an explosive start to her career with massive hits, such as “TiK ToK” and “We R Who We R.” However, following her successful beginnings, the singer went on a 5-year hiatus from releasing any albums because she was under contract with Dr. Luke’s label and refused to work with the producer.

Kesha’s hiatus came to an end with her release of the album titled Rainbow, which she worked on with producers other than Dr. Luke. The same was the case for High Road and Gag Order. The latter, which came out just before the settlement, marked Kesha’s final album under her contract with Dr. Luke’s label.

Now that Kesha is free from those contractual obligations, she is celebrating via social media. A video posted to Instagram shows her removing her dress and walking into a stream as her voice can be heard in the background singing the words “I’ve been waiting for you / Everything’s changed now / We haven’t talked for a while.” She also posted a pairing of photos with the caption, “keshaiswaitingforyou.com.” The website promotes Kesha’s various social media pages and features a photo of the artist’s bare back as she faces the darkness of the woods.

If this recent activity is in fact a soft announcement of a new album, the imagery suggests a vulnerable and unrestricted collection of songs.

In addition to the more formal posts, Kesha took to Instagram Live to share a morsel of a new song with fans. As the song played, Kesha was visibly emotional, but she also looked happy and proud as she danced to the beat. Kesha is experiencing autonomy over her own future for the first time in her career, which makes the anticipation of new music all the more exciting.