Kesha is being blocked from putting out any music since she’s locked in a fucked up and never-ending lawsuit with Dr. Luke, her longtime producer, holder of her record contract, and accused rapist. That means that no matter how much she’d like to record and release a new album, and no matter how often she says she doesn’t want to work with her abuser anymore, he’s still not going to let her out of her contract (though apparently at one time there was the offer of an out, if only she’d recant her accusations against him). Anyhoo, one thing Kesha WAS allowed to do (though not at first) was perform at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards, and she did just that, earning a standing ovation for her emotional performance.
She performed a cover of Bob Dylan’s “It Ain’t Me, Babe” and brought the house down. While part of it was because the song was so good, it was also just incredibly sad and yet also empowering and hopeful. The below video might be ripped down by the time you see it, but I’ll try to update it with a new one if that happens:
Originally, it seemed that Dr. Luke was going to continue to be an asshole about Kesha when his label tried to block the performance. This was the statement they released last week when it seemed like the performance might not happen:
“Kesha accepted an invitation to perform on the show and she received written approval from Dr. Luke’s record label, Kemosabe Records.
“Kemosabe subsequently rescinded its approval following a media report on Wednesday, May 11 regarding Kesha’s appearance on the BBMAs. Unfortunately, Kesha and Kemosabe have since been unable to come to an agreement for Kesha to perform on the show,” the statement continues. “Dick Clark productions has a long standing relationship with Kesha. We hope that the parties can come to an arrangement such that we can continue that long standing relationship with a performance by Kesha on the Billboard Music Awards stage on May 22,” DCP added.
Thank god it got worked out (probably because there was such outrage over this and they felt they had to cave, but no matter) and hopefully she’ll be out of that damn contract sooner rather than later, too.