Pebe Sebert, Kesha’s Mom, Releases Album of Lost 80s Recordings After Decades of Writing for Other Artists

Last month, Kesha shared congratulations for her mother, Pebe Sebert, who had just announced her debut album. After a four-decade career as a songwriter, during which she often co-wrote with her daughter, Sebert uncovered a trove of tapes she made in the 80s. In 2021 and 2022, she released the singles “Vampire” and “Hard Times Ahead”, respectively. Her most recent single was “City’s Burning”, dropping in November alongside the announcement.

December 12 marked Sebert’s long-awaited debut from behind the songwriting curtain. The self-titled album is composed of 11 tracks, all dating back to about 1984. A few years earlier, Sebert got her big break as a songwriter. Unfortunately, she was also struggling with alcohol and drug addiction at this time, which hindered her music career. Sebert has been candid about her addiction, however. When releasing “Vampire” in 2021, she noted that her issues reached a breaking point while recording the album.

“I felt like this song had died along with my career as a recording artist when my life fell off the tracks due to drug and alcohol abuse in the middle of recording my debut album,” she wrote in the statement. “I grieved the loss of my recording career and this music I was so proud of.”

The new album is a closing chapter for Sebert. At the same time, it’s a look back at a thrilling yet difficult time in her life. Speaking with Rolling Stone recently, she revealed that not finishing the album was one of her only regrets.

“There’s very few things that I deeply regret in my life,” she said. “This was literally the one thing I couldn’t get past.”

Pebe Sebert Releases Lost Debut Album After 40 Years of Songwriting

Kesha was born in Los Angeles in 1987. But before that, her mother was beginning to make a name for herself as a songwriter in Nashville. She would eventually move her family back there in 1991, where she still resides. But around 1977, Pebe Sebert wrote “Old Flames Can’t Hold A Candle To You” for Joe Sun alongside Hugh Moffatt. The song would find greater success in 1980 with Dolly Parton, however. After that, Sebert began breaking through into the songwriting business. But she was really in Nashville to be a singer.

Sebert was making real strides recording her album in 1984. She met producer Guy Roche, who recently worked on restoring Sebert’s old tapes. She’d made an attempt to work with him again when Kesha was just starting out at 15. But, she shared that his increased notoriety intimidated her at the time. She also didn’t like that he called Kesha an “Avril wannabe,” and they moved on.

Reconnecting With the Producer Who Helped Sebert Begin It All

“I basically didn’t connect with him for probably 10 years fully because I was so ashamed of myself and what a mess I’d made of my life,” said Sebert. They officially reconnected after she found the recordings, years after getting sober, rebuilding her reputation, and regaining confidence. In the 80s, Roche introduced her to synthesizers, and the two would experiment with increasingly wacky sounds. “That’s how a big portion of this music came to be, just me fighting with [Roche] in the basement over the weekend,” Sebert told People in November.

Fortunately, the recovered tapes just needed a little cosmetic work and didn’t need to be re-recorded. Sebert appreciated still having a record of her work from that time. Now she could share those songs as she intended. But also, she admitted, she’d lost her voice.

“I don’t know what happened, but it’s something to do with my age and probably menopause,” she told Rolling Stone. “But I just opened my mouth to sing one day and a big chunk of my voice was gone, so there was not the option to re-record anything.” Still, she said, having those recordings “made the loss [of her music career] not feel as tragic.”

Sebert Is Confident That If Her Music Career Had Taken Off Then, She Would Not Have Survived

It’s strange to think that if Pebe Sebert hadn’t had a substance abuse problem, we might not have gotten Kesha. Would she have been born had her mother not had to commit to rehab and forego her dreams of stardom? Perhaps she would exist. But it’s doubtful she would have gone on to become such a pop cultural touchstone for so many. Had her mother not had to scrap her album, Kesha’s life might have turned out differently.

Because there’s the very real possibility that a life in the spotlight would have killed Pebe Sebert at that time. “I truly believe in my heart, if I had gotten famous, I would have died,” she admitted. “I was enough of a mess not having the money to do drugs the way I wanted to, that if I’d had unending amounts of money, I’m pretty sure I would not have survived.”

Instead, Sebert got to live her dreams vicariously—and healthier in some ways—through her daughter. Kesha also had support from her mother in her career. While both were negatively affected by Dr. Luke—Sebert experienced PTSD due to the trauma Kesha went through at the producer’s hands—they both seem to be on an upward trajectory. Kesha is finally free of an abusive producer and record contract. Meanwhile, Pebe Sebert gets to share her lost album with the world.

Kesha Makes Her Mother’s Album The First Release On Her Record Label

Pebe Sebert was released on Kesha Records on December 12. The album is available on vinyl and includes a 24-page booklet of handwritten lyrics and 80s-era photos. It’s officially described as “a time capsule and a revelation” on Kesha’s webstore, and Sebert said she couldn’t imagine a more perfect home for her work.

“If I could have written out what would be the perfect thing to happen, that would have for sure been it,” she said. Sebert added that Kesha, “without me asking her,” wanted her mother’s album to be the first release on her new independent label. “It’s all perfect the way it is,” Sebert said. “I’m so proud of her.” 

Photo by Courtney McElravy