Katy Perry (born Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson; October 25, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter. She has risen to prominence with her 2008 single "I Kissed a Girl" which has become a worldwide hit topping the charts in more than 20 countries, including United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Ireland, and the United States, where it was the 1000th Billboard Hot 100 number 1. Perry has stated in the press that it's thanks to successful British singer-songwriters Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen that more female artists had been appearing on the charts.

She went on to say that Winehouse and Allen "have introduced America to great music". She is known for her unconventional style of dress, often humoristic, bright in color and reminiscent of different decades, as well as her frequent use of fruit-shaped accessories, mainly watermelon as part of her outfits. Perry has a contralto vocal range.

Perry was born in Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara County, California, USA. The middle child of two pastors, she grew up listening to gospel music and singing in church. She graduated from Dos Pueblos High School in Goleta, California in 2003 and immediately moved to Los Angeles at the age of 18. After Steve Thomas and Jennifer Knapp signed Perry to their label Red Hill Records, she released her first CD Katy Hudson in 2001, a Christian gospel album.

In her teenage years, Perry found a Queen album with her friend, and later said, "From then on, they have been my biggest influence". Also among her musical influences are Alanis Morissette, Heart, and Joni Mitchell, as well as the Incubus album Morning View. She changed her surname to Perry because "Katy Hudson" was too close to Kate Hudson. Perry is her mother's maiden name. Perry's biggest influences are pop rockers Cher, Cyndi Lauper, Pat Benatar, Joan Jett, and Shirley Manson, who, Perry says, "came out with a vengeance".

In 2004, Perry worked for the record production team The Matrix, who had previously worked with Avril Lavigne, Liz Phair, Hilary Duff, Skye Sweetