Katy Perry
Background information
Birth name	Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson
Also known as	Katy Hudson
Born	October 25, 1984 (age 26)
Origin	Santa Barbara, California, U.S.A.
Genre(s)	Pop, Rop rock, Dance-pop, Europop
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter, actress
Voice type(s)	Contralto
Years active	2001 - Present
Lyrics	Katy Perry on Lyrics Wiki

Katy Perry (born Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson; October 25, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Born in Santa Barbara, California, and raised by Christian pastor parents, Perry grew up listening to only gospel music and sang in her local church as a child. After earning a GED during her first year of high school, she began to pursue a career in music. As Katy Hudson, she released a self-titled gospel album in 2001, which was unsuccessful. She later recorded an album with production team The Matrix and completed the majority of a solo album from 2004–05, neither of which were released.

After signing with Capitol Music Group in 2007, her fourth record label in seven years, she adopted the stage name Katy Perry and released her first Internet single "Ur So Gay" that November, which garnered public attention but failed to chart. She rose to fame with the release of her second single "I Kissed a Girl" in 2008, which went on to top international charts. Perry's first mainstream studio album One of the Boys followed later that year and subsequently became the thirty-third-best selling album worldwide of 2008. It was accredited platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America, while "I Kissed a Girl" and her second single "Hot n Cold" both received multi-platinum certifications. Her second studio album Teenage Dream was released in August 2010 and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. The album included the Billboard chart-toppers "California Gurls", "Teenage Dream", "Firework", and "E.T." and most recently the Hot Digital Songs topper "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)". The album produced four Hot 100 toppers, making the Teenage Dream album one of only nine albums to ever produce four or more Hot 100 number ones. With "E.T." at number one on the chart of May 12, 2011, Perry became the first artist in history to spend a whole year, 52 consecutive weeks, in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100.

Perry was credited as a guest judge on the seventh series of British television show The X Factor, has released a fragrance called "Purr", and appears in the 2011 film The Smurfs. Perry had a long relationship with Travie McCoy; she married Russell Brand on October 23, 2010.

Early life

erry was born Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson in Santa Barbara, California[8] to Keith, a West Coast scenester in the 1960s,[9] and Mary Hudson (née Perry), an evangelist who grew up in Southern California and had a "tempestuous" first marriage in Zimbabwe.[9] Perry has Portuguese, German, Irish, and English ancestry.[10][11][12] She is the second child of two pastors.[13] She has an older sister named Angela Hudson and younger brother named David Hudson.[14] Perry's uncle was director Frank Perry.[9] Perry was incorporated into her parents' ministry[13] and sang in their church between the ages of 9 and 17.[15] She grew up listening to gospel music,[16] was not allowed to listen to what her mother called "secular music",[15][17] and attended Christian schools and camps.[13] As a child, Perry learned how to dance in a recreation building in Santa Barbara. She was taught by seasoned dancers and began with swing, Lindy Hop, and jitterbug.[18] She took her GED after her first year at Dos Pueblos High School and decided to leave school in the pursuit of a career in music.[19] Perry initially started singing "because [she] was at that point in [her] childhood where [she] was copycatting [her] sister and everything she [would do]."[19] Her sister practiced with cassette tapes, while Perry took the tapes herself when her sister was not around. She rehearsed the songs and performed them in front of her parents, who suggested she take vocal coaching. She grabbed the opportunity and began taking lessons at the age of nine and continued until she was sixteen. She later enrolled in at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, and studied Italian opera for a short period of time.[19]

Career

When Perry was 15, her singing in church attracted the attention of rock veterans from Nashville, Tennessee, who brought her there to polish her writing skills.^[20] In Nashville, Perry started recording demos and was taught by country music veterans how to craft songs and play guitar.^[15][17] Perry signed to the Christian music label Red Hill, under which she recorded her first album at the age of 15.^[21] Performing as Katy Hudson, she released a self-titled gospel rock album in 2001.^[20] She supported this album with The Strangely Normal Tour, accompanied by Phil Joel, LaRue, Luna Halo, Earthsuit and V*Enna.^[22] The album was unsuccessful as the label ceased operations at the end of 2001.^[21] She later changed her surname to Perry, her mother's maiden name, because "Katy Hudson" was too close to film actressKate Hudson.^[20][23]

