Kesha, 36, had a near-death experience after she froze her eggs in 2022. “I almost died in January,” the singer said in an interview with Self published June 20. Kesha explained that she started feeling weak after a concert in the Bahamas on New Year’s Eve, so she went to the hospital, where she learned that she developed a rare complication from freezing her eggs. Kesha’s health issues were caused in part by her weak immune system, she said in the interview.
After receiving her diagnosis, Kesha was transferred to a hospital in Miami and spent nine days there getting treatment. “I finally feel recovered, but it took a couple months,” she said in the interview, adding, “It was horrifying.” The “Praying” singer also explained that she doesn’t regret freezing her eggs even though the process almost killed her.
“I just was taking my reproductive health into my own hands. And I stand by everyone doing that and [honoring] your body,” she said. “Everyone probably has some semblance of feeling like you share what you’re going through, and, at the same time, it’s almost inviting people to have an opinion about it. I don’t have that perfectly mapped out.”
Kesha revealed more about her health struggles in the interview. She said she was diagnosed last year with common variable immunodeficiency (CVID), which is a immunodeficiency disease that involves low levels of protective antibodies and an increased risk of infections, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease. Kesha revealed why she kept this diagnosis a secret for a while. “I just never wanted to be the whiny, privileged girl,” she said. “Also, my image had been that of going out and having fun.”
The Grammy Award nominee also confirmed that she’s still in recovery for bulimia. She reflected on her decision to seek treatment for the eating disorder back in 2014. “I had a particular moment with my eating disorder when the anxiety just got so high that I was not functioning,” Kesha told Self. “It was taking up so much of my brain space, from morning to night. I was obsessed with what I looked like, what went in my mouth, what size things were, and people’s approval,” she added.
Despite facing health issues, Kesha is in a good place right now both personally and professionally. Her fifth studio album, Gag Order, came out in May and got positive reviews. She told Self that she’s going to maintain a healthy lifestyle when she embarks on her upcoming tour that begins in October.