Katy Perry

Who is Katy Perry?

Katy Perry (born Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson on 25 October 1984 in Santa Barbara, California) is an American singer and songwriter who became one of the defining and best-selling pop stars of the 2010s. With a string of era-defining anthems and a flair for bold, candy-coloured spectacle, she has sold more than 100 million records worldwide.

Early life and gospel roots

The middle child of two travelling Pentecostal pastors, Perry grew up in a strict religious household and began singing in church, releasing a gospel album as a teenager under her birth name. She later adopted her mother's maiden name, Perry, to avoid confusion with the actress Kate Hudson, and set out to make secular pop.

Breakthrough

After years of false starts, she broke through with the 2008 album One of the Boys and its provocative smash "I Kissed a Girl", which topped the US charts and made her an overnight star.

The Teenage Dream era

Her 2010 album Teenage Dream made history as the only album by a woman to spawn five US number-one singles — "California Gurls", "Teenage Dream", "Firework", "E.T." and "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" — matching a record previously held only by Michael Jackson's Bad. She followed it with Prism (2013) and its global hits "Roar" and "Dark Horse".

Stardom and accolades

Perry headlined one of the most-watched Super Bowl halftime shows in history (2015), served as a judge on American Idol, and continued releasing albums including Witness, Smile and 143. Her trophy cabinet includes five American Music Awards, fourteen People's Choice Awards, a Brit Award, a Juno Award and numerous Grammy nominations, alongside a clutch of Guinness World Records.

Recent work

In 2026 she returned with Watch It Burn, a big, arena-built pop anthem that reaffirms her command of the shout-it-back chorus.