At the age of 17, Perry left her home for Los Angeles, where she worked with Glen Ballard on an album forIsland Records.^[24] Growing up listening to mostly gospel music, Perry had few references when she began recording songs.^[15] Asked by the producer with whom she would like to collaborate, Perry had no idea. That night, she went with her mother to a hotel. Inside, she turned on VH1 and saw producer Glen Ballard talking about Alanis Morissette;^[15] Ballard produced Morissette's Jagged Little Pill, which had a "huge influence" on Perry.^[20] She expressed interest in working with Ballard to her initial collaborator, who arranged a meeting for her with Ballard in Los Angeles. Perry presented one of her songs to Ballard. Ballard then helped Perry develop her songwriting over the next few years.^[15] The album was due for release in 2005,^[20][21] but Billboard reported it also went nowhere.^[21] Perry was dropped by The Island Def Jam Music Group.^[9] Some of Perry and Ballard's collaborations included "Box", "Diamonds" and "Long Shot", were posted on her official MySpace page. "Simple", one of the songs she recorded with Ballard, was released on the soundtrack to the 2005 film The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.^[25][26] "Long Shot" and "I Do Not Hook Up" was later recorded by Kelly Clarkson for her 2009 album All I Ever Wanted.^[27]

Perry signed to Columbia Records in 2004. However, the label was not amenable with her vision, not putting her in the "driver's seat".^[21]Instead, one of Columbia's ideas was to pair Perry with the record production team The Matrix, who was working on an album, to serve as its female vocalist. Although the album was later shelved,^[28] she caught the attention of the music press: Her burgeoning music career led to her being named "The Next Big Thing" in October 2004 by Blender magazine.^[21] With no album project ongoing, Perry began recording her own. Eighty percent completed, however, Columbia decided not to finish it and dropped her from the label.^[21] While waiting to find another label, she worked in an independent A&R company called Taxi Music. In 2006, Perry was featured in the tail-end of the video to P.O.D.'s single "Goodbye for Now".^[29] She made a cameo appearance in Carbon Leaf's video, "Learn to Fly". While in the process of being dropped by Columbia in 2006, the company's publicity executive Angelica Cob-Baehler enthusiastically recommended Perry to Virgin Records chairman Jason Flom.^[30] At the time Flom was leading a complete revival in fortunes at the label and looking to crown recent achievements by breaking a global pop act.^[30]Despite mixed reactions from fellow Virgin executives, Flom became convinced that Perry could be that breakthrough star, and at the start of 2007 extended discussions with Columbia resulted in Perry signing to the newly created Capitol Music Group, a merger between Virgin and Capitol. As part of the deal, the label secured the masters to the unfinished album, recorded while at Columbia, that would go on to form a significant part of her official mainstream debut album, One of the Boys.^[30]

The Columbia recordings were seen by Flom as being "very strong but lacking an undeniable smash or two that would work both at U.S. pop radio and internationally" and so one of the executive's first actions after completing the signing was to set up a collaboration between Perry and the writer-producer Dr. Luke.^[30] The results were the songs "I Kissed a Girl" and "Hot n Cold". Establishing her image was one of the immediate concerns of her management.^[21] A campaign was started in November 2007 with the release of the video to "Ur So Gay", aimed at introducing her to the music market. A digital EP led by "Ur So Gay" was later released to create online buzz and press story.^[13][21][31] This was a successful move that resulted in bringing Perry to the attention of Madonna,^[21] who mentioned her on KISS FM and KRQ's JohnJay & Rich morning show in Arizona. On March 10, 2008, she appeared as herself on the ABC Family television series, Wildfire, on the episode "Life's Too Short".^[32]

In the next step of promoting the album, Perry undertook a two-month tour of radio stations. The album's official lead single, "I Kissed a Girl", was released on May 6, 2008. Perry's A&R, Chris Anokute, told HitQuarters the song and its controversial theme had met with strong resistance at the label: "People said, 'This is never going to get played on the radio. How do we sell this? How’s this going to be played in thebible belt?'"^[31] Anokute said that they needed the support of one of the label's radio promoters to convince people to believe in the record; otherwise, Perry would have likely been dropped again. Capitol's SVP of Promotions, Dennis Reese, saw the vision and helped push the single on national radio. The first station to pick it up and take a chance was The River in Nashville, which was ironically located in the Bible Belt. After playing it for three days they were innundated with enthusiastic calls.^[31] With the song climbing atop the charts, Perry embarked on the annual Warped Tour music festival, which her management used to "establish her as a credible performer and make sure she wasn't seen as just a one-hit wonder."^[21] The single was a commercial success, peaking at number one for seven weeks on the Billboard Hot 100.^[21] It has since become a major worldwide hit, topping charts in 30 countries,^[28] including Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom.^[33] On June 12, 2008, Perry appeared as herself on the daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless,^[32] posing for the cover to the June 2008 issue of the fictional magazine Restless Style.^[34] Perry also performed backing vocals on the song, "Another Night in the Hills" from Gavin Rossdale's 2008 solo album Wanderlust.^[35]

