Katy Perry

Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson, born October 25, 1984, is an American singer-songwriter and television personality. Known for her influence on modern pop music and her zany style, she has been referred to as the "Queen of Camp" by Vogue. Perry started her career in gospel music at the age of 16, released her debut album Katy Hudson under Red Hill Records in 2001. It was not a success commercially. When she was 17, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue secular music. Then she took on the stage name "Katy Perry" and was named after her mother's maiden. She released an album when she was being signed to Columbia Records, but was dropped before signing to Capitol Records.She became famous through One of the Boys (2008) which was a pop rock record containing her debut single "I Kissed a Girl" and the follow-up single "Hot n Cold" which climbed to the top three spots on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 respectively. The disco-influenced pop album Teenage Dream (2010) spawned five U.S. number one singles--"California Gurls", "Teenage Dream", "Firework", "E.T. ", as well as "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F. )" --which became the first album featuring a female vocalist to have both songs. Teenage Dream:The Complete Confection (2012) was a reissue of this album. It was the source of "Part of Me", the U.S. number one single. Two of her empowerment-themed singles "Roar" (US number one) and "Dark Horse" (US number one) were released on Prism (2013). Perry's music videos were the first to surpass 1 billion views on Vevo. The electropop album Witness (2017) contained themes of feminism, as well as an underlying political message, while Smile (2020) was an expression of her new motherhood and her mental health struggles. Afterwards, she embarked on her Las Vegas concert residency titled Play (2021-present) which was a huge success, receiving critical acclaim and commercial success.