Katy Perry is an American singer-songwriter who grew up in a traditional environment with many limitations. She sought a career in gospel music during her adolescent years after singing in church as a child. Perry listened to various kinds of music, which was brought to her by her friends, despite her parents’ disapproval, because she has always had a passion for music. She was an opinionated individual who stayed firm in her goal to be a musician and pursued her ambitions. She did not have immediate success and had to overcome numerous challenges before gaining her first huge break. Before she was signed to ‘Capitol Records,’ several of her tracks were shelved. ‘One of the Boys,’ her second studio album, was a major smash and marked a turning point in her musical career. As a result, she got her start as a vocalist and hasn’t looked back since. ‘Teenage Dreams,’ her next album, grabbed the hearts of many music fans and went on to become one of the best-selling albums of all time. It broke a lot of records and confirmed Katy Perry’s status as a major performer. Perry is well-known for her charitable activities in addition to producing and recording songs. She is also a proponent of homosexual rights and an activist.
Childhood & Early Life
Katy Perry was born Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson to Maurice Keith Hudson and Mary Christine Perry on October 25, 1984, in Santa Barbara, California. She has two siblings, a younger brother and an older sister.
Perry’s ancestors are from England, Germany, Ireland, and Portugal.
‘Paradise Valley Christian School’ and ‘Santa Barbara Christian School’ were among the schools where she acquired her elementary education. Her brothers and she were raised in a conservative household with numerous constraints.
In her home, only gospel music was permitted. As a result, she had to listen to various types of music in secret, which was brought to her by her friends. Her family struggled financially, and she and her siblings had to rely on food stamps and eat from the food bank set up by her parents’ church to feed the congregation. She began her training when she was nine years old and was soon included into her parents’ ministry. She graduated from ‘Dos Pueblos High School’ with her General Educational Development (GED) requirements when she was 15 years old. She then enrolled in the ‘Music Academy of the West,’ where she studied Italian opera in order to pursue a career in music.
Jennifer Knapp and Steve Thomas, two rock musicians who spotted her aptitude as a singer, took her to Nashville, Tennessee. She learned to write songs and play the guitar in Nashville.
She took dance lessons and studied swing, Lindy Hop, and jitterbug, among other American dance styles.
Her uncle, film filmmaker Frank Perry, is her aunt.
Career of Katy Perry
In 2001, she released her first music album, ‘Katy Hudson,’ which was a gospel music CD. The album was released under the ‘Red Hill Records’ record label. Sadly, the record was not a commercial success. She eventually moved away from religious music and collaborated with American songwriter Basil Glen Ballard, Jr. to write songs. She moved to Los Angeles at the age of seventeen, but had little success during her first few days there. She recorded a few songs for a few record labels, but the albums were never published owing to a variety of factors. Ballard’s label, ‘Java,’ was linked with ‘The Island Def Jam Music Group’ at the time, and Perry was signed to it in 2004.
Katy Perry sang a song in the 2005 film ‘The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.’ She also sang backup vocals on tracks like “Old Habits Die Hard” and “Goodbye for Now.” She appeared in the video for the song “Learn to Fly” in 2006. She also starred as Travie McCoy’s love interest in the music video for Travie McCoy’s rap rock band ‘Gym Class Heroes’s song ‘Cupid’s Chokehold.’
An acquaintance named Angelica Cob-Baehler introduced her to Jason Flom, the chairman and CEO of the ‘Virgin Records’ company, and she signed a deal with the ‘Capitol Records’ firm in 2007.
The video ‘Ur So Gay’ was released in 2007 with the intention of exposing her to the music industry. Madonna went on to praise the song on the ‘JohnJay & Rich’ radio show in 2008, which helped to spread the word about it.
Her tracks ‘I Kissed a Girl’ and ‘Hot n Cold’ from the album ‘One of the Boys’ were released in 2008 and were warmly accepted by the public. In many countries, the songs reached the top of the music charts. ‘I Kissed a Girl’ even reached the top of the ‘US Billboard Hot 100’ chart.
Other tracks from the album were gradually published and were well received by music fans, making the record a major success. She performed on the ‘Warped Tour’ in 2008 and the ‘Hello Katy Tour’ the following year. She even played in the ‘No Doubts Summer Tour’ in 2009. In addition, the ‘Matrix Record’ released her record, which it had previously released a few years ago, as a result of her success. Her live music CD, ‘MTV Unplugged,’ was released in 2009. It featured two new songs as well as five tracks from the album ‘One of the Boys.’ Perry and the band ‘3OH!3’ were also featured in the remix version of the song ‘Starstrukk.’
In 2009, singles including ‘Thinking of You’ and ‘Waking Up in Vegas’ charted in the top 30 of the ‘Hot 100.’
She and Timbaland performed a duet of the song “If We Ever Meet Again.” Timbaland’s 2010 album ‘Shock Value II’ featured the song.
In 2010, her single ‘California Gurls,’ from the album ‘Teenage Dream,’ which featured rapper Snoop Dogg, was a hit with music fans. This song also reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. The album’s second song, ‘Teenage Dream,’ was released the same year and, like the album’s first hit, topped the ‘Billboard Hot 100’ chart. She also featured as a guest judge on series like ‘American Idol’ and ‘The X Factor UK’ at the same time.
