Katy Perry Biography
Katy Perry is an American singer and songwriter who burst onto the music scene at 15. In 2001, her debut album "Katy Hudson" failed to chart, but her next record "One of the Boys", recorded in the pop-rock genre, made it to the top 10 of the Billboard 200.
Childhood
Katy Perry's real name is Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson. She was born on October 25, 1984, and was the second child of Maurice and Mary Hudson. Her parents were pastors in a Pentecostal church. Both had wild pasts: Mary once dated Jimi Hendrix, and Maurice experimented with acid with Timothy Leary.



Now they're used to my dark humor and constant sarcasm about everything. Even when I thought I was this devout Christian kid, they could see the real me. I think I only became whole when I left my parents' house. I had no idea there was a whole other world beyond all that church stuff—it was like Alice falling down the rabbit hole.
Beginning of Career
Katy's musical journey began thanks to her older sister's influence. She'd listen to and sing along with the church music tapes from her sister's collection. For her 13th birthday, Katy received an acoustic guitar as a gift from her parents and soon wrote her first original song.The musicians took her under their wing, inviting her to their recording studio where Katy Perry cut her first demos. They helped her perfect her guitar skills and craft compelling songs. In March 2001, Katy released her debut album "Katy Hudson", recorded in the Christian pop genre.




Breakthrough
In 2007, Capitol Records released Katy's EP "Ur so Gay". She had low expectations for the track – she'd recorded it just for fun. Some critics accused the lyrics of promoting homophobia and gay bashing, while others saw it as LGBT-positive. Katy's parents even criticized the song: "We hate this music. It promotes homosexuality, and according to the Bible, that's a grave sin."


Further Career
Katy Perry began working on her fourth solo album "Prism" in November 2012. In an interview with Vogue, she revealed that the new recordings would be "dark and full of disappointment" as she processed her personal experiences following her breakup with her husband (read more about this in the "Personal Life" section below). At the last moment, she completely rethought the concept - the new songs inspired self-improvement, overcoming difficulties, and moving forward.

In July 2017, Katy Perry's fifth studio album "Witness" was released, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 chart.

2019 proved to be a rough year for Katy. First, her engagement joy with Orlando Bloom was overshadowed by a plagiarism lawsuit. Rapper Flame considered the beat from Katy Perry's song "Dark Horse" to be plagiarism of his composition "Joyful Noise", released in 2008. The jury ordered the singer to pay her colleague $550,000.

Katy Perry beyond music
In 2009, Katy was invited to make a cameo in the comedy "Get Him to the Greek" with Russell Brand and Jonah Hill in the leading roles. Unfortunately, her scene ended up on the cutting room floor.The singer appeared in episode 15 of season 6 of the popular series "How I Met Your Mother". She played a sweet, naive girl who got Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) to unexpectedly open up.



Katy Perry's Personal Life
Early in her career, Katy Perry dated musician Justin York for about a year (from 2002 to 2003). After their breakup, she started a romance with Canadian musician Matthew Thiessen, which lasted until 2006.



On July 14, 2012, the couple finalized their divorce. As it turned out, the reason was Russell's jealousy – after seeing paparazzi photos of Katy holding hands with guitarist Robert Ackroyd, he flew into a rage. Brand himself claimed that he gave up on their marriage too early and considers it the biggest mistake of his life.


A couple of weeks later, they were caught kissing at an Adele concert. In April, they officially made their first public appearance as a couple at the Coachella music festival. That same summer, paparazzi photographed the couple during a canoe trip: Katy was in a bikini, and Orlando was completely naked.





Katy Perry Now
While embracing motherhood, Katy hasn't forgotten about her music. The day after the birth of her baby girl Daisy Dove, she released the album "Smile". In December of the same year, she surprised fans with the mini-album "Cosmic Energy", inspired by the rare astronomical event when Jupiter and Saturn aligned.
