Ke$ha

RCA recording artist Ke$ha has already had a memorable 2010. Her first single, “Tik Tok,” spent a record nine weeks at number one on the Billboard music charts. This feat for a debut single from a female singer has been unprecedented since 1977 with Debby Boone’s “You Light Up My Life.” Her album, Animal, sold more than 150,000 copies in its first week and shot straight to number one on the Billboard 200.

Kesha Rose Sebert (yes Kesha is her real name!), was born in Los Angeles to an ex-punk rock singer and song writer – Pebe Sebert. Kesha and her two younger brothers relocated to Nashville in 1991 when their mother found a job there. Despite her mother having a full-time job, and writing hits for Joe Sun and Dolly Parton, the family lived off of food stamps and welfare. For some extra cash, her mother answered an ad in the local paper and appeared on Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie’s reality TV show “The Simple Life” in 2005.

Ke$ha even admitted to once having to sell some of her clothes to be able to buy dinner. Even though she has recently come into a lot of money after the success of her debut album, she doesn’t plan on spending it lavishly. She says the reminders of being poor are still so fresh in her memory, not to mention there are so many more worthy outlets for the money.

As for her party-girl image, Ke$ha says, “I'm a walking good time and I talk kind of funny, so people think I'm messed up all the time. I'm not." There is one party she would like to have though, "I'd really like to have a slumber party with Elton John and David Bowie. We could all do each other's makeup; I think we all share an affinity for glitter." The party girl image certainly doesn’t match the 23 year old’s past. She garnered near-perfect SAT scores, was a member of her high school’s marching band, and instead of going out would come home after class to write songs with her mom. At age 17, Ke$ha dropped out of high school when Dr. Luke (Lukasz Gottwald) – a producer who has created hits for Kelly Clarkson, Katy Perry, Britney Spears and Flo Rida – discovered her and urged her to come to Los Angeles.

Ke$ha struggled in Los Angeles for five years working as a waitress and telemarketer while trying to get signed by a label. She even went as far as sneaking into Prince’s home to drop off a copy of her demo! After dropping off the CD wrapped in a purple velvet bow, she was kicked out by Prince himself – and no he never called her back. Her first glimpse of stardom came when she sang the vocal chorus of Flo Rida’s 2009 hit song “Right Round,” although she was never credited for her work, and didn’t receive a penny of the royalties. After the release of this song and her name became more familiar, she was in high demand, signed with RCA and began working on Animal.

She cites musical influences ranging from M.I.A, Flock of Seagulls, and Willie Nelson, to Elton John, the Rolling Stones and U2. One of her best industry friends is pop singer Katy Perry. The two became close living in Los Angeles trying to make it in the recording industry. Ke$ha acknowledges her love for story telling with her country music roots growing up.

And while she could have gone in several very different directions rather than electric pop music, "With this record, I just want to make people happy. I think the whole record is a celebration of fun, youth and life. I want my music to be fun, unapologetic, rowdy, quirky, humorous and interesting,” she says, “but with substance behind it. I’m an emotional person underneath all my fronting. I want people to listen to it and feel like they can relate.” She has writing credit for all 14 of the songs on her debut album and names songwriting as, “the best revenge.”

Ke$ha will be headlining at Lilith Fair this summer, and as for the dramatic eye makeup always seen on her? It was inspired by the film, “A Clockwork Orange.”