Background

Ethnicity: Perry has English, German, Irish, and Portuguese ancestry.

Katy Perry was born Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson on October 25, 1984, in Santa Barbara, California, United States, to Keith Hudson and Mary Perry. She has two siblings, an elder sister, and a younger brother.

Education

Katy Perry received elementary education from institutions, such as Paradise Valley Christian School and Santa Barbara Christian School.

Perry started taking singing lessons around the age of 9 and learned to play guitar when she was 13. Around this time, she began rebelling against her strict upbringing by piercing her own nose. She soon became interested in pursuing a career in music.

With her mother, Perry made several trips to Nashville to record a gospel album, Katy Hudson, which was released in 2001. "It reached literally maybe 100 people, and then the label went bankrupt," Perry explained to Entertainment Weekly.

As a teenager, Perry was exposed to other musical influences. One friend introduced her to the music of Queen, which remains one of her favorite groups. "I'm very inspired by Freddie Mercury and how flamboyant and theatrical he was," she told fashion magazine WWD.

At Dos Pueblos High School, she strove to be her own person, choosing not to limit herself to one social group. "I was a hop-around. I hung out with the rockabilly crew, the guys who were trying to be rappers, the funny kids," she told Seventeen magazine.

Focused on her music, Perry got her General Educational Development (GED) and moved to Los Angeles to work with producer and songwriter Glen Ballard, who had collaborated with such artists as Christina Aguilera and Alanis Morissette. She was only 17 years old at the time and being on her own proved tough. "It was five years of living in Los Angeles with no money, writing bad checks, selling my clothes to make rent, [and] borrowing money," she told Seventeen.

Perry also experienced a string of disappointments before getting her big break. She and Ballard were unable to find a record company willing to take them on, and her 2004 collaboration with music producers-turned-performers The Matrix was scrapped shortly before the project was to be released. After having three record deals fall apart, Perry finally signed with Capitol Records in 2007.

Career

Following the November 2007 release of the single "Ur So Gay," which caught the attention of Madonna, Perry saw her career take off with her next effort, "I Kissed a Girl." The song hit the top of the charts in the summer of 2008, propelling Perry's album, One of the Boys, into the Billboard Top 10. A follow-up single, "Hot n Cold," also charted highly.

Along with earning a Best Female Pop Vocal Performance Grammy nomination, Perry became famous for her theatricality. On the Warped Tour, she performed "I Kissed a Girl" with a giant tube of lip balm, referencing a line in the song. Perry has also jumped into a larger-than-life cake and appeared in a number of wild outfits while onstage. Describing her style as "Lucille Ball meets Bob Mackie," she told Esquire, "It's about innuendo. I want everybody to get the joke, but I want them to think about it for a minute."

In 2009, Perry appeared in her own acoustic special on MTV. The soundtrack from the show, Katy Perry: MTV Unplugged, was released around the same time.

Picking up where she left off, Perry released a new single with Snoop Dogg, "California Gurls," in May 2010. The single shot to the top of the charts, paving the way for its accompanying studio album, Teenage Dream, to do the same.

Perry's follow-up singles, "Teenage Dream," "Firework," "E.T.," and "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" all followed the path of "California Gurls," making Perry just the second artist, after Michael Jackson, to have five No. 1 hits from a single album.

In 2012, she released a new edition of her hit album, called Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection. The record had several new tracks, including the successful singles "Part of Me" and "Wide Awake."

Perry continued to dominate the music charts with 2013's Prism. The album's lead single, "Roar," climbed to No. 1, and "Dark Horse," her collaboration with Juicy J, also spent several weeks in the top spot, pushing Perry past Mariah Carey for most total weeks with a No. 1 hit (46). The album's fifth and final single, "This Is How We Do," featuring Riff Raff, also performed well.

A few months after the release of "Chained to the Rhythm," with Skip Marley, Perry dropped her latest studio effort, Witness, in June 2017. Witness debuted in the top spot, giving the artist her third straight No. 1 album.

Despite the announcement of the supporting Witness: The Tour, scheduled to run from September 2017 to August 2018, the album's sales dropped in the following weeks; after her previous three albums racked up a combined 17 million in sales, Witness was at a relatively modest total of 840,000 as of January 2018.

The artist was back with new music by 2019, beginning with her collaboration with Zedd on "365." She then teamed with Daddy Yankee and Snow for a remix of "Con Calma," before unveiling her new solo single, "Never Really Over," in May.

On February 1, 2015, Perry was the featured performer during the Super Bowl XLIX halftime show. Along with appearances by guest artists Lenny Kravitz and Missy Elliott, the show was remembered for the seeming mismatched choreography of two dancers in shark costumes while Perry belted out "Teenage Dream." Overall, the performance drew a reported 118.5 million viewers, making it the most-watched Super Bowl halftime show to date.

