Kesha Will Receive Billboard‘s Women in Music Trailblazer Award

Billboard has announced that Kesha will receive its Trailblazer award at this year’s Women in Music ceremony.

This award category has only existed for two years, during which Billboard gave the prize to women coming off big album releases, Hayley Williams and Lana Del Rey. Kesha, on the other hand, hasn’t released new music since 2012 because of an ongoing legal battle with her former producer, and alleged abuser Dr. Luke.

Despite—and to a degree, because of—this legal battle, Kesha has indeed proven herself quite the trailblazer. “By combining artistic fearlessness with unbounded creative energy, Kesha has continually pushed the limits of what was once thought possible in pop music,” said Janice Min, the co-president of the Billboard Media Group. Kesha has also forced conversations about sexual abuse within the industry into the mainstream; she’s dared to fight for her right to end her label contract; she’s managed to sidestep legal constraints by going on tour this year as “Kesha and the Creepies,” performing her old songs but reinventing them within a rock and country style.

The Women in Music Trailblazer event will take place on Dec. 9 and will be broadcast nationally on Dec. 12.