Rosemary Patricia "Pebe" Sebert
( ; born March 17, 1956) is an American singer and songwriter from
Brentwood, Tennessee
Brentwood is a city in Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 45,373 as of the 2020 United States census.[Kesha
Kesha Rose Sebert (; born March 1, 1987), formerly stylized as Ke$ha, is an American singer and songwriter. In 2005, at age 18, Kesha was signed to Kemosabe Records. Her first major success came in early 2009 after she was featured on Americ ...]
. Sebert has co-written number-one hits for
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...
,
Pitbull
Pit bull is a term used in the United States for a type of dog descended from bulldogs and terriers, while in other countries such as the United Kingdom the term is used as an abbreviation of the American Pit Bull Terrier breed. The term was f ...
, and Kesha, her daughter. Sebert and Kesha have written 11 published songs together. The songs Sebert wrote for other artists have combined sales of over 8 million copies in the United States alone.
In 2013, Sebert appeared as a regular on reality show ''
Kesha: My Crazy Beautiful Life'', which starred Kesha and was filmed by her son Lagan.
Early life
Sebert was born on March 17, 1956, in Michigan City, Indiana, and her early years were spent on her parents' farm. She is of Hungarian descent. Pebe began singing and making up songs at age 4 and singing publicly by age six, and she trained as a singer and played piano and guitar. Sebert sang in groups, bands, and as a solo artist. She entered the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy at age 15, where she participated in the exclusive Madrigal group, which toured by invitation in Europe. She also toured as a soprano with the American Youth Symphony and Choir. She began playing coffeehouses in Chicago and Europe throughout her high school years.
Career
In the 1970s, Sebert wrote "
Old Flames Can't Hold a Candle to You" with then-husband
Hugh Moffatt for
American Country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whil ...
singer
Joe Sun for his album ''Old Flames''.
Sun's version soon became a hit, peaking at No. 14 on the ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
''
Hot Country Songs chart.
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album d ...
included a cover of the song on her 1980 album ''
Dolly, Dolly, Dolly'' two years after Sun's version was released. Parton's version became a huge hit, reaching No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs chart. "Old Flames Can't Hold a Candle to You" was later covered by many artists, including Sebert's daughter Kesha for her
extended play
An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record. ''
Deconstructed'' and her third studio album ''
Rainbow
A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows ...
''.
In 2004, Sebert lent her vocals on X-Mas Balls' debut holiday album, ''She Left Me For Rudolph'', singing "If I Was an Angel" with Ned McElroy and Jerry Williams.
In May 2005, Sebert and her two children Kesha and Lagan starred in an episode of the reality series ''
The Simple Life
''The Simple Life'' is an American reality television series starring Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. It depicts the two wealthy socialites, as they struggle to do manual, low-paying jobs such as cleaning rooms, farm work, serving meals in fas ...
'' which starred
Paris Hilton
Paris Whitney Hilton (born February 17, 1981) is an American media personality, businesswoman, socialite, model, and entertainer. Born in New York City, and raised there and in Beverly Hills, California, she is a great-granddaughter of Conr ...
and
Nicole Richie
Nicole Camille Richie (; born September 21, 1981) is an American television personality, fashion designer, socialite, and actress. She came to prominence after appearing in the reality television series '' The Simple Life'' (2003–2007), in whi ...
. In the May 12, 2005 episode "The Wedding Planner," Sebert lets Hilton and Richie stay at her house while they attempt to plan a wedding and eventually try, with Kesha's help, to set Sebert up on a date.
In 2010, Sebert co-wrote her daughter Kesha's hit song "
Your Love Is My Drug", which became a Top 10 single in nine countries and reached triple-platinum in the U.S. Later that year, Sebert and Kesha gave the song "Disgusting" to pop singer
Miranda Cosgrove
Miranda Taylor Cosgrove (born May 14, 1993) is an American actress and singer. She was the highest-paid child actor in 2012 and was included on ''Forbes'' magazine's " 30 Under 30" list in 2022. She is known for her career on television, parti ...
for her debut album, and contributed the title track for
Miley Cyrus
Miley Ray Cyrus ( ; born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her distinctive raspy voice, her music spans across varied styles and genres, including pop, country, rock, hip hop ...
's debut EP, ''
The Time of Our Lives''.