In May 2017, Perry was announced as the first judge selected for the reboot of American Idol. She was later joined by country star Luke Bryan and R&B and pop singer Lionel Richie, with Ryan Seacrest also agreeing to return as host.

Perry had previously served as a guest judge on Idol in 2009, temporarily replacing Paula Abdul. Since then, she had turned down offers to appear on other singing competition shows, like The X Factor.

The pop star immediately made waves for her behavior during the two-part premiere of season 16 in March 2018: At one point she fell while dancing on stage in high heels, and at another moment she smooched a shy contestant who said he was saving his first kiss for someone special, drawing the ire of many on social media.

Perry later returned with Bryan, Richie, and Seacrest for seasons 17 and 18.

Achievements

• Throughout her career, Perry has won a huge number of awards including American Music Awards, People's Choice Awards, Billboard Music Award, Guinness World Records, Brit Award, and Juno Award. In September 2012, Billboard dubbed her the Woman of the Year.
  
  She has sold more than 100 million records globally, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time.
  
  Apart from writing and recording songs, Perry is also known for her philanthropic works. She is also an activist who promotes gay rights advocacy.

Works

More photos

• movie

  • Katy Perry The Movie: Part of Me 2012

• music

  • One of the Boys 2008
  • Teenage Dream 2010
  • Prism 2013
  • Witness 2017

Religion

Perry was brought up in a strict Christian household. Katy is still very religious, and she claims that her spirituality has helped her through some tough times.

Politics

Although Katy Perry has received criticism that songs "I Kissed a Girl" and "Ur So Gay" respectively promoted sexist and homophobic undertones, Perry continues to leverage her reach to champion the LGBTQ community.

In 2017, when President Donald Trump announced a ban on transgender people serving in the military, the singer fired back in a tweet with the hashtag #ProtectTransTroops. "ALL those who defend our right to live freely should be able to serve freely! There are THOUSANDS currently serving!"

The tweet came just four months after Perry took the podium at the Human Rights Campaign gala to accept the National Equality Award, explaining in her speech how she was taught in her childhood years that "homosexuality was synonymous with the word 'abomination.'" "I prayed the gay away at my Jesus camps," she added.

Perry has also been vocal about her support for same-sex marriage as well as pro-LGBT groups It Gets Better Project and The Trevor Project.

Perry and former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton share an enviable friendship - one that is rooted not only in similar values but also mutual admiration. In her bid for the presidency, the politician hosted rallies, fundraisers, and other related events attended by Perry herself. Conversely, Clinton has posed in Perry’s shoes to promote her eponymous collection.

In early November, with days to go before the election, the musician even joined Clinton at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia, where she helped give the campaign its final push to mobilize supporters in a battleground state.

Performing ahead of a backdrop that read "Love Trumps Hate," Perry was clad in a blue ensemble with a coat that had the words "I'm with Madam President" embellished across the back.

Despite the result of the presidential election, the two have remained close friends. Clinton even surprised Perry at the UNICEF Snowflake Ball later that year, presenting her with the humanitarian award and exchanging a tight embrace onstage.

Views

Katy Perry joined Unicef in 2013 to help children in Madagascar with education and nutrition and became its goodwill ambassador later that year.

Part of the money from her Prismatic World Tour in 2014 was donated to the UN charity.

Personality

Katy Perry was very rebellious when she was a teenager. She has a very strong personality and a sense of humor.

Physical Characteristics: Katy Perry has struggled with depression throughout her life.

Interests

• Reading, dancing, crocheting

• Politicians

  Hillary Clinton

• Writers

  Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

• Artists

  Angelina Jolie

• Sport & Clubs

  Running

• Music & Bands

  Queen, The Beach Boys

Connections

In 2009, Perry made tabloid headlines for her relationship with British comedian Russell Brand. They were engaged over the New Year's holiday while on a trip to India, and on October 23, 2010, the couple married in India in a traditional Hindu ceremony. According to The Times of India, the wedding featured a procession of camels, elephants, and horses, plus fire jugglers, snake charmers, dancers, and musicians. Their union, however, did not last long, as Brand filed for divorce in December 2011.

On February 15, 2019, Perry announced her engagement to actor Orlando Bloom with an Instagram photo that showed her flower-shaped ring. Just after midnight on March 5, 2020, Perry delivered another surprise announcement by revealing a baby bump at the end of her new video for "Never Worn White." On August 26, 2020, she gave birth to a daughter named Daisy Dove Bloom.

Father:

Keith Hudson

Mother:

Mary Perry

grandmother:

Ann Hudson

ex-spouse:

Russell Brand

(married 2010 - divorced 2011)

Daughter:

Daisy Dove Bloom

fiance:

Orlando Bloom

Friend:

Hillary Clinton

Friend:

Rihanna (Robyn Fenty)

Friend:

Selena Gomez

References

• Katy Perry on Instagram