Katheryn Elizabeth "Katy" Hudson (born October 25, 1984), better known by her stage name
Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, businesswoman, philanthropist, and actress. She was born near
Santa Barbara, California and primarily grew up there before moving to
Los Angeles. Having had limited exposure to mainstream pop music in her childhood, she pursued a career in
gospel music as a teen and released her debut studio album,
Katy Hudson (2001). She later recorded a collaborative album with
The Matrix and a solo album she worked on with
Glen Ballard, the latter of which was never released.
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Katy Perry
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Born
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Residence
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Other names
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Katy
Hudson
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Occupation
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Singer
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songwriter
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actress
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businesswoman
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philanthropist
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Home town
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Santa
Barbara, California, U.S.
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Net worth
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US
$75 million (estimate as of June 2013)[1]
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Spouse(s)
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Musical career
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Instruments
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Years active
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1997–present
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Associated acts
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Life and career
1984–98: Early life and career beginnings
Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson was born near
Santa Barbara, California, to
Pentecostal pastors Mary Christine (Perry) and Maurice Keith Hudson of Keith Hudson Ministries. Her younger brother
David is the lead singer of the band Hudson.
She and David have one older sister named Angela. Keith is of English
descent while Mary is of Irish, Portuguese, English, and German descent.
Through Mary, she is a half-niece of film director and producer
Frank Joseph Perry, Jr.
As children, she and her siblings attended religious schools and camps,
including Santa Barbara Christian School for their elementary years.
Her parents often traveled from town to town with their ministry,
eventually settling in Santa Barbara by 1995. For her 13th birthday, she
got her first guitar and began writing songs.
The family lived in poverty and "barely got by" while she was growing
up, she would publicly play her guitar and sing songs to make money
during her early teenage years.
She was also incorporated into her parents' ministry and sang in churches between the ages of nine and 16. She grew up listening primarily to
gospel music,
as her parents discouraged her, David, and Angela from listening to too much "secular music". As a child, some of the only secular artists she was allowed to listen to were
Ella Fitzgerald and
Billie Holiday, as well as the music of
Édith Piaf due to her mother being able to speak
French.
According to Perry, there was a strange "hall pass" with their music,
due to her parents' belief that it was less harmful than most secular
music.
During her early teens, Perry would rely on her friends to sneak in CDs to listen to and would watch
MTV at their houses without her parents' knowledge, which led to her discovery of most popular music.
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.
Perry initially started singing because she was in the middle of a
phase where she was "copycatting" her sister Angela. Growing up, she
often took cassette tapes Angela practiced with and rehearsed the songs
and performed them in front of their parents. They suggested she take
vocal coaching. She took the opportunity and began taking lessons at the
age of nine and continued until she was 16.
1999–2006: Katy Hudson and The Matrix
At 15, Perry, singing in church, attracted the attention of rock veterans from
Nashville, Tennessee, who brought her there to polish her writing skills.
[2] In December 1999, she took her
GED after her first semester of her freshman year at
Dos Pueblos High School and decided to leave school in the pursuit of a career in music. Perry briefly studied Italian opera at the
Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara.
[20] In Nashville, she started recording
demos and was taught by
country music veterans how to craft songs and play
guitar.
[15][16] Perry signed to the Christian music label
Red Hill Records. She recorded and released her debut album, titled
Katy Hudson, on February 8, 2001. Two singles were released from the album; "Trust in Me" in February 2001, and "Search Me" in June 2001.
[21] She supported this album with
The Strangely Normal Tour, opening for
Phil Joel,
LaRue,
Luna Halo,
Earthsuit, and
V*Enna.
[22] The album was commercially unsuccessful and only sold an estimated 200 copies. The label ceased operations in December 2001.
[2]
At the age of 17, Perry left her home for
Los Angeles, California in the hopes of pursuing a music career, before signing a record deal with
Island Records.
[23] Having grown up listening to mostly gospel music, she had few references when she began recording songs.
[15]
Asked by a producer with whom she would like to collaborate, Perry had
no idea. In September 2002, she went with her mother to a hotel. Inside,
she turned on
VH1 and first heard about producer
Glen Ballard when watching him talking about
Alanis Morissette that night, prompting her interest in working with Ballard. He produced Morissette's
Jagged Little Pill, which had a "huge influence" on her.
