Kesha Wrote Her First Song at Age 12 and It Was About Alcohol
Long before Kesha was brushing her teeth with a bottle of Jack, she was writing about the bubbly. Even if she didn't actually know how it tasted.
The Hollywood Reporter's latest roundtable features seven songwriters who are very likely to nab Oscar noms for Best Original Song in January, including Kesha, Mark Ronson, Jack Antonoff, Tim McGraw, Diane Warren, Boots Riley, and David Crosby.
In the revealing feature we immediately hear stories behind the first songs some of the musicians ever wrote. McGraw adorably recollects writing a song about Princess Diana after watching her wedding to Prince Charles, Riley recalls writing a rap version of a song from West Side Story for a school play. Kesha?
"I was 12, and it was about champagne. I had no idea what champagne tasted like, but I was singing about that," says the unapologetic pop singer-songwriter. Her unexpected memory causes the whole table to laugh.
Kesha was invited to the roundtable because of her powerful song "Here Comes the Change" off the soundtrack for On the Basis of Sex, a biographical drama about the life of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Kesha tells of only having three hours in the studio, the day before leaving for tour, to write the song she knew would play during the film's end credits. "Daunting" is an understatement.
The roundtable briefly becomes an all-out stanning session for Ginsburg. Roundtable participant and legendary pop songwriter Warren wrote "I'll Fight," (sung by Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson) for the 2018 documentary RBG, yet another Oscar contender about the iconic Supreme Court Justice.
The seven songwriters also touch on their unique process for writing music and who they share their in-progress work with for feedback. Kesha says she sends her mom everything she's writing.
"She's so brutal. She'll be like, 'This is terrible, this sucks, you're trying way too hard' I'll be like, 'Oh f-ck, she's right.' She's always right." Meanwhile Boots Riley reveals he'll sneakily take new music he's working on to Best Buy or Target and "just play it and walk into the other aisle and the see if anybody's bobbin' their head."
To read and watch more from the roundtable, including Mark Ronson comparing working with Lady Gaga on her 2016 Joanne album and this year's critically acclaimed A Star is Born soundtrack, head over to The Hollywood Reporter.