Taking a stand. Stars including Jesse Tyler Ferguson and La Toya Jackson took to social media to praise Kesha following her powerful performance of “Praying” at the Grammy Awards 2018 on Sunday, January 28.
“That @KeshaRose performance,” Ferguson wrote. “So good.”
Jackson added: “What a statement! #Kesha had me crying #GrammyAwards2018.”
Janelle Monae introduced the performance with an empowering speech about the Time’s Up movement, which helps provide legal aid for victims of sexual assault, harassment and inequality in the workplace. Kesha, 30, then took the stage and was joined by Camila Cabello, Cyndi Lauper, Andra Day and Julia Michaels along with a larger chorus. At the end of the performance, Kesha was seen crying as she hugged the fellow performers.
Kesha took to Twitter before the show to open up about creating the song and its importance.
“When i wrote praying, with ben abraham and ryan lewis, i just felt as if i had gotten a huge weight off of my shoulders,” she wrote on Saturday, January 27. “It felt like an emotional raw victory for myself, one step closer to healing. I never could have known what would’ve happened these past few years.”
“I just want to say that i needed this song in a very real way,” she continued in a second tweet. “I’m so proud and nervous and overwhelmed to be performing it at the grammys on sunday, and if you need it i hope this song finds you.”
As previously reported, Kesha was involved in a legal battle with producer Dr. Luke. In 2014, she filed a lawsuit claiming that he was verbally and sexually abusive toward her, which he has denied. Kesha later dropped the lawsuit against him in August 2016 in order to focus on releasing new music.
See more reactions below to the empowering performance:
All the women backing up my girl @KeshaRose makes me SO EMOTIONAL.
— Emmy Rossum (@emmyrossum) January 29, 2018
Watching #GRAMMYs. Kesha’s song “Praying” and her performance blew me away. Powerful. Godspeed.
— Maria Shriver (@mariashriver) January 29, 2018
Just cried real tears watching @KeshaRose there ARE second acts in American lives. Glad i saw that. Thank you K.
— Rob Thomas (@ThisIsRobThomas) January 29, 2018
Blown away #Kesha thegrammys @kesharose! Thank you for moving us all and for being a powerful… https://t.co/EDrM5jJwlg
— Natalie Morales (@NMoralesNBC) January 29, 2018
POWERFUL @KeshaRose and all you mega talented bad ass babes ❤️ #Grammys2018
— Tove Lo (@ToveLo) January 29, 2018
