THE MUSE OF FREEDOM

Kesha was fresh-faced, radiant, and relaxed, lounging on a downy-soft pillow-filled bed in Belgium when she sat down with Inked for a long-distance video chat. Although she just finished a strenuous workout, she was beaming, seemingly invigorated, as if she hadn’t just spent the previous month continuously performing for her The Tits Out Tour and traveling around and across continents to promote “.” — or, “Period,” for simplicity’s sake — her first album under her independent record label, Kesha Records.

“I haven’t toured Europe in a while — it’s been too long,” Kesha said. “And it’s just so wonderful to be back, and I just feel like it’s so full circle in this really beautiful way. It just feels so good.”

The Tits Out Tour kicked off on July 1, 2025, at a sold-out show in West Valley City, Utah. At showtime, the strobe lights flashed as Kesha began to slowly materialize through a veil of haze, a doppelganger mannequin head of her likeness in her hands, and yelled, “Salt Lake City! Are you ready for freedom? We do not stand abuse in my house, so put your middle fingers up. You know what to do!”

The crowd was ready, almost predicting her opening song, “TiK ToK.” Kesha rewrote the opening lyric referencing Sean “Diddy” Combs, who was once revered but is currently serving prison time for prostitution-related charges. “In times like these, (the lyric change) stands for a lot,” Kesha said, and 16 years since the hit song was released, “I (still) absolutely love singing that song. That was the first song that connected me to a lot of these people, and I’ll forever be grateful for that.”

“TiK ToK” started as her introduction to the world as an independent artist and has become somewhat of an anthem that evolves with Kesha and her Animals, fans who have remained faithful through every rotation.

“My intention on this tour is to reconnect with myself and my fans as a free woman, and also really inspire people to feel love for themselves and feel the community of a loving, safe space. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do,” Kesha said. “I’ve been doing this for a long time, and this is the first time I can say I’m in control of everything about my career.”

Kesha is devoted to her fans, the people who identify with her, and who laid the bricks that helped build the Kesha empire. “They have been absolutely the love of my life and stood beside me through many beautiful things and then some very excruciating moments in my life, and my fans have been there through everything,” she said. “I wanted this era to be for us.”

All In, All Together

In 2025, Kesha took her Tits Out Tour across the United States through September 2025, and included a sold-out show at Madison Square Garden, her first time headlining at the famed arena.

The last time Kesha performed on the MSG stage was in 2018 at the Grammy Awards during the “Me Too” movement, when she delivered a profound rendition of “Praying” that critics called “emotional” and “powerful.” But when the MSG arena lights shone down on her on July 23, 2025, the vibe was different.

“To have this return to the stage that had stood for so much and felt so heavy many years ago now felt so exciting and so playful. That energetic shift was really interesting. It just meant a lot to me,” Kesha said, adding, “Cassie Ventura sent me these beautiful flowers, and my fans ended up giving me an 11-minute standing ovation after I sang ‘Praying,’ which, quite frankly, was one of the most beautiful moments in my life.”

This night inspired “Freedom,” a documentary that Kesha is working on that highlights that night’s performance and includes “intimate behind-the-scenes footage that breathes life into the story.” “Some of the footage is documenting the whole tour. Some of it goes back even further to when I gave my TED Talk. And some of it’s even older. So it really is about that night,” she said. “It’s about my show, but it stands for a lot more than that for me.”

The Tits Out Tour resumed in 2026, rerouting to Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe, and on March 23, 2026, the artist announced that she will hit the road yet again for her aptly-named The Freedom Tour, starting on May 23, 2026, at the North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre in Chula Vista, California.

“I’ve lived through the fire,” Kesha shared in The Freedom Tour press release. “This tour is about what comes after. Freedom isn’t just leaving something behind — it’s discovering that what you have lived through has made you magnificently into who you are.”

In between tour performances, Kesha doesn’t slow down. She has been putting the final touches on her documentary, rocking at big-name festivals, and creating new music, which she plans to release later this year.

After her show in Brazil this past January, the songwriter went to an afterparty, where she landed behind the DJ booth, rousing the crowd. “I had the whole club singing along with me,” Kesha said. “So, I’m just really excited to make this album in a way that’s very much my own. I might throw the Sao Paulo after-hours vocals in the track and have it feature Sao Paulo. I want to make this album uniquely, and I want it to feel like community in what I’m making as well.”

