b. Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson, 25 October 1984, Santa Barbara, California, USA. Sporting provocative songs about kissing girls and metrosexual boyfriends, one-time teenaged gospel singer Katy Perry became one of the biggest stars of the late ‘00s with a voice and veneer summoning shadows of Amy Winehouse, but with a punk pop bent, glossy sheen, bubblegum pinup style, and an affinity for 1980s rock themes.
The middle child of two ministers, Katheryn Hudson initially followed the path divine. Her debut release in 2001, a self-titled affair issued under the name Katy Hudson, was a simple, reverent rendering of Christian-themed classics. However, by the middle of the decade, she began to rebel against her upbringing, finding comfort in the flamboyant gender-bending of the late Freddie Mercury, in the poetic authority questioning of Alanis Morissette, and in her new nom de plume Katy Perry. Stints with producers Glen Ballard and The Matrix failed to produce fruit, but in 2007, her fluttering ode to her somewhat effeminate beau, “U R So Gay,” started to pop up on radio, earning Perry a minor acclaim. However, this was mere prelude to the force of nature that was the titillating single “I Kissed a Girl” (not to be confused with Jill Sobule’s 1995 alt-folk hit of the same name). The ultra-catchy pop ode to drunken sexual experimentation (and cherry chapstick) rocketed to the top of the charts in the U.S., U.K., and over a dozen countries by the middle of 2008. While the song was a success and Perry became one of the hottest summer tour attractions (often paired with then-boyfriend Travis McCoy of Gym Class Heroes), the quasi-novelty nature of the song could have consigned the barretted singer to one-hit wonder countdowns.
However, the follow-up single, “Hot N Cold,” was both (bravely) no mere carbon copy of her breakthrough hit, and a runaway smash in its own right. Her second number one hit on both sides of the Atlantic, helped propel her 2008 Capitol Records debut, ONE OF THE BOYS, to Platinum status in the U.S. Meanwhile, Perry’s success began to breed some controversy (if minor), including public criticism from her mom for promoting sinful themes and a soft-shoe tiff with label-mate Lily Allen.
While Perry was notably snubbed at the 2009 Grammys in the Best New Artist category, she did get nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, and wowed the house with a snazzily choreographed performance. She fared even better at the Brit Awards, winning a statue for Best International Female Solo (however, a well-reported illness prevented her full enjoyment of the night). As the press for ONE OF THE BOYS started to die down, Perry announced her intent to shift gears on her next record, calling her 2008 coming out LP a diary of her from age 17 to 25.