One of the Boys was released on June 17, 2008, to mixed critical reviews.^[36] The album has reached number nine on the Billboard 200,^[37]and has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.^[38] Perry released her second single, "Hot n Cold", which became her second top three single in dozens of countries around the world, including the United States where it reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100,^[21] as well as topping the charts in Germany, Canada, and Denmark. After Perry wrapped up her appearance at the Warped Tour, she went on tours in Europe. She later launched her first headlining tour, the Hello Katy Tour, in January 2009.^[21] "I Kissed a Girl" earned Perry a nomination forBest Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 2009 Grammy Awards.^[39] Perry was nominated in five categories at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, including Best New Artist and Best Female Video, but lost to Britney Spears.^[40] She won Best New Act at the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards, which she co-hosted,^[41] and Best International Female Artist at the 2009 BRIT Awards.^[42] On February 9, 2009, both "I Kissed a Girl" and "Hot n Cold" were certified three-time platinum by Recording Industry Association of America for individual digital sales of over three million.^[43] The Guinness Book of World Records recognized Perry in its 2010 version as the "Best Start on the US Digital Chart by a Female Artist," for having her first two singles sell over two million digital copies.^[44]

The Matrix's self-titled debut album, which features Perry, was later released via the team's label, Let's Hear It, during Perry's solo tour. When the release date was scheduled, "I Kissed a Girl" had been charting well. Matrix member Lauren Christy spoke to Perry about the decision, but she wanted to hold the release until the fourth single of One of the Boys had been dispatched. Despite their communication, The Matrixwas released on January 27, 2009, via iTunes Store.^[45]

In December 2008, Perry apologized to British singer Lily Allen for remarks in which she called herself a "skinnier version" of her, saying she meant it as a joke.^[46] Allen retaliated and told a British radio station that she "happen[ed] to know for a fact that she [Perry] was an American version" of her because their record company needed "to find something controversial and 'kooky'" like her.^[47] In January 2009, Perry embarked on her first headlining world tour, the Hello Katy Tour, visiting North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Beginning on January 23, 2009, and ending on November 28, 2009, the tour consisted of 89 concerts. During that time, Perry also opened select concerts for the band No Doubt, on their Summer Tour 2009.

On May 16, 2009, Perry performed at the opening ceremony of the annual Life Ball in Vienna, Austria.^[48] In June 2009, lawyers acting for Perry opposed the then-recent trademark of Australian fashion designer Katie Perry, who uses her own name to market loungewear.^[49]Some media outlets reported this as a lawsuit, which Perry denied on her blog.^[50] Katie Perry reported on her blog that at a hearing with IP Australia on July 10, 2009, the singer's lawyers withdrew their opposition to the trademark.^[51] During the summer of 2009 Perry filmed a cameo appearance for Get Him to the Greek; her scene, in which she kisses her future fiancé Russell Brand was cut, and does not appear in the final film. Discussing the issue with MTV, Perry hypothesized there may have been some fear that seeing the two make out would have taken viewers out of the experience.^[52] In 2009, Perry was featured on two singles: in August, a remix of Colorado-based band 3OH!3's song "Starstrukk" (the idea for the collaboration having come after Perry's tour that featured 3OH!3 as the supporting act, the song being released by iTunes on September 8, 2009); and, thereafter, in December, on "If We Ever Meet Again", the fourth single from Timbaland's album Shock Value II.^[53] In October 2009, MTV Unplugged revealed that Perry was one of the artists to perform for them, and that she would be releasing a live album of the performance, including two new tracks, "Brick by Brick" and Fountains of Wayne cover "Hackensack".^[54] The album, released on November 17, included both a CD and a DVD,^[55] and debuted at No. 168 on the US Billboard 200 chart.

2010–present: Teenage Dream, film debut and The Complete Confection

Perry appeared as a guest judge alongside Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole and Louis Walsh during the Dublin audition stage of the seventh series of the British television show The X Factor on June 28, 2010.^[56] She was one of the many celebrities chosen to fulfil the role of judge whilst Dannii Minogue was on maternity leave. In May 2010, Perry released the first single from her second studio album, Teenage Dreamentitled, "California Gurls". The single peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for six consecutive weeks.^[57][58] "Teenage Dream" was released as the second single from her album, and it also topped the Billboard Hot 100, becoming her third number one and second from the album. Teenage Dream was released August 24, 2010 and debuted atop the Billboard 200 chart with sales of 192,000 copies in its first week.^[59] The album has since sold over two million copies in the US, being certified Platinum by the RIAA. Following the album's release, the third single "Firework" was released and became the third consecutive single from Teenage Dream to top the Hot 100. With this, Perry became the first female in eleven years to have three consecutive number-ones from one album.^[60] In February 2011, Perry released the fourth single, "E.T.", a remixed version featuring Kanye West, that peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for five non-consecutive weeks.^[61] The music video for "E.T." was directed by Floria Sigismondi and features Shaun Ross as the main love interest. With "E.T." at number one on the chart of May 12, 2011, Perry became the first artist to spend 52 consecutive weeks in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100.^[3] In June 2011, Perry released the fifth single, "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)". A remixed version featuring American rapper Missy Elliotwas released in early August.^[62] The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 on August 17, 2011, making Perry the first female and second artist (tied with Michael Jackson) ever to have five No. 1 singles from one album. Also, when the song reached number 1 in the Pop Songs airplay chart, "Teenage Dream" became the first album to have 5 number 1's from the same album on that chart. Additionally, when the song reached number one in the Adult Pop Songs airplay chart, the album become the first to have 4 number 1's from the same album on the chart.^[63]

