Katy Perry

Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (October 25, 1984), known by her stage name as Katy Perry, is an American singer-songwriter. Perry rose to prominence with her 2008 single "I Kissed a Girl" which has become a worldwide hit.[4] She is known for her unconventional style of dress, often humorous, bright in color, and reminiscent of different decades, as well as her frequent use of fruit-shaped accessories, mainly watermelon as part of her outfits.[5] Perry has a contralto vocal range.[3]



Early life

Perry was born in Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara County, California, United States. The middle child of two pastors,[1] she grew up listening to gospel music and singing in church.[6] She graduated from Dos Pueblos High School, in Goleta, California, in 2003, and immediately moved to Los Angeles at age eighteen.[7] She changed her surname to Perry because "Katy Hudson" was too close to Kate Hudson.[8] Perry is her mother's maiden name.[1]

In her teenage years, Perry found a Queen album with her friend, and later said, "From then on, they have been my biggest influence."[9] Also among her musical influences are Alanis Morissette,[10][11] Heart and Joni Mitchell, as well as the Incubus album, "Morning View."[12] Perry's biggest influences are pop rockers Cher, Cyndi Lauper, Pat Benatar, Joan Jett and Shirley Manson, who, Perry says "came out with a vengeance."[13]

Perry dated Gym Class Heroes frontman Travis McCoy for almost a year; the two broke up in late 2008.[14]

Career

After Steve Thomas and Jennifer Knapp signed Perry to their label Red Hill Records, she released her first CD Katy Hudson in 2001, a Christian gospel album.[15] In 2004, Perry worked for the record production team The Matrix. Perry also began working on a debut mainstream album, writing with Glen Ballard, which was due for release in 2005; some of the collaborations included "Box," "Diamonds" and "Long Shot," which were released on Perry's official MySpace page. Her burgeoning music career led to her being named "The Next Big Thing" in October 2004, in Blender magazine, where Perry stated she was not "a typical Christian," mentioning that she had done "lots of bad things" during her adolescence.[16] One of the tracks she recorded with Ballard, "Simple," was released on the soundtrack to the 2005 film, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.[17] In 2006, Perry appeared on P.O.D.'s single, "Goodbye for Now."[18] She has openly talked about her struggles within the music industry, such as being dropped from record labels for much of her early career. Her songs eventually captured the attention of Virgin Records CEO Jason Flom, who was the head of Capitol Music Group, and she signed to Capitol Music in early-2007.




One of the Boys (2008-present)
Main article: One of the Boys (Katy Perry album)

After signing to Capitol Records, Perry began recording for her official mainstream debut album, released in 2008, working with Cathy Dennis, Greg Wells, Dr. Luke, Butch Walker, Max Martin, Dave Stewart and Ted Bruner. The full-length album, titled One of the Boys, was released in the USA on June 17, 2008.[19] Perry was an act in the 2008 Vans Warped Tour to promote the album.
The album was preceded by a digital EP in late 2007, entitled "Ur So Gay," produced by and co-written with Greg Wells (OneRepublic, Mika). A video for the song premiered in early 2008 and brought Perry to the attention of Madonna, who mentioned her on KISS FM and KRQ's JohnJay & Rich morning show in Arizona, stating that "Ur So Gay" was her "favorite song right now,"[20] as well as another mention on Ryan Seacrest's Morning Show. "Ur So Gay" has been criticized for alleged homophobia.[21][8][22][23]

On April 29, 2008, her first official single from One of the Boys, "I Kissed a Girl", debuted on the iTunes Store. The song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at #76, climbing to #1 as of June 25, 2008. It has peaked on iTunes Top 100 at #1, as of June 3, 2008. The music video for "I Kissed a Girl" was released on May 21, 2008, on MySpace. An essay in Slant Magazine argues that the song "isn't problematic because it promotes homosexuality, but because its' appropriation of the gay identity exists for the sole purpose of garnering attention—both from Perry's boyfriend and her audience."[23]

In addition, she has had songs from the album featured on MTV's series The Hills ("Self Inflicted", "Waking Up In Vegas" and "Thinking of You"), on Oxygen Network's reality series, Fight Girls, and on the 2008 film, Baby Mama ("Fingerprints"). She even sang Breakout and The Driveway for the backup vocals for Miley Cyrus' album, Breakout.

As an actress, she made a cameo appearance on Carbon Leaf's video, "Learn to Fly," and on Gym Class Heroes' video, "Cupid's Chokehold," playing the eventual love interest for her real-life boyfriend, lead singer Travis McCoy.[24] On March 10, 2008, she appeared as herself on the ABC Family television series, Wildfire, on the episode "Life's Too Short".[25] She has appeared in print advertisements for Too Faced Cosmetics' Spring 2007 line. On June 12, 2008, Perry appeared as herself on the daytime soap opera, The Young and the Restless, who poses for the cover of the fictional magazine, Restless Style; that same day she appeared on MTV's, Total Request Live.

Perry released the second single, "Hot N Cold," on September 9, 2008.[26] This became Katy's second top-five hit in the USA, also reaching #7 in the UK, a month before its' release.

Controversies

Her two songs, "Ur So Gay" and "I Kissed a Girl", have been cited as being homophobic as well as misandric, by Glenn Sacks,[27] and gay periodicals.[28][29] MSNBC contributor Tony Sclafani wrote: "The litmus test of hypocrisy here is that if you substituted a different minority in Perry’s tunes, they’d never get airplay. "I Kissed a Black Guy," or "Ur So Korean" would not be, "Top 40." For that matter, a song called, "I Kissed a Boy," sung by a male, would probably die on the vine."[30] Chicago Sun-Times columnist Laura Berman defended the lyrics as positive, arguing that the interest caused by the song, "suggests that our society is beginning to accept that there isn't always one box, gay or straight, for people to check."[31]

Perry responded to the controversy about, "Gay," with, "It’s not a negative connotation. It’s not, 'you're so gay,' like, 'you're so lame,' but the fact of the matter is that this boy should’ve been gay. I totally understand how it could be misconstrued or whatever...I wasn’t stereotyping anyone in particular, I was talking about ex-boyfriends."[29]

Anti-knife campaigners criticized Perry after a publicity photo of her clasping a switchblade emerged in June 2008,[32] which was criticized for glamourising knives.[33] The shoot was defended as an effort to give Perry a, "sexy, harder edge."[33]

Perry stated that since the successes of British singer-songwriters Amy Winehouse and labelmate Lily Allen more female artists have been appearing on the charts. She also said that Winehouse and Allen, "have introduced America to great music."[34] Allen told a British radio station that, "I happen to know for a fact that she was an American version of me," because their record company needed, "to find something controversial and 'kooky' like Lily Allen." Allen also called Perry's lyrics, "crass."[35] On 9 December Perry apologized to Allen for remarks in which she called herself a, “skinnier version,” of Allen saying she meant it as a joke.[36]