Katy Perry

About Katy Perry

Katy Perry (born Katheryn Hudson on October 25, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actress. She is most notable for her singles, "Ur So Gay", released in 2007, and the Billboard Hot 100 #1 hit, "I Kissed a Girl", which was released in 2008, by Capitol Records.

Perry was born in Santa Barbara, California, USA. The middle child of two pastors, she grew up listening to gospel music and singing in church. After Steve Thomas and Jennifer Knapp signed Perry to their label, Red Hill Records, she released her first CD, Katy Hudson (2001), a Christian gospel album. In her teenage years, Perry found a Queen album with her friend, "and the heavens opened and saved me. From then on, they have been my biggest influence". Also among her musical influences are Heart and Joni Mitchell, as well as Paul Simon, King Crimson, Meshuggah, Whitechapel, John Cage, Cattle Decapitation, Slayer, AC/DC, Alanis Morissette and Wesley Willis.

In 2004, Perry became an in-house vocalist for the record production team The Matrix, who had previously worked with Avril Lavigne, Liz Phair, and Britney Spears, among others. Perry also began working on a debut mainstream album, writing with Glen Ballard, which was due for release in 2005; some of the collaborations included "Box" and "Diamonds," which were released on Perry's official MySpace page. Her burgeoning music career led to her being named "The Next Big Thing" in October 2004 in Blender Magazine, where Perry stated she wasn't "a typical Christian", mentioning that she had done "lots of bad things" during her adolescence. One of the tracks she recorded with Ballard, "Simple", was released on the soundtrack of the 2005 film The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants ("Simple"), She has openly talked about her struggles within the music industry, such as being dropped from record labels for much of her early career. Her songs eventually captured the attention of Virgin Records CEO Jason Flom, who was the head of Capitol Music Group, and she signed to Capitol Music in early-2007. Perry is now regularly heard on MTV, VH1, as well as commercials.