Where Is Kesha Now After Health Diagnosis? See Career and Life Updates After Stardom

When anyone thinks of music hits from the 2010s, they automatically remember the hit singles “TiK ToK,” “Die Young,” “Timber” and more by Kesha. After the Los Angeles native took a break from the spotlight for a while, she gradually returned to the stage and even opened up about her personal life, health and career. So, where is Kesha now? 

Keep reading to get an update on how Kesha is doing today. 

How Did Kesha Become Famous? 

Before she became one of the most recognizable names in music, Kesha signed to work with a Sony Music Entertainment record company called Kemosabe Records in the early 2000s. Later, she collaborated with DAS Communications Inc. in 2006 and helped create other artists’ songs while simultaneously working as a waitress to financially support herself. 

While still trying to make ends meet, the pop star began stylizing her name as “Ke$ha.” 

By 2008, the “We R Who We R” singer worked with Katy Perry for her “I Kissed a Girl” music video. One year later, Kesha signed with RCA Records and released an album with more than 200 songs that she had written over the years, including “TiK ToK,” which catapulted her to worldwide fame.  

What Happened to Kesha? 

In 2014, the Grammy Award nominee checked into a rehabilitation facility to manage her eating disorder, which she opened up about in an interview with Teen Vogue at the time. 

“My eating disorder is something I’ve been struggling with for a while,” she admitted. “I went to rehab for an eating disorder — nothing more and nothing less. Making my last record, Warrior, was a pretty miserable process, and it wore my spirit down. I was fighting like hell to keep my whole irreverent essence and everything raw and visceral that I stand for in it, but in the end, I was promoting something that wasn’t the animal I wanted it to be.”

Later that year, Kesha sued music producer and Kemosabe Records owner Dr. Luke (real name: Lukasz Sebastian Gottwald), making allegations of sexual assault, battery and harassment, emotional abuse and gender violence against him. She claimed that he drugged and raped her on two separate occasions, threatened her and her family and called her several derogatory names. Kesha then sought to be released from Kemosabe Records through a preliminary injunction. 

In 2016, the lawsuit was dropped after a New York Supreme Court judge dismissed the case. 

“While Kesha’s [claim] alleges that she was sexually, physically and verbally abused by Gottwald for a decade, she describes only two specific instances of physical/sexual abuse,” the judge reportedly said after dismissing the case. “And the most recent event described was alleged to have happened in 2008, and so falls outside of the statute of limitations.”

In 2020, a judge reportedly ruled that Kesha had defamed Dr. Luke and declared that he was not a public figure, which he meant he could prove defamation easier. Nearly three years later, however, a New York Court of Appeals judge ruled that he was a public figure and a trial had been scheduled to take place on July 19, 2023.
Just weeks before the trial was set to begin, Kesha and Dr. Luke settled their full defamation lawsuit out of court and announced the news in a joint statement.

“Only God knows what happened that night,” Kesha wrote, referring to the alleged sexual assault she accused him of. “As I have always said, I cannot recount everything that happened. I am looking forward to closing the door on this chapter of my life and beginning a new one. I wish nothing but peace to all parties involved.”

For the music producer’s part, Dr. Luke wrote, “While I appreciate Kesha again acknowledging that she cannot recount what happened that night in 2005, I am absolutely certain that nothing happened. I never drugged or assaulted her and would never do that to anyone. For the sake of my family, I have vigorously fought to clear my name for nearly 10 years. It is time for me to put this difficult matter behind me and move on with my life. I wish Kesha well.”

Where Is Kesha Now? 

In 2017, Kesha released her emotional ballad “Praying,” which was seemingly inspired by her court case against Dr. Luke. She then embarked on her “Rainbow Tour” from 2017 through 2019. 

Afterward, the “Raising Hell” singer explored other business ventures and opportunities, including hosting the cruise Kesha’s Weird and Wonderful Rainbow Ride in 2019. 

The following year amid the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kesha created her podcast, “Kesha and the Creepies,” which focused on supernatural themes. By 2022, she released her Discovery+ series Conjuring Kesha, which features her and a few friends investigating paranormal locations.  

In 2023, Kesha introduced new music for her album Gag Order, which was released in May 2023. 

While speaking with Self magazine in June 2023, the “Your Love Is My Drug” singer explained how she approached creating new music for her fans. 

“It’s a really exciting time to feel like people can look at the art I’ve made and really see my different phases of life, and a complete look at who I am,” Kesha told the outlet. “With this album, it was the first time I shed real light on subjects that, previously, I was too nervous to [talk about]. I didn’t want to bring people down — I really like to make people move their energy and dance and be happy. But I was doing myself a disservice as an artist to just placate what I felt like people wanted from me. I had to shed light on the darker sides of what happens in my mind. This was me saying, ‘Yeah, I’ve had this self-imposed, implied gag order since I can remember, ’cause I’m still in litigation.’”

Does Kesha Have a Health Issue? 

Apart from battling an eating disorder in the past, Kesha revealed that she was diagnosed in 2022 with common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) — a primary immunodeficiency disease that causes a higher risk of contracting various infections — during her 2023 interview with Self. 

As for the reason why she didn’t reveal the diagnosis earlier, the “Blah Blah Blah” singer noted she “just never wanted to be the whiny, privileged girl.” 

According to her interview, Kesha stepped down from performing and making public appearances to focus on her health. 

“I learned after my diagnosis that sleep is the most important thing,” she admitted. “I took that for granted for, God, about 29, 30 years. I feel like I’m just playing catchup on my teens and 20s still. But I try to get as much sleep as possible, and I have to protect that fiercely.”