It has since sold over 12 million copies worldwide, being her highest-selling album to date. It became the album’s third consecutive number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on December 8, 2010. Perry released her first single with Capitol, “I Kissed a Girl”, on April 28, 2008, as the lead single from One of the Boys. The former criticized its homosexual theme, while the latter accused her of using bi-curiosity to sell records. In response to speculation that her parents opposed her music and career, Perry told MTV News that they had no problems with her success.

Loved it but could have been better

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• One of the songs she had recorded for her album with Ballard, “Simple”, was featured on the soundtrack to the 2005 film The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.

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• Her album One of the Boys (2008), featuring the hit “Hot N Cold,” sold more than three million copies in the United States.

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• Perry identifies as a feminist, and appeared in April 2013 in a video clip for the “Chime for Change” campaign that aimed to spread female empowerment.

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• Outside of recording music, Perry appeared as herself in the film Zoolander 2, which was released in February 2016.

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• Perry provided backing vocals on Mick Jagger’s song “Old Habits Die Hard”, which was included on the soundtrack to the 2004 film Alfie.
• She received a Guinness record for most Twitter followers, and became the first person to gain 100 million followers on the site in June 2017.

Perry embarked on her first headlining world tour, the Hello Katy Tour, from January to November 2009 to support One of the Boys. Perry also hosted the 2009 MTV Europe Music Awards that November, becoming the first person to host two consecutive ceremonies of the European awards. After recording the stripped-down live album MTV Unplugged (2009), Perry returned to the studio. In April, Perry was included on a remix of Daddy Yankee’s song “Con Calma”, featuring Snow. She followed this with the singles “Never Really Over” on May 31, “Small Talk” on August 9, and “Harleys in Hawaii” on October 16.

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Perry is among the wealthiest musical artists; during September 2023, Forbes surmised her net worth was $340 million. She performed at three rallies for Obama, in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Wisconsin, singing a rendition of “Let’s Stay Together” as well as a number of her songs. During the early stages of her career, Perry’s musical style gravitated towards gospel, and she aspired to be as successful as Amy Grant. Growing up, she could not listen to secular music, but at 17 a friend played her a recording of “Killer Queen” by Queen, which had a profound effect on her. Four months later, she released a new single, “Electric”, a collaboration with Pokémon as part of its 25th anniversary. Her brother David described her as a “tomboy” during her adolescence, which Perry talks about on her song “One of the Boys”.

Fans Choose Katy Perry’s ‘Bandaids’ as This Week’s Favorite New Music

Other artists who Perry has cited as influences include Stevie Nicks, ABBA, the Cardigans, Whitney Houston, Cyndi Tuuri Lauper, Ace of Base, 3OH! Her second concert tour, the California Dreams Tour, was reminiscent of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. She also credits the 1996 film The Craft for inspiring her song “Dark Horse”, and Eckhart Tolle’s book The Power of Now for influencing Prism.

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• In April, Perry was included on a remix of Daddy Yankee’s song “Con Calma”, featuring Snow.

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• In addition, after Devine suggested that songwriting team the Matrix become a “real group”, she recorded an album, The Matrix, with them.
• 3’s song “Starstrukk” in September 2009, and on a duet with Timbaland entitled “If We Ever Meet Again”, from his album Shock Value II, three months later.

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• She performed at three rallies for Obama, in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Wisconsin, singing a rendition of “Let’s Stay Together” as well as a number of her songs.

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• She followed this with the singles “Never Really Over” on May 31, “Small Talk” on August 9, and “Harleys in Hawaii” on October 16.

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• She hosted the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards in November and won the award for Best New Act.

February 2019: A Proposal

Teenage Dream became the first album by a female artist to produce five number-one Billboard Hot 100 singles, and the second album overall after Michael Jackson’s Bad. Although Perry’s music incorporates elements of pop, rock, and disco, Katy Hudson contains gospel. Many of her songs, particularly on Teenage Dream, reflect on love between teenagers; W magazine described the album’s sexual innuendos as “irresistible hook-laden melodies”. Perry chose to release it as a standalone track rather than save it for her album “because now more than ever, there is a need for our world to unite”. At the 2009 Brit Awards the next month, she won the award for International Female Solo Artist.

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She also became the first artist to have three songs receive Diamond certifications from the RIAA in 2017 with “Dark Horse”, “Firework”, and “Roar”. When “Teenage Dream” and “E.T.” received Diamond certifications in 2024, Teenage Dream became the first and only album in history with four Diamond-certified songs on its tracklist. Perry’s albums One of the Boys, Teenage Dream, Prism, Witness, and Smile have each surpassed one billion streams on Spotify. Perry’s music has been described by Out as having a “lasting legacy”, with American singers Fletcher sampling “I Kissed a Girl” and Olivia Rodrigo referencing Teenage Dream on “Brutal”. On February 10, 2017, Perry released the album’s lead single “Chained to the Rhythm” featuring Skip Marley.
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On June 17, 2014, Perry announced that she had founded her own record label under Capitol Records, titled Metamorphosis Music. Ferras was the first artist to get signed to her label, and Perry served as an executive producer on his self-titled EP. Transitioning from gospel music to secular music, Perry started working with producer Glen Ballard, and moved to Los Angeles at the age of 17.
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• She made a greater splash several months later with the single “I Kissed a Girl,” an assertive ode to sexual curiosity backed by a hard-edged electro-pop beat.
• Perry embarked on her first headlining world tour, the Hello Katy Tour, from January to November 2009 to support One of the Boys.

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• Perry later recalled a story about how a friend of hers played “You Oughta Know” by Alanis Morissette, which influenced her songwriting and singing.

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• The following month, her music video for “Roar” reached 1 billion views on Vevo, making her the first artist to have multiple videos with 1 billion views.

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• In 2010, she recalled that “Thinking of You” was one of the first songs she wrote after moving to Los Angeles.

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• Perry’s initial efforts at mainstream stardom were fruitless, with two separate record labels signing and subsequently dropping her before any material was released.

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April 2018: Meeting the Pope

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Perry provided backing vocals on Mick Jagger’s song “Old Habits Die Hard”, which was included on the soundtrack to the 2004 film Alfie. She recorded background vocals on P.O.D.’s single “Goodbye for Now”, was featured at the end of its music video in 2006, and performed it with them on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. At 16, Perry released a gospel album titled Katy Hudson (2001) under Red Hill Records, which was unsuccessful. She moved to Los Angeles at 17 to venture into secular music, and later adopted her stage name from her mother’s maiden name. Perry recorded an album while signed to Columbia Records, but was dropped before signing to Capitol Records. Perry’s initial efforts at mainstream stardom were fruitless, with two separate record labels signing and subsequently dropping her before any material was released.