In 2012, Sebert co-wrote "Warrior", "Dirty Love", "Wonderland", "Gold Trans Am", and "Out Alive" for Kesha's second album ''Warrior''. Sebert also provided backing vocals for the tracks "Dirty Love", which featured
Iggy Pop
James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter and actor. Called the " Godfather of Punk", he was the vocalist and lyricist of proto-punk band The Stooges, who w ...
, and "Gold Trans Am".
In April 2013, Sebert appeared on Kesha's reality show ''
Kesha: My Crazy Beautiful Life'' which was filmed by her son Lagan Sebert and aired on
MTV. The first season (April 23, 2013 – May 28, 2013) documented Kesha's life as she embarked on her first solo tour and worked on her second album, ''Warrior''.
The second season featured Kesha spending more time at home taking a much-needed break, and featured Sebert's youngest son and Kesha's youngest brother, Louie, who hadn't appeared in the first season. Season two ran from October 30 to December 18, 2013.
In 2013, Sebert co-wrote Kesha and American rapper
Pitbull
Pit bull is a term used in the United States for a type of dog descended from bulldogs and terriers, while in other countries such as the United Kingdom the term is used as an abbreviation of the American Pit Bull Terrier breed. The term was f ...
's hit single "
Timber
Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including Beam (structure), beams and plank (wood), planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as fini ...
", which was released on October 2, 2013, and became a Top 10 single in 28 countries and No. 1 in 12 countries.
On December 31, 2013, Kesha released a music video for "Dirty Love", which Sebert had co-written and for which she contributed vocals.
In 2017, Sebert co-produced Kesha's comeback album ''Rainbow'' which features two new tracks co-written by the duo ("Hymn" and "Learn To Let Go"), as well as a duet of "Old Flames Can't Hold a Candle to You", between Kesha and Parton. Sebert co-wrote the duet "
Safe
A safe (also called a strongbox or coffer) is a secure Lock (security device), lockable box used for securing valuable objects against theft or fire. A safe is usually a hollow cuboid or cylinder, with one face being removable or hinged to form ...
" with Kesha and her son Louie, who performed it alongside indie rapper Chika.
Personal life
Sebert was married to
Hugh Moffatt, with whom she wrote "Old Flames Can't Hold a Candle to You",
for seven years, separating in 1984. They had one child together, Lagan Sebert. She claims that after the divorce, she and Lagan lived on welfare payments and
food stamps.
In 1987, Sebert gave birth to daughter
Kesha Rose Sebert. Sebert frequently brought Kesha and her brothers along to recording studios and encouraged Kesha to sing.
She moved the family to
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...
, in 1991 after securing a new publishing deal for her songwriting.
On October 12, 1999, Sebert's second son, Louis Sage "Louie" Sebert, was born, though he was adopted. He appeared in an episode of the television series ''
Victorious
''Victorious'' (stylized as ''VICTORiOUS'') is an American sitcom created by Dan Schneider that originally aired on Nickelodeon, debuting on March 27, 2010, and concluding on February 2, 2013 after four seasons. The series revolves around asp ...
'' alongside Kesha.
Through Lagan, Pebe has two grandchildren.
After Sebert and Kesha claimed that they didn't know who Kesha's father was, Bob Chamberlain approached ''
Star
A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night, but their immense distances from Earth make ...
'' in 2011 with pictures and letters, claiming them as proof that he and Kesha had been in regular contact as father and daughter before she turned 19.
Sebert checked into Timberline Knolls Residential Treatment Center in
Lemont, Illinois
Lemont is a village located in Cook, DuPage, and Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, and is a south-west suburb of Chicago. The population was 17,629 as of the 2020 census. The village is situated on a hillside along the south banks ...
, for
rehab
Rehabilitation or Rehab may refer to:
Health
* Rehabilitation (neuropsychology), therapy to regain or improve neurocognitive function that has been lost or diminished
* Rehabilitation (wildlife), treatment of injured wildlife so they can be retur ...
in January 2014, claiming that she had post-traumatic stress disorder from the trauma of Kesha being attacked by her record label and
Dr. Luke.
Sebert has admitted that she is a recovering drug addict and alcoholic and had taken Kesha to
Alcoholics Anonymous meetings with her since Kesha was a year old.
Discography
Awards and nominations
BMI Pop Music Awards
*2010 ("
Your Love Is My Drug" Kesha)
Filmography
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sebert, Pebe
1956 births
American women country singers
American country singer-songwriters
American women singer-songwriters
Kesha
Living people
Singer-songwriters from Tennessee
American women pop singers