Kesha Bares All in First Tease of Post-Dr. Luke Era Music: ‘First Day I’ve Owned My Voice in 19 Years’

Kesha is ready to begin again. The singer who was locked in a battle with former producer/label boss Dr. Luke for nearly a decade over her claims that he raped and emotionally abused her posted a snippet of new music and hinted an her new era in a post on Wednesday (March 6); Luke (born Lukasz Gottwald) has denied the allegations.

“First day I’ve owned my own voice in 19 years. Welcome,” Kesha tweeted, later sharing a 42-second snippet of an emotional, ethereal new song in which she sings, “I’ve been waiting for you/ Everything’s changed now/ We haven’t talked for a while,” accompanied by a video in which the singer strips off her white slip and wades naked into a stream. She also posted what appeared to be an album cover shot and launched a new website, keshaiswaitingforyou.com, which at press time only featured a link to her social media accounts and a nude image of the singer’s back in a nighttime desert landscape.

In an Instagram live, Kesha, 42, smiled, cried and danced along to an upbeat new song that featured her signature confessional lyrics.

The new music would be the follow-up to last year’s Gag Order album, which was her final under contract to Luke’s Kemosabe label. Kesha sued Luke in 2014 over allegations that he’d sexually and emotionally abused her — including a claim that he allegedly drugged and raped her at a 2005 party — which he denied; that action led to a countersuit from Luke claiming breach of contract and defamation, with the latter action settled before a planned June 2023 trial.

In a December TikTok, Kesha shared a video of her running into the ocean with the caption, “I haven’t felt this free since I was 18,” followed by a post in January, in which she promised fans “new music coming soon!” The message was written on a cardboard box she was seen holding in a 7-Eleven parking lot in Los Angeles. At press time no additional information was available on the name or release date of the singer’s sixth album.

Check out Kesha’s new era announcements below.