Katy Perry

Katy Perry
Perry at the UNICEF Snowflake Ball in New York City, November 2012
Background information
Birth name	Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson
Also known as	Katy Hudson
Born	October 25, 1984 (age 28) Santa Barbara, California, U.S.
Genres	Pop, rock, electronic
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, actress, entrepreneur
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano
Years active	1999–present
Labels	Red Hill, Island, Columbia, Virgin Capitol
Associated acts	The Matrix
Website	www.katyperry.com

English: Katy Perry at MTV Video Music Awards 2011. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Katy Hudson” redirects here. For the album, see Katy Hudson (album). For the Australian fashion designer, see Katie Perry.Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson^[1] (born October 25, 1984), known by her stage name Katy Perry, is an American recording artist, songwriter, and actress. Perry was born and raised in Santa Barbara, California. Having had very little exposure to mainstream pop music in her childhood, she pursued a career in gospel music, as a teen, under her birth name and released her debut self-titled studio album. She also recorded a second solo album which never received release. In 2007, she signed with Capitol Records and adopted her current stage name.

Perry’s commercial breakthrough came when she released her first mainstream studio album One of the Boys (2008). This was preceded by the release of her first single “I Kissed a Girl“. Other singles included “Hot n Cold“, “Thinking of You” and “Waking Up in Vegas“. Perry embarked on theHello Katy Tour in support of the album. She followed this up with her second studio effort Teenage Dream which was an instant commercial success, topping the album charts in several countries. It spawned five number-one hits on the Billboard Hot 100—”California Gurls“, “Teenage Dream“, “Firework“, “E.T.” and “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)“; it became the first album in history recorded by a female artist to achieve this, and the second album after Michael Jackson‘s Bad (1987). In support of the album, she embarked on the California Dreams Tour.^[2] Teenage Dream was followed by a re-release titled The Complete Confection that spawned an additional number one, “Part of Me“.

Perry has received numerous awards and nominations; she has been nominated for nine Grammy Awards and was named by Billboard as 2012’s Woman of the Year.^[3] She has sold 11 million albums and 75 million digital tracks worldwide.^[4]^[5] Perry remains the only artist to spend 69 consecutive weeks in the top ten of the Hot 100.^[6] Perry has ventured into celebrity endorsement and released her signature fragrance Purr. She made her film debut voicing Smurfette in The Smurfs (2011). Perry was ranked at number fourteen on Billboard’s list of top moneymakers of 2011, grossing more than $11 million.^[7] She was spotlighted in her own 3D biopic-concert film Part of Me (2012), which concentrated on her life as a touring artist and the breakdown of her one-year marriage to British comedian Russell Brand.