Kesha's Billboard Acceptance Speech Will Inspire You and Move You to Tears

Kesha was just one of the guests of honor at the Billboard Women in Music ceremony in NYC on Friday, but her acceptance speech may have been the most emotional. The singer was given the Trailblazer Award for her boundary-breaking career. Kesha was first serenaded with her own hit "Warrior" by singer-songwriter Wrabel before being presented with her trophy by Charli XCX and appeared visibly shaken during her thank-you speech.

"I want to especially thank my fans who I love and appreciate more than you guys will ever know," Kesha said to the crowd, which included other huge stars like Madonna, Nick Jonas, Maren Morris, and Shania Twain. "To my peers, your support over the past few years has literally saved my life." She went on: "It's mind-blowing to be honored with this after a very public year I've had. I feel stuck and I feel sad and quite frankly, today, I feel bloated," which elicited laughs from the star-studded audience. "This is a huge reminder I can't give up and I have to keep fighting for my truth and keep fighting for my dreams." Kesha ended her speech with a touching reminder: "If you keep showing up for yourself, you can move mountains. . . . Do not let anyone else take your happiness."

It's been a roller coaster 2016 for the singer, who had to endure loads of legal drama due to her lawsuit against Dr. Luke. Kesha first filed a lawsuit against the music producer in October 2015, alleging that he'd emotionally and sexually abused her and manipulated her career. This year, she took on another battle when she tried to get released from her recording contract with Sony. Numerous celebrities, including Lady Gaga and Adele, came forward to support Kesha in the wake of the shocking news. However, in April 2016, a judge threw out her claims, saying she was being "unreasonable." Kesha officially dropped her suit "without prejudice" in August in order to focus on releasing new music. "Kesha is focused on getting back to work and has delivered 28 new songs to the record label," her lawyer said. "We have conveyed to Sony Music and the label Kesha's strong desire to release the single and an album as soon as possible."