Pebe Sebert

Back from Broken

Colorado Public Radio

Society & Culture

5 • 703 Ratings

🗓️ 28 July 2023

⏱️ 33 minutes

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Summary

Pebe Sebert's dreams of becoming a professional songwriter started coming true when Dolly Parton recorded one of her songs and it became a hit. But Pebe felt like a fish out of water, and she used alcohol to deal with those feelings. Other drugs came into the mix, too. But after she had her daughter Kesha, Pebe knew something had to change -- and years later, Kesha became the pop star Pebe always dreamed of being.

Back From Broken is a show about how we are all broken sometimes, and how we need help from time to time. If you’re struggling, you can find a list of resources at BackFromBroken.org.

Host: Vic Vela
Lead producer: Emily Williams
Editor: Erin Jones
Additional editorial support: Jo Erickson, Rebekah Romberg, Kibwe Cooper, Andrew Villegas
Music: Daniel Mescher and Brad Turner with additional music from Universal Production Music
Executive producers: Brad Turner, Kevin Dale
Thanks also to Rachel Estabrook, Hart van Denburg, Jodi Gersh, Clara Shelton, Arielle Wilson, Kim Nguyen.

BackFromBroken.org
On Twitter: @VicVela1

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's Vic. Just want to let you know this episode contains some strong language, so please be advised.
0:06.8	In three, two, one. PBC Burt always knew her daughter would be a star.
0:14.2	Kesha was about two, and I just had this flash that this little kid's going to be, well, at that point in time, it was she's going to be as
0:21.5	famous as Madonna. You know, I just had a really strong hit that she was going to be a performing
0:27.4	artist. And Peeby was right. Her daughter, Keshah, became one of the biggest pop stars in the world.
0:36.2	She's a global superstar, and it's my privilege to introduce Keshe!
0:46.3	Keshe has been nominated for Grammys and has put out a couple of number one albums in her career.
0:53.3	But before that, it was Keshe's mom,
0:55.6	Peabee, who was going to be the star. She was a talented songwriter, writing hits for some of the
1:03.0	biggest names in music. But instead of ascending to stardom, Peeby descended into the darkness
1:09.8	of addiction.
1:11.6	So when Peabee was raising her daughter, she couldn't deny that her desire to see Kesha succeed
1:17.6	was connected to this feeling that she had something to prove.
1:22.6	She wanted to be famous, but I wanted her to be famous even more than she wanted to be famous.
1:29.3	You know, I would be a liar if I told you I wasn't trying to prove something to everybody,
1:36.3	to everybody whose toilet I cleaned when I had to come back here and clean toilets.
1:41.3	I can say I've been to the top and I've been to the bottom. I've
1:46.0	been in the private plane and I've cleaned your bathroom. I've done it all.
1:53.0	Peebies had a lot of ups and downs in her life. Addiction derailed her solo career as a musician.
2:00.0	But her love of music and writing songs was still
2:03.5	there when she emerged in recovery. I'm Vic Vela. I'm a journalist, a storyteller, and a
2:13.2	recovering drug addict. And this is Back from Broken from Colorado Public Radio. Stories about the
	...

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