[2]
She expressed interest in working with Ballard to her initial
collaborator, who arranged a meeting for her with Ballard in Los
Angeles. Perry presented one of her songs to Ballard, who then helped
develop her songwriting over the next few years.
[15] In 2003, she briefly performed as "Katheryn Perry" to avoid confusion with actress
Kate Hudson before adopting the stage name "Katy Perry". Perry was subsequently dropped by
The Island Def Jam Music Group, and signed to
Columbia Records in 2004.
[2] The same year, Perry provided backing vocals on
Mick Jagger's song "
Old Habits Die Hard",
[24] which won the
2005 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.
[25]
However, according to Perry, the label at Columbia Records was not
amenable with her vision and did not give her full creative control.
Instead, one of Columbia's ideas was to pair her with the
record production team
The Matrix,
who was working on an album, to serve as its female vocalist. Eighty
percent completed, however, Columbia decided not to finish it. The album
ended up being shelved. Her burgeoning music career led to her being
named "The Next Big Thing" in October 2004 by
Blender magazine.
[26]
A solo album she had worked on with Ballard was scheduled for release
on August 18, 2005 but was cancelled and Perry was subsequently dropped
from Columbia Records.
[27] Some of her collaborations with Ballard, such as "Box", "Diamonds", and "Long Shot", were posted on her official
MySpace page.
[2] "Simple", one of the songs she recorded with Ballard, was released on the soundtrack to the 2005 film
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.
[28] Kelly Clarkson later used "Long Shot" (which Perry wrote with then-boyfriend
Matt Thiessen and Ballard)
[29] for her March 2009 album
All I Ever Wanted. While waiting to find another label, she worked in an independent
A&R company called Taxi Music.
[2] In early 2006, she sang backing vocals on
P.O.D.'s single "
Goodbye for Now" and was featured in the music video.
[30] Late that November, she played the love interest of her then-boyfriend
Gym Class Heroes lead singer
Travie McCoy in the band's music video for "
Cupid's Chokehold"
Philanthropy
Perry attending the UNICEF Snowflake Ball in late November 2012
During the Warped Tour in December 2008, Perry had a cast made of her breasts to raise money for the
Keep A Breast Foundation.
[169] In June 2009, she designed an item of clothing for
H&M's "Fashion Against AIDS" campaign, which raises money for
HIV/AIDS awareness projects.
[170]
In late September 2010, she helped build and design the Boys Hope/Girls
Hope foundation in Baltimore for youth shelter along with
Raven-Symoné,
Shaquille O'Neal, and the cast of
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
[171] She dedicated the music video to her October 2010 single "
Firework" to the
It Gets Better Project,
[172] and supported
Stonewall during their "It gets better..... today" campaign to prevent homophobic bullying.
[173]
During her California Dreams Tour, Perry raised over $175,000 for the
Tickets-For-Charity fundraiser. The money was divided between three
charities: the
Children's Health Fund (CHF), Generosity Water, and
Humane Society of the United States.
[174] EMI donated a signed album by Perry herself for an auction for the
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Auckland. The auction closed on May 31, 2011.
[175] In February 2012, Perry donated the proceeds from her single "Part of Me" to the charity
MusiCares, which helps musicians in times of need.
[176] On October 13, 2012, she performed her song "Firework" with an autistic fan named at Comedy Central's
Night of Too Many Stars.
[177] In early December 2012, Perry was awarded the Trevor Hero Award by
The Trevor Project for her work and activism for
LGBT youth.
[178] In early April 2013, she worked with
UNICEF and traveled to Madagascar to assist children with education and nutrition.
[179] Later that month, she appeared in a video clip for the "Chime For Change" campaign that aims to spread female empowerment.
[180] On October 23, 2013, she hosted and performed at the We Can Survive concert along with her friends
Bonnie McKee,
Kacey Musgraves,
Sara Bareilles,
Ellie Goulding, and duo
Tegan and Sara at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, California. The concert's profits went towards
Young Survival Coalition, an organization aiding breast cancer in young women.