These shared experiences are lifelong mementos, opportunities to connect and grow. Kesha is carrying these moments with her to the studio, creating new music that her fans can identify with.

“It’s weird — I don’t ever stop, because I feel like the muse is with me right now. It’s just a really exciting time in my life right now,” Kesha said. “I’m rebuilding my career and claiming my sovereignty. It doesn’t feel like work; it feels like purpose, and I’m absolutely obsessed and slightly addicted to just feeling more and more free. And chasing the muse and feeling inspired and loving myself and loving others and making music — all of this is so exciting.”

Marked by the Moment

“I feel like my tattoos are a roadmap of my life,” Kesha explained. “And it’s really interesting because there are definitely some that I don’t like, and I certainly didn’t need to permanently ink them on my body. But I also look at all of them, even the ones that aren’t my favorite, with so much fondness because I usually get tattoos when I’m having a really wonderful, monumental night that I want to remember forever.”

Her most recent tattoo was inked in 2024 at her friend Kyle Richards’ home, where Kesha forever memorialized “JOYRIDE.” on her arm with a tattoo of the song title. “That was my first song that I got put out on Kesha Records, where I had the rights to my own voice, and it meant a lot to me.”

Kesha looks to a trifecta of the most celebrated names in music to help guide her through her life story, including Iggy Pop, whom she commemorated in ink with his “Raw Power” album. “I’m never going to be a sellout, and that’s because I grew up listening to Iggy Pop,” she shared of her connection to the “Godfather of Punk.” “I’m always going to be true to how weird I am because I listen to David Bowie. And I always want to keep my heart open. That’s Dolly Parton.”

Kesha’s mother, singer-songwriter Pebe Sebert, wrote the 1978 hit “Old Flames (Can’t Hold a Candle to You),” which Parton covered in 1980 for her “Dolly Dolly Dolly” studio album. In 2017, this connection carried forward when Kesha collaborated with Parton to cover what could be called her mother’s crowning achievement.

“It’s so beautiful, so full circle, to have my mom be an iconic songwriter in her own right,” she shared. “And to do this standard song with one of the most iconic women in music, and then to actually be able to do a duet to my mom’s song with Dolly Parton — that’s an insane sentence. Like, what a crazy life I’ve had. It feels really beautiful.”

From her iconic “SUCK IT!” lip tattoo to the large-scale tiger on her ribcage, to paying homage to her fanbase and debut album with the word “ANIMAL” imprinted on her foot, Kesha’s portfolio of tattoo art is abundant.

“I got this tattoo — stick and poke — from my friend Jules the night I was leaving for my very first tour ever, and I got this lovely dead fish tattoo,” she said, laughing, while pointing to her right arm. Pointing to a fish skeleton on her right wrist, she said, “I have a matching one with Bob the Drag Queen and Big Freedia from when I was on the Kesha cruise (in 2019). We just had the most beautiful night, and I was out at sea with thousands of my fans. I love thinking about, even if some of them are just really kind of silly, they still make me happy.”

“To have this return to the stage that had stood for so much and felt so heavy many years ago now felt so exciting and so playful.”

From Breakthrough to Belonging

Kesha’s major break into the music scene came in 2009, when she was a guest vocalist in Flo Rida’s single “Right Round,” a number one Billboard Hot 100 song for six consecutive weeks. But Kesha came roaring into the music spotlight as a solo artist soon afterward with her 2010 album “Animal,” debuting at number one on the Billboard 200.

Kesha bloomed from her “Blah Blah Blah” days into a global “BOY CRAZY” icon, earning two number one albums, four number one songs on top 40 radio, and tens of millions of followers on social media and beyond. She’s flourishing and evolving, taking back control of her voice, but remains the same unapologetic, fierce, fun-loving, community-focused woman she’s always been. It’s a new chapter of freedom, love, and a deeper sense of purpose: her fans.

“I think it just boils down to, I’m really proud of myself,” Kesha said. “And I’m excited to share my story, whether it’s on stage in my tour, or in the documentary, or little moments of myself in songs. It just feels so different now that I’m in control of myself.”