Katy Perry

Perry for Restless Style Magazine (2008)

**Katy Perry** (born: **Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson**; October 25, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter. She is noted for her fashion, which is often humorous, bright in colour, reminiscent of different decades, and has often included food designs.

## Biography

### Early life

She was born on October 25, 1984 near Santa Barbara, California, the second child of Pentecostal pastors Maurice Keith Hudson and Mary Christine Perry. Katy has a younger brother, David, and an older sister, Angela. She has Portuguese, English, German, and Irish ancestry.

While Katy Perry was growing up, she became a part of her parent’s ministry and sang in church from the age 9 to 17.

She grew up listening to gospel music and had limited exposure to what her mother called secular music. Katy attended Christian schools and camps. As a child, she learned how to dance in a recreation building in Santa Barbara. She was taught by seasoned dancers and began with swing, Lindy Hop, and jitterbug. She took her GED during her freshman year at Dos Pueblos High School, leaving school to pursue a career in music. Katy initially started singing «because I was at that point in my childhood where I was copycatting my sister and everything she did.» Angela practiced with cassette tapes, and Katy took the tapes herself when her sister was not around. She rehearsed the songs and performed it to her parents, who suggested she should take voice lessons. She grabbed the opportunity and began taking lessons.

### Recording career

#### 1999—2006: Career beginnings

At the age of 15, Katy’s singing in church attracted the attention of rock veterans from Nashville, Tennessee, who brought her there to polish her writing skills. In Nashville, she started recording demos and was taught by country music veterans on how to craft songs and play guitar. Katy signed to the Christian music label Red Hill, under which she recorded her first album at the age of 15. Performing as Katy Hudson, she released the self-titled album in 2001. The album was unsuccessful, however, after the label ceased operations in December 2001.

She later started using Perry, her mother’s maiden name, as a stage name because Katy Hudson was too close to film actress Kate Hudson. At the age of 18, Katy left her home for Los Angeles, where she worked with Glen Ballard on an album for record label Island. The album was due for release in 2005, but Billboard reported it also went nowhere. She was dropped by Island Def Jam Music Group. Some of Perry and Ballard’s collaborations included "Box", "Diamonds", and "Long Shot", were posted on her official Myspace page. "Simple", one of the songs she recorded with Ballard, was released on the soundtrack to the 2005 film *The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants*.

While waiting to find another label, she worked in an independent A&R company called Taxi Music. In early 2006, she was featured in the tail-end of the video to P.O.D.'s single "Goodbye for Now". She made a cameo appearance in Carbon Leaf’s video, "Learn to Fly", and in late November 2006 appeared in Gym Class Heroes' video, "Cupid’s Chokehold", playing the eventual love interest of lead singer Travis McCoy. Her songs eventually captured the attention of Virgin Records CEO Jason Flom, then head of Columbia Records, who signed her to Columbia Records in early 2007.

#### 2007—2009: *One of the Boys*

After signing to Capitol Records, Katy began recording tracks for her second studio album *One of the Boys*, and establishing her image was one of the immediate concerns of her management. On March 10, 2008, she appeared as herself on the ABC Family television series, *Wildfire*, on the episode Life’s Too Short.

While the buzz over Katy Perry was building, she went on the next step of promoting the album, undertaking a two-month tour of radio stations. The album’s official lead single, "I Kissed a Girl", was released in April 2008 and she was 23 years old at the time. With the song reaching the top 10 of the charts, they "establish her as a credible performer and make sure she isn’t seen as just a one-hit wonder". The single was a commercial success, peaking at eight on the *Billboard Hot 100*. It has since become a major worldwide hit. On June 12, 2008, she appeared as herself on the daytime soap opera, *The Young and the Restless*, and poses for the cover to the June 2008 issue of the fictional magazine *Restless Style*.

*One of the Boys* was released on June 16, 2008 to mixed critical reviews. The album has reached number 1 on the *Billboard* 200, Her second single, "Hot N Cold", became her second top 10 single in the United States where it reached number one on the *Billboard Hot 100,* being her first number 1. Perry then launched her first headlining tour, the Hello Katy Tour, in July 2008.

During the summer of 2009, Katy Perry filmed a guest appearance for *Get Him to the Greek*. Her scene was cut, and does not appear in the final film. After the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, she would begin dating and later become engaged to Russell Brand, who starred in the film. They married on October 23, 2010. He filed for divorce on December 30, 2011, and notified her through text that their marriage was over. The two never spoke to each other again.

In early 2009 there were rumours Perry was working on her second album set to be released a year later, in 2010.