Kesha Is Here For All The Pop Girls Dominating The Music Industry

In Elite Daily’s series Early Influences, musicians reflect on the songs and albums that left a lasting impression on them in their formative years. Here, Kesha reveals the artists she looked up to early in her career and new ones she’s discovered more recently.

Kesha is making a comeback, and fans couldn’t be more excited. At Spotify’s 2024 Wrapped Universe event Dec. 5 in Los Angeles, the 37-year-old singer took to the stage to perform iconic bops and new tracks before a massive, enthusiastic crowd.

In September, she announced her own label, Kesha Records, and said, “I am excited to take control of my narrative and rewrite my story in the music business.” As part of this new chapter, Kesha is working on an album to release in 2025.

She has plans to play some shows in the new year, but nothing has been announced yet. “You can keep a little eye out,” Kesha tells Elite Daily before her set at Spotify’s party. Another thing she’s manifesting in 2025? A rich man to pay the bills, which would make her job easier. “I can just make bangers and go on the yacht with my sugar daddy,” she says.

For now, she’s taking pride in the fact that women dominated the top artists of the year on Spotify. “We are mother, so I love seeing women be empowered. The world doesn’t want us that way, because when we’re in our power, we realize how f*cking important we are,” Kesha says. It’s a movement she can get behind. “Seeing all the pop girls running sh*t is so c*nty, and I’m here for it.”

As far as her own top artists this year, Kesha had a mix of Nina Simone, Charli XCX, and herself. “To be honest, I was at the top of the list,” she says. She also had meditation in her yearly recap, which she says helps her to “sleep so that I can wake up and f*cking rule the world.”

Other artists on Kesha’s rotation include icons she’s followed for years. Below, she dishes on these artists who’ve inspired her.

Dolly Parton

Kesha has a unique connection to her OG early influence, Dolly Parton. “The first song I ever heard was the song that my mom wrote for her called ‘Old Flames Can’t Hold a Candle to You,’” she says. (Kesha’s mom, Pebe Sebert, is a songwriter who’s even co-written tracks for her daughter, like “Timber” and “Your Love Is My Drug.”) Kesha later recorded “Old Flames” featuring Parton for her 2017 album Rainbow.

My first memory of Dolly Parton was at the chiropractor.

In addition to writing songs for her, Kesha’s mom went to the same chiropractor as the “Jolene” singer. “My first memory of Dolly Parton was at the chiropractor,” the pop star says. “But I remember seeing 9 to 5 when I was young; it was very influential in my life.”

After growing up with Parton, Kesha says the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee has always influenced her musical taste. “My sound has the quintessential country chords. It’s the basis of all of my songs, even though my songs are not technically country,” she says. “I grew up in Nashville around country music, so those chord progressions influenced me. Also, the storytelling, knowing that a song has to be about something. You’re telling a story.”

Kesha’s most recent single, “Delusional,” is proof of that — she wrote it about her “sh*thead ex-boyfriend.” “I wanted to make a banger out of that hot mess of a relationship,” she says.

Iggy Pop

Kesha has also worked with another of her musical heroes, Iggy Pop. “It was one of the coolest experiences I’ve ever had,” she says. “He started making frog noises and I was like, ‘Oh, my God, he’s so strange, and it’s so good.’ It opened my eyes up that anything and everything is music.”

Don’t meet your heroes, but meet Iggy Pop.

The two recorded “Dirty Love” for Kesha’s second studio album, Warrior. Seeing Iggy Pop defy typical rules inspired Kesha early in her career, and it helped her middle school self discover her vibe. “The first time I heard Iggy Pop, I was trying to find my people, and I didn’t really fit in with all the normies,” she says. “Then I heard him and thought, ‘Oh, this makes more sense.’” Her favorite song of his is “Nightclubbing.” (“It’s just really sexy and cool.”)

The Brat collaborator is still taking inspo from Iggy Pop in her next musical chapter. “He inspires everything I do and my attitude. He’s so sweet, and I love when people who are really bad*ss are really nice,” she says. “Don’t meet your heroes, but meet Iggy Pop.”

Amyl And The Sniffers

Kesha’s most recent addition to her list of musical role models is the rock band Amyl and the Sniffers. “I heard their song ‘Guided by Angels,’ and it just hit me,” she says. “It’s such a beautiful song, and it felt almost divinely inspired.”

She got to meet lead singer Amy Taylor while attending a Foo Fighters show, where Amyl and the Sniffers were the opening act. (“She’s just so cool.”)

While Amyl and the Sniffers aren’t directly influencing Kesha’s new sound, she says she and Taylor are friends now, and seeing her succeed is more inspiring than anything.