Her song ‘Firework,’ which was included on the album ‘Teenage Dream,’ was published in late 2010. This, like Perry’s prior hits, became the number one song on the ‘Billboard Hot 100’ list. This song received 11x Platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). She made an appearance in ‘The Simpsons’ Christmas episode ‘The Fight Before Christmas.’ She became an entrepreneur after introducing her perfume, ‘Purr,’ to the market in 2010. Her fourth single, ‘Extraterrestrial’ (E.T.) from the album ‘Teenage Dream,’ was released in 2011. The song, which also featured rapper Kayne West, reached number one on the ‘Billboard Hot 100,’ making ‘Teenage Dream’ the ninth album to have four singles that all charted at the top of the ‘Billboard Hot 100.’ The fifth song from ‘Teenage Dream’ was released later that year. This song also reached the top of the ‘Hot 100’ chart, making Katy Perry the first female artist to have five consecutive songs on the chart, and the second artist to do so, after Michael Jackson. In the film ‘The Smurfs,’ she voiced a character named Smurfette.
In the year 2012, she released an autobiographical documentary named ‘Katy Perry: Part of Me,’ which was released in theaters. The following year, she released her fourth album, ‘Prism,’ which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart. She repeated her role as Smurfette in the sequel to ‘The Smurfs,’ ‘The Smurfs 2,’ in 2013, and both films were economically successful. In the same year, she released ‘Killer Queen,’ her third perfume.
She joined ‘UNICEF’ in April 2013 to help children in Madagascar with education and nutrition. She was formally awarded a ‘UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador’ on December 3, 2013. She founded the ‘Metamorphosis Music’ record label under ‘Capitol Records’ in 2014.
The lead single from ‘Prism,’ ‘Roar,’ was released in 2013. It debuted at number one on the ‘Billboard Hot 100,’ and was promoted during the ‘MTV Video Music Awards.’ The second single from the same album, ‘Unconditionally,’ was released. In the United States, the song reached number 14 on the charts.
In February 2016, Perry starred in the film ‘Zoolander 2,’ in which she played herself.
Katy Perry has a long list of hit songs on her resume. ‘Dark Horse,’ ‘Birthday,’ ‘This Is How We Do,’ ‘Who You Love,’ and ‘Wide Awake’ are a few of them.
Katy Perry: Making of the Pepsi Super Bowl Halftime Show’ was a documentary that tracked Perry’s preparation for her ‘Super Bowl’ performance. She began writing songs for her upcoming album in June 2016, and for NBC Sport’s coverage of the 2016 ‘Summer Olympics,’ she composed an anthem called ‘Rise.’
Perry performed in the ‘One Love Manchester’ benefit event in honor of the victims of the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017.
Perry’s fifth studio album, ‘Witness,’ was released in February 2017 with the lead track ‘Chained to the Rhythm,’ featuring Skip Marley. In Hungary, the song was number one, and in the United States, it was number four. ‘Bon Appétit’ and ‘Swish Swish,’ the album’s singles, charted at number 59 and 46, respectively, in the United States.
Her album ‘Witness,’ which received mixed reviews upon its release in June 2017, debuted at number one in the United States.
The 2017 ‘MTV Video Music Awards’ were hosted by her. Perry signed a $25 million deal to judge on ABC’s ‘American Idol’ relaunch, which began in March 2018.
Perry made an appearance in the music video for Taylor Swift’s song “You Need to Calm Down” in June 2019.
Perry has spoken out in support of LGBT rights. She backed ‘Stonewall’ during their anti-homophobic bullying campaign, ‘It gets better….. today.’ She also made a music video for her song ‘Firework,’ which she dedicated to the ‘It Gets Better Project.’ Perry has won five ‘American Music Awards,’ 14 ‘People’s Choice Awards,’ five ‘Billboard Music Awards,’ four ‘Guinness World Records,’ a ‘Brit Award,’ and a ‘Juno Award’ during her career. ‘Billboard’ named her the ‘Woman of the Year’ in September 2012. ‘Best Start on the US Digital Chart by a Female Artist,’ ‘First Female with Five Number One US Singles from One Album,’ ‘Most Twitter Followers,’ and ‘Singer to have Performed the Highest Rated and Most Watched Show in Super Bowl History.’
Perry has sold over 100 million records worldwide during her career, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. Katy Perry married actor Russell Brand in October 2010, however the marriage was short-lived after only two years. Later, she had a romance with singer John Mayer, but it was short-lived as well.
Perry has also been linked to artist Diplo and actor Orlando Bloom in the past. She announced her engagement to Bloom on Instagram on February 15, 2019, with a photo of a flower-shaped ring. She’s involved with a number of philanthropic organizations, including ‘UNICEF,’ ‘Keep A Breast Foundation,’ ‘The Humane Society of the United States,’ ‘MusiCares,’ ‘Young Survival Coalition,’ ‘Children’s Health Fund,’ and a number of others that aid people with cancer and HIV/AIDS.’ The artist is also a supporter of homosexual rights and believes that all people, regardless of sexual orientation, should be treated equally.
Estimated Net Worth
She was named to the ‘Forbes’ list of ‘Top-Earning Women In Music’ twice. Her net worth is believed to be approximately $330 million as of 2019.
Trivia
Frank Perry, the well-known producer and filmmaker, is her maternal uncle. Perry was exposed to a variety of musical influences as a teenager. One of her friends introduced her to the popular rock band ‘Queen,’ which she continues to like.
She is able to play both acoustic and electric guitar.
Kelly Clarkson and Jessie James Decker were among the artists to whom she penned and sold songs.