Praying about Kesha’s Grammy performance

Well known for her hit songs “Tik Tok” or “Timber,” Kesha gave a powerful performance at the Grammy’s of her new single “Praying.” On stage with singers like Cyndi Lauper, Camila Cabello, Andra Day, Julia Michaels, Bebe Rexha as well the Resistance Revival Chorus, these women joined together in their all white regalia in support of the #MeToo movement.

The term ‘Me Too’ was originally coined in 2006 by Tarana Burke as a phrase to empower women, especially those who had been sexually harassed or assaulted. In mid-October, actress Alyssa Milano sent out a tweet encouraging those who have been sexually assaulted to forward the tweet in support of others.

This is relevant to Kesha’s performance due to a lawsuit between herself and her producer, Dr. Luke. Her accusations against him included that he drugged her, as well as both sexually and emotionally abused her. In 2014, Kesha filed a lawsuit against the man in hopes of breaking her contract with Kemosabe Records so she could produce music elsewhere. Shortly afterwards, Dr. Luke filed a counter-lawsuit against Kesha claiming her allegations were defamation in an extreme form of contract negotiation. In February 2016, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Dr. Luke, causing outrage among Kesha supporters.

However, Dr. Luke’s attorney said that Kesha would not have to work with Dr. Luke as a producer if she wished not to. Kesha never responded to the statement.

All of this was the likely motivation behind her moving performance at the Grammy’s. Even host James Corden seemed emotional by the end of the song. That being said, not everyone seemed impressed– a multitude of YouTube comments on the performance say that the song was a “check-in-the-box tune” and that “this performance was just annoying.”

Regardless of the plethora of opinions about her execution of Praying, the song clearly meant a lot to Kesha and her co-singers, judging by all of whom gathered around her after the end of the performance to embrace the star.