Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Known for her influence on pop music and her camp style, she has been dubbed the "Queen of Camp" by Vogue and Rolling Stone. At age 16, Perry released the unsuccessful gospel album Katy Hudson (2001) under Red Hill Records. After moving to Los Angeles, she signed to Capitol Records and rose to fame with the pop rock album One of the Boys (2008). Its lead single, "I Kissed a Girl", topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Perry's disco-influenced pop record Teenage Dream (2010) became the only album by a woman to spawn five U.S. number-one singles: "California Gurls", "Teenage Dream", "Firework", "E.T.", and "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)". Its reissue, subtitled The Complete Confection (2012), produced the U.S. number-one single "Part of Me". The dance-inspired Prism (2013) yielded two U.S. number-one singles, "Roar" and "Dark Horse". Perry's subsequent albums, Witness (2017), Smile (2020) and 143 (2024), were met with varied critical and commmercial success. Perry is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with estimated sales of over 151 million records worldwide. She has seven diamond certifications from the Recording Industry Association of America. The world's highest-paid female musician in 2015 and 2018, she was named by Billboard as one of the greatest pop stars of the 21st century. Her accolades include 20 Guinness World Records, five Billboard Music Awards, five American Music Awards (including the Special Achievement Award), a Brit Award, a Juno Award, and seven MTV Video Music Awards (including the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award). Perry was the first artist to have multiple videos reach one billion views on YouTube. With an estimated net worth of $360 million, she is among the world's wealthiest musicians. Outside of music, Perry released an autobiographical documentary titled Katy Perry: Part of Me in 2012, voiced Smurfette in The Smurfs film series (2011–2013), launched her own shoe line Katy Perry Collections in 2017 and flew into space aboard Blue Origin NS-31 in 2025. She served as a judge on American Idol from the sixteenth season in 2018 to the twenty-second season in 2024. She is an advocate for LGBT rights and women's rights, and was named a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 2013. Her philanthropy and activism focus on children's education and HIV/AIDS awareness.
Life and career
1984–1999: Early life and family Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson was born on October 25, 1984, in Santa Barbara, California, to Pentecostal pastors Mary Christine (née Perry) and Maurice Keith Hudson. Both of her parents turned to religion after a "wild youth". Perry has English, German, Irish, and Portuguese ancestry. Through her mother, she is a niece of film director Frank Perry. She has a younger brother named David, who is also a singer, and an older sister, Angela. From ages three to 11, Perry frequently moved across the country as her very strict parents set up churches before settling again in Santa Barbara. Growing up, she attended religious schools and camps, including Paradise Valley Christian School in Arizona and Santa Barbara Christian School in California during her elementary years. The family struggled financially, sometimes using food stamps and eating food from the food bank which also fed the congregation at her parents' church. Growing up, Perry and her siblings were not allowed to eat the cereal Lucky Charms as the word "luck" reminded their mother of Lucifer, and were also required to call deviled eggs "angeled eggs". Perry primarily listened to gospel music, as secular music was generally discouraged in the family's home. She discovered popular music through CDs she smuggled home from her friends. Perry later recalled a story about how a friend of hers played "You Oughta Know" by Alanis Morissette, which influenced her songwriting and singing. While not strictly identifying as religious, she has stated, "I pray all the time – for self-control, for humility." Wanting to be like her sister Angela, Perry began singing by practicing with her sister's cassette tapes. She performed the tracks in front of her parents, who let her take vocal lessons like Angela was doing at the time. She began training at age nine; she was also incorporated into her parents' ministry, singing in church from ages nine to 17. At age 13, Perry was given her first guitar for her birthday, and publicly performed songs she wrote. She tried to "be a bit like the typical Californian girl" while growing up, and started rollerskating, skateboarding, and surfing as a teenager. Her brother David described her as a "tomboy" during her adolescence, which Perry talks about on her song "One of the Boys". She took dancing lessons and learned how to swing, Lindy Hop, and jitterbug. Perry completed her General Educational Development (GED) requirements early at age 15, during her first year of high school, and left Dos Pueblos High School to pursue a music career.
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