Katy Perry

Katheryn Elizabeth "Katy" Hudson (born October 25, 1984), better known by her stage name Katy Perry, is an American recording artist, businesswoman, philanthropist, and actress. She was born near Santa Barbara, California and grew up there before moving to Los Angeles. Having had limited exposure to mainstream pop music in her childhood, she pursued a career in gospel music as a teen and released her debut studio album, Katy Hudson (2001). She later recorded a collaborative album with The Matrix and a solo album she worked on with Glen Ballard, the latter of which was never released.

In April 2007, Perry signed a recording contract with Capitol Records. She rose to prominence with the release of her single "I Kissed a Girl" followed by her second album, One of the Boys (2008), which is predominantly pop rock. Perry's third record, Teenage Dream (2010), was preceded by the Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping singles "California Gurls" and "Teenage Dream", and later produced the number-one singles "Firework", "E.T.", and "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)". Teenage Dream became the first album recorded by a female artist in history to produce five number-one hits, and the second album overall after Michael Jackson's Bad (1987). The album features disco, electronic music, funk, and hip hop in addition to pop and rock. In March 2012, she re-released Teenage Dream as Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection, which was preceded by the number-one single "Part of Me". Her fourth album, Prism (2013), was preceded by the number-one single "Roar". The album was originally planned to be "darker" than Perry's previous material, but ultimately became an album influenced by Swedish dance music and focusing heavily on self-empowerment. The album later produced the number-one single "Dark Horse".

Perry has received numerous awards and nominations, including eleven Grammy nominations and Billboard dubbed her as 2012's Woman of the Year. She remains the only artist to spend 69 consecutive weeks in the top ten of the Hot 100. Perry is also the third best selling digital singles artist in US according to RIAA. She has ventured into celebrity endorsement and released fragrances Purr, Meow, and Killer Queen. In late July 2011, she made her film debut voicing Smurfette in The Smurfs. Billboard ranked Perry at number fourteen on their 2011 list of top moneymakers, grossing more than $11 million. In early July 2012, she released her 3D autobiographical documentary film, Katy Perry: Part of Me, which concentrated on her life as a touring artist and the breakdown of her one-year marriage to English actor/comedian Russell Brand. As of November 2013, Perry has sold more than 11 million albums and 81 million singles worldwide and her singles are some of the best-selling worldwide.