In October 2011, Perry released the sixth single, "The One That Got Away". It reached No. 3 on Hot 100, becoming the third album in history to produce six top five hit singles,^[64] and the seventh song from Teenage Dream to reach the top of the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs, the most by any album and setting a new record in the chart.^[65] Perry released a "The One That Got Away" remix featuring American rapper B.o.B. in December 2011. An acoustic version of the song was released in January 2012.^[66] From February 2011 to January 2012, Perry embarked on an extensive world tour in support of Teenage Dream, the California Dreams Tour, playing 124 shows in Europe, Australasia, Asia, North America and South America and earning over $59 million.^[2] Perry made her perfume debut, releasing a fragrance named "Purr" in November. It is packaged in a cat-shaped bottle, and is available through Nordstrom stores.^[67][68] She followed it up with the fragrance's first flanker, "Meow".^[69][70]

In July 2011, Perry made her film debut in the 3D family film The Smurfs as Smurfette. The Smurfs earned $557,771,535 worldwide during its theatrical run. Perry appeared at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards on August 28, 2011. She was nominated for ten awards, received the most nominations of the ceremony and was the first singer to have four different music videos shown in various categories, eventually winning three of those, Video of the Year for "Firework", Best Collaboration and Best Special Effects for "E.T.". On September 17, 2011, marked Perry' 69th consecutive week in the Top 10 with single "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)".^[71][72] On September 23, 2011, she performed, along with Elton John, Brazilian Claudia Leitte and friend Rihanna, on the opening day of the 2011 Rock in Rio festival, which was extended to October 2.^[73] Perry performed for 100 thousand people, a show that received high praise from critics and audience alike.^[74] On December 14, 2011, in the annual list by Forbes, Perry was elected the third singer who earned more than US$44 million, behind Lady Gaga (US$90 million) and Taylor Swift (US$45 million).^[75] On December 15, 2011, Perry was elected the Artist of the Year by MTV, for their performance on the charts worldwide and won the record during the year.^[4] On December 20, 2011, she released a Barbiedoll that represents her style in 2012.^[76] On January 8, 2012, Perry was named the sixth best-selling digital artist of all time in the United States, having sold 37,620,00 million singles and albums as of 2011, according to Nielsen SoundScan.^[77] In the week ending January 15, 2012, Perry became the first artist ever to have five songs sell over 5 million digital copies in the USA.^[78] Perry was once again recruited by EA Games to promote their new expansion pack The Sims 3: Showtime for their The Sims game franchise. The game content was based on Perry.^[79] Perry became the first person to have six songs top the Billboard Adult Pop Songs chart.^[80] Perry re-released Teenage Dream under the title Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection on March 27, 2012. The lead single from the re-release "Part of Me", released in February, debuted atop theBillboard Hot 100, becoming her seventh number one and sixth overall from the album.^[81] Perry was spotlighted in a part-biopic-concert film shown in 3D, Katy Perry: Part of Me, released on July 5, 2012, by Paramount Pictures.^[82][83]

In April 2012, Perry performed in India for the first time at the opening ceremony of 5th edition of Indian Premier League, cricket match, in Chennai.^[84][85][86] She performed her songs "Teenage Dream" and a remix version of "California Gurls".^{[85][87][88][89]} In April 2012, Perry stated that she is working on new music and changing her musical style, "My music is about to get real f—ing dark. You'd never see my face because my hair would be in it."^[90] On June 5, 2012, Perry released her first PC game named The Sims 3: Katy Perry's Sweet Treats in The Sims game franchise (see more here). The game is set around her candy-themed franchise with candy-themed objects, styles, clothes, hair, patterns, and more. The second and final single from the re-release (and eighth and final single from the Teenage Dream era overall) was "Wide Awake", which released in May, reached No. 4 the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making it her eighth consecutive single to reach the top five of the chart since "California Gurls".^[91] In June 2012, Perry revealed that she is in the process of launching her own record label, which will be an imprint of Capitol Records.^[92]

Current activities

Currently, Katy Perry has received a Grammy nomination for Record of the Year for Firework.

Personal life

Discography

Further reading