Watch Kesha’s Emotional, Star-Studded Delivery of ‘Praying’ of Grammys 2018
Kesha showed her support for the #MeToo movement as she performed “Praying” on the Grammy stage. Camila Cabello, Cyndi Lauper, Julia Michaels, Bebe Rexha and Andra Day joined Kesha to sing her hit comeback song.
Janelle Monae introduced the performance with a nod to the Time’s Up movement that launched around the Golden Globes. After Monae’s rousing speech, Kesha, Cabello, Day, Michaels, Rexha and Lauper dressed all in white in front of a row of similarly white-clad back-up singers. They began with an a cappella take on a few key lines from the song before Kesha stepped forward to sing her hit comeback single. The performance ended with Kesha crying and hugging her fellow vocalists who stood by her side.
Kesha’s public support of #MeToo is particularly poignant after years locked in a legal battle with her former producer Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald and his Sony imprint Kemosabe. Kesha had alleged that the former hit maestro had sexually, verbally and emotionally abused her. A New York judge denied a court injuction that would have allowed her to record new music away from Kemosabe and Sony. Gottwald has since been let go from Kemosabe, and Kesha, still signed to the label, released her first album in five years, Rainbow, last August. Gottwald has denied all charges.
After a career of over a decade, Kesha received her first Grammy nominations this year, including Best Pop Vocal Album. (She lost to Ed Sheeran’s Divide.) Rainbow debuted at Number One on the Billboard 200.
Watch our recap of the best and worst moments of the 2018 Grammy Awards.