Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), better known by her
stage name Katy Perry, is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Perry was born in Santa
Barbara, California, and raised by Christian pastor parents; she grew up
listening to only gospel
music and sang in church as a child. After earning a GED during her freshman year of high school, she
began to pursue a music career. She released a self-titled gospel album in 2001 as Katy
Hudson which failed with the closing of its record label that year. She
recorded an
album with production team The Matrix and completed
most of a solo album from 2004–2005, neither of which
were released.
After signing on with Capitol Music Group in 2007, her fourth
record label in seven years, she adopted the stage name Katy Perry and released
her first Internet single, "Ur So
Gay", that November, which garnered attention but did not chart. She rose to
fame with her second single "I Kissed a Girl" in 2008, which topped
international charts. Perry's first mainstream album One of the Boys followed
later that year and was eventually announced to be the thirty-third best selling
album of 2008 worldwide. It was accredited
platinum certification by the Recording Industry
Association of America; "I Kissed a Girl" and her second single "Hot N Cold"
both received multi-platinum certifications. She became known for wearing
unconventional style of dress, often combining colors and vintage fashion. Her
next album, Teenage Dream, is scheduled to be released in August
2010.
Perry had a long relationship with Travis McCoy; she is currently engaged to Russell Brand. Katy Perry was born Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson in Santa
Barbara, California. The
second child of two pastors, she has an
older sister and younger brother. Her Evangelical mother, Mary
Hudson (née Perry), grew up in Southern
California and had "a tempestuous first marriage in Zimbabwe." Her
father was a West Coast scenester in the 1960s.
Perry's maternal aunt and uncle were screenwriter Eleanor Perry and director Frank Perry,
through whom she is also related to Charles M. Schwab, the founder of the Bethlehem Steel
Corporation. Perry is
of Portuguese and
German
ancestry on her mother's side.
Perry was incorporated to her parents' ministry; she sang
in their church from ages 9 to 17. She grew
up listening to gospel
music and was
not allowed to listen to what her mother called secular music.
Perry attended Christian schools and camps. As a
child, Perry 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 after her freshman
year of high school and decided to leave school to pursue a career in music. Perry
initially started singing "because I was at that point in my childhood where I
was copycatting my sister and everything she did." Her sister
practiced with cassette tapes, and Perry 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 at age nine to 16. She enrolled in at the Music
Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, and studied Italian opera for a short time. At the age of 15, Perry's singing in church attracted the attention of rock
veterans from Nashville, Tennessee, who brought her
there to polish her writing skills. In
Nashville, Perry started recording demos and was taught by country music veterans on how to craft songs and
play guitar.
Perry 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 Gospel-rock album in 2001. The
album was unsuccessful, however, after the label ceased operations at the end of
2001. She
later changed her surname to Perry, her mother's maiden name, because "Katy
Hudson" was too close to film actress Kate Hudson. At
the age of 17, Perry 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.
Perry 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.
Perry signed to Columbia Records in 2004. However, the label
was not amenable with her vision, not putting her in the "driver's seat".
Instead, one of Columbia's ideas was to pair Perry with the record production team
The Matrix, who was working
on an album, to serve as its female vocalist. Although the album was later
shelved, she
caught the attention of the music press: Her burgeoning music career led to her
being named "The Next Big Thing" in October 2004 by Blender
magazine. With
no album project ongoing, Perry began recording her own. Eighty percent
completed, however, Columbia decided not to finish it and dropped her off the
label.
While waiting to find another label, she worked in an independent A&R company called
Taxi Music. In 2006, Perry 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 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 Capitol Music
Group, who signed her to Capitol Music in early 2007.
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