| Katy Perry | |
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Perry at the 2014 ARIA Music Awards
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| Born | Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson October 25, 1984 Santa Barbara, California, United States |
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| Spouse(s) | Russell Brand (m. 2010;div. 2012) |
| Relatives | Frank Perry (uncle) |
| Website | katyperry |
| Musical career | |
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| Years active | 2000–present |
| Labels | |
| Associated acts | The Matrix |
Katheryn Elizabeth "Katy" Hudson (born October 25, 1984), better known by her stage name Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. After singing in church during her childhood, she pursued a career in gospel music as a teenager. Perry signed with Red Hill Records and released her debut studio album Katy Hudson in 2001, which was commercially unsuccessful. She moved to Los Angeles the following year to venture into secular music after Red Hill ceased operations. After being dropped by The Island Def Jam Music Group and Columbia Records, Perry signed a recording contract with Capitol Records in April 2007.
Perry rose to fame in 2008 with the release of the singles "I Kissed a Girl" – which had attention-grabbing and somewhat controversial lyrics – and "Hot n Cold" from her second album, a pop rock record titled One of the Boys. Her third album, Teenage Dream (2010), ventured into disco, and contained the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping singles "California Gurls", "Teenage Dream", "Firework", "E.T.", and "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" as well as the number-three single "The One That Got Away". The album became the first by a female artist to produce five number-one Billboard Hot 100 songs, and the second overall after Michael Jackson's album Bad (1987). In March 2012, she reissued the album asTeenage Dream: The Complete Confection, which produced the songs "Part of Me" and "Wide Awake".
Her fourth album, Prism, was released in 2013, and is influenced by pop and dance. She became the first artist with multiple videos to reach one billion views on Vevo with the videos for its songs "Roar" and "Dark Horse" each gaining over one billion views. Her songwriting is mostly done in collaboration with others, especially Dr. Luke and Max Martin, and in songs such as "Firework" and "Roar" she stresses themes of self-empowerment and self-esteem. Perry is known for an idiosyncratic and fun-based sense of personal fashion that incorporates bright colors and food-based themes. Her concert performances feature elaborate stagings and costumes.
Perry has received many awards, including three Guinness World Records, and been included in the Forbes list of "Top-Earning Women In Music" (2011–15). Throughout her career, she has sold 11 million albums and 81 million singles worldwide. Perry has also made celebrity endorsements and released perfumes Purr, Meow!, and Killer Queen. In July 2012, she released an autobiographical documentary titled Katy Perry: Part of Me, which concentrated on her life as a touring artist and the dissolution of her brief marriage to English actor and comedian Russell Brand in the early 2010s.
Life and career
1984–98: Early life
Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson was born in Santa Barbara, California, to Pentecostal pastors Maurice Keith Hudson and Mary Christine Perry. Her parents are born again Christians, each having turned to God after a "wild youth". Perry has English, German, Irish, and Portuguese ancestry. Through her mother, she is a niece of film director Frank Perry. She has a younger brother named David, who is a singer, and an older sister, Angela.From ages 3 to 11, Perry often moved across the country as her parents set up churches before settling again in Santa Barbara. Growing up, she attended religious schools and camps, including Paradise Valley Christian School in Arizona and Santa Barbara Christian School in California during her elementary years. Her family struggled financially, sometimes using food stamps and eating from the food bank intended to feed the congregation at her parents' church.
Growing up, Perry and her siblings were not allowed to eat Lucky Charms as the term "luck" reminded their mother of Lucifer, and had to call deviled eggs "angeled eggs". Perry primarily listened to gospel music, as secular music was generally discouraged in the family's home. She discovered popular music through CDs she sneaked from her friends. While not strictly identifying as religious, Perry has stated, "I pray all the time – for self-control, for humility." Following her sister Angela, Perry began singing by practicing with her sister's cassette tapes. She performed the tracks in front of their parents, who suggested she take vocal lessons. She began training at age 9, and was incorporated into her parents' ministry, singing in church from ages 9 to 17 At 13, Perry was given her first guitar for her birthday, and publicly performed songs she wrote. She tried to "be a bit like the typical Californian girl" while growing up, and started rollerskating, skateboarding, and surfing as a teenager. David described her as a tomboy during her adolescence. She took dancing lessons and learned how to swing,Lindy Hop, and jitterbug.
Artistry
Influences
During the early stages of her career, Perry's musical style gravitated towards gospel and she aspired to be as successful as Amy Grant.[182] At the age of 15, she heardQueen's "Killer Queen" and has described it as being the song that inspired her to pursue a career in music.[183] She cites the band's frontman, Freddie Mercury, as her biggest influence and expressed how the "combination of his sarcastic approach to writing lyrics and his 'I don't give a fuck' attitude" inspired her music.[184] She paid homage to the band by naming her third fragrance Killer Queen.[176] Perry described The Beach Boys and their album Pet Sounds as having a considerable influence on her music: "[It] is one of my favorite records and it influenced pretty much all of my songwriting. All of the melody choices that I make are because of [it]."[185] The singer also holds the Beatles' albumThe Beatles in high esteem, and described these two albums as "the only things I listened to for probably two years straight."[186]
Perry cites Alanis Morissette and her 1995 album Jagged Little Pill as a significant musical inspiration, and opted to work with Morissette's frequent collaborator Ballard as a result. Perry stated, "Jagged Little Pill was the most perfect female record ever made. There's a song for anyone on that record; I relate to all those songs. They're still so timeless." Additionally, Perry borrows influence from Flaming Red by Patty Griffin and 10 Cent Wings by Jonatha Brooke.[187] Perry intends to become "more of a Joni Mitchell", releasing folk and acoustic music.[188] Perry's autobiographical documentary Katy Perry: Part of Me was largely influenced by Madonna: Truth or Dare. She admires Madonna's ability to reinvent herself, saying "I want to evolve like Madonna."[189]
Perry has listed multiple artists as having inspired her work. She names Gwen Stefani and Björk as influences, particularly admiring Björk's "willingness to always be taking chances".[187] "Firework" was inspired by a passage in the book On the Road by Jack Kerouac in which the author compares people who are full of life to fireworks that shoot across the sky and make people watch in awe.[190]Her second concert tour, the California Dreams Tour, was reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz.[191] She also credits the 1996 movie The Craft for being the influence behind her song "Dark Horse",[192] andEckhart Tolle's book The Power of Now for influencing Prism.
