Katy Perry

Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson, known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality born on October 25, 1984. Recognized for her influence on pop music and her camp style, she has been dubbed the "Queen of Camp" by Vogue and Rolling Stone. Perry is among the world's best-selling music artists, having sold over 151 million records worldwide, and is one of the world's wealthiest musicians with an estimated net worth of $360 million.

Perry was born in Santa Barbara, California, to Pentecostal pastors Mary Christine (née Perry) and Maurice Keith Hudson. She has English, German, Irish, and Portuguese ancestry, and is the niece of film director Frank Perry. Growing up alongside her older sister, Angela, and younger brother, David, her family moved frequently across the country to set up churches before re-settling in Santa Barbara. Her strict religious upbringing included attending Christian schools, singing in her parents' ministry, and primarily listening to gospel music. At age 15, she completed her General Educational Development (GED) requirements and left high school to pursue a career in music.

At age 16, she released a gospel album titled Katy Hudson (2001) under Red Hill Records, which was commercially unsuccessful. She subsequently moved to Los Angeles, transitioned to secular music, and adopted the stage name Katy Perry using her mother's maiden name to avoid confusion with actress Kate Hudson. Over the next several years, Perry signed deals with Java Records and Columbia Records, though projects such as her planned albums Fingerprints and The Matrix were shelved, leading to her eventual departure from Columbia in 2006.

Perry signed with Capitol Records in April 2007. She achieved global fame with her pop rock album One of the Boys (2008), led by the Billboard Hot 100 number-one single "I Kissed a Girl", alongside the successful follow-up single "Hot n Cold". She supported the album with her first headlining world tour, the Hello Katy Tour, in 2009. That same year, she released the live album MTV Unplugged and hosted the MTV Europe Music Awards for the second consecutive year.

In 2010, Perry released her third studio album, Teenage Dream, preceded by the lead single "California Gurls". The record became the only album by a woman to yield five U.S. number-one singles, including "Teenage Dream", "Firework", "E.T.", and "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)". Her subsequent releases included the album re-issue The Complete Confection (2012), the dance-inspired album Prism (2013)—which produced the number-one singles "Roar" and "Dark Horse"—as well as the albums Witness (2017), Smile (2020), and 143 (2024).

Perry's music career accolades include seven RIAA diamond certifications, 20 Guinness World Records, five Billboard Music Awards, five American Music Awards, a Brit Award, a Juno Award, and seven MTV Video Music Awards. She was also named by Billboard as one of the greatest pop stars of the 21st century and was the world's highest-paid female musician in 2015 and 2018.

Outside of recording music, Perry starred in her 2012 autobiographical documentary Katy Perry: Part of Me, voiced Smurfette in The Smurfs film series, launched the shoe line Katy Perry Collections in 2017, and flew to space on Blue Origin NS-31 in 2025. She served as a judge on American Idol from 2018 to 2024. A UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 2013, Perry engages in activism and philanthropy focusing on LGBT rights, women's rights, children's education, and HIV/AIDS awareness.