Kesha

In the late 2000s, social media gave misfits and outsiders the means to carve out their own personal space online, and attract legions of followers by presenting the most raw and unfiltered version of themselves.

And no artist personified that moment quite like Kesha Rose Sebert (born 1987), the brash, potty-mouthed, nose-ringed anti-diva who crashed the Top 40 through her wailing cameo on Flo Rida’s 2009 synth-rap chart-topper, “Right Round,” and then stuck around like she owned the place.

At a time when EDM-infused maximalism was reshaping the sound of pop music, Kesha united club kids, hip-hop heads, and indie hipsters under one festival tent through bratty bops like “TiK ToK” and “We R Who We R.” And she was also the rare omnivorous pop star who was just as eager to record Stooges tributes with psych-pop kings The Flaming Lips (“2012 [You Must Be Upgraded]”) as hook up with dance-rap pooh-bah Pitbull for his 2013 strobe-lit smash “Timber.” Behind the scenes, however, Kesha’s life was no party—a struggle with eating disorders and a nasty legal battle with her former producer, Dr.