Claim: Katy Perry sang in church when she was a child

Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson -LRB- born October 25 , 1984 -RRB- , known professionally as Katy Perry , is an American singer and songwriter . 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 under her birth name in 2001 , which was commercially unsuccessful . She moved to Los Angeles the following year to venture into secular music after Red Hill ceased operations and she subsequently began working with producers Glen Ballard , Dr. Luke , and Max Martin . After adopting the stage name Katy Perry and being dropped by The Island Def Jam Music Group and Columbia Records , she 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 sparked controversy for its sapphic themes -- and `` Hot n Cold '' from her second album , a pop rock record titled One of the Boys . Her third album , Teenage Dream -LRB- 2010 -RRB- , 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 -LRB- T.G.I.F. -RRB- '' 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 songs in the U.S. , and the second overall after Michael Jackson 's album Bad . In March 2012 , she re-issued the album as Teenage 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 '' .   Perry has received many awards , including four Guinness World Records , a Brit Award , and a Juno Award , and been included in the Forbes list of `` Top-Earning Women In Music '' -LRB- 2011 -- 2016 -RRB- . Her estimated net worth as of 2016 is $ 125 million . She is one of the best-selling musical artists of all time , having sold 100 million records globally throughout her career . In film , she released an autobiographical documentary titled Katy Perry : Part of Me in 2012 , and voiced Smurfette in the 2011 film The Smurfs and its sequel in 2013 .