[181] On December 3, 2013, Perry was officially named a
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador,
"with a special focus on engaging young people in the agency's work to
improve the lives of the world's most vulnerable children and
adolescents". In an official press release, UNICEF said "We are
delighted that she is joining us as UNICEF's newest Goodwill Ambassador
and lending her remarkable voice to amplify the voices of children and
young people around the world".
[182] On March 29, 2014, Perry helped raise $2.4 million for the
Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles along with numerous celebrities such as
Ryan Seacrest,
Pharrell Williams,
Tim Allen,
Lisa Edelstein, and
Riley Keough.
[183] In early May 2014, Perry and a selection of other artists recorded a cover version of the song "
Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for Two)" for a concept album to accompany painter
Mark Ryden's art exhibition, titled "The Gay 90s". All profits from sales of the album will be donated to the charity
Little Kids Rock, which supports musical education in underprivileged elementary schools.
[109]
A portion of the money generated from tickets on the second leg (June —
October 2014) of her Prismatic World Tour will go to UNICEF,
[184] Autism Speaks,
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and
Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
[185]
Personal life
Religious beliefs and spirituality
Having been raised by two Pentecostal pastors, Perry confirmed in
Katy Perry: Part of Me that she still keeps a religious connection with
God, although is less devout than her parents. She described her relationship with God as "one-on-one".
[2] Perry follows
Transcendental Meditation. She told
Elle in October 2013 she said that she tries to practice the technique as often as she can.
[155] Later that month with
W Magazine,
Perry said: "I try and keep my connection with G-O-D or with a power
that's bigger than me. It's important – otherwise, you don't have any
kind of accountability" and that "for me, accountability works".
[124] She told
Toronto Star
in early December 2013 "My God has changed over the years. Absolutely. I
believe there's this 'bigger than me' thing that's looking after me. I
don't believe in like God as a really old guy with a beard on a gold
throne" and that "I don't believe in heaven or hell as a destination. In
fact, the terms of what I believe are still up for debate because I'm
still on a journey and I don't even know if I'm going to get to my
destination".
[186] Marie Claire
announced the following week that Perry said "I'm not Buddhist, I'm not
Hindu, I'm not Christian, but I still feel like I have a deep
connection with God."
[128]
Relationships
While working on her collaborative record with Glen Ballard, Perry dated
Relient K
lead singer Matt Thiessen, who co-wrote tracks with the two. Thiessen
later commented that it "sucks for me" that the tracks they wrote were
never released.
[29] She dated late actor
Johnny Lewis from 2005 to 2006. Lewis died in late September 2012.
[187] She later began dating rapper Travie McCoy in November 2006, with their relationship ending in late December 2008.
[188] Shortly before their relationship ended,
New York Daily News reported that she had become engaged to McCoy. Perry responded "NOT engaged! But thanks for the free press
New York Daily News! You should fact check with the source before you spread worldwide news like that."
[189]
She first met Russell Brand during the summer of 2009 when she filmed a cameo appearance for his film
Get Him to the Greek (which ultimately did not make the final cut).
[190] The two began dating after meeting again in September 2009 at the
2009 MTV Video Music Awards.
[191] The couple became engaged on New Year's Eve 2009 while vacationing in
Rajasthan, India.
[192] They married on October 23, 2010, in a traditional
Hindu ceremony near the
Ranthambhore tiger sanctuary in Rajasthan.
[193]
After fourteen months of marriage, Brand filed for divorce on December
30, 2011, citing irreconcilable differences. The marriage was legally
dissolved in July 2012.
[194] Katy Perry: Part of Me revealed that their conflicting career schedules and him wanting children before she was ready led to the end of the marriage.
[2] In June 2013, she revealed to
Vogue
that Brand did not like the idea of her "being the boss" of things and
never spoke to her again after sending a text message that he was
divorcing her.
[132] She also told
Billboard in late September 2013 that she was initially so distraught over the divorce that she contemplated
suicide.
[195]
Perry began an
on-again, off-again relationship with singer John Mayer in August 2012.
[196] She denied engagement rumors during a January 2014 interview with
GQ, stating "There's no rush."
[13] Their relationship ended in late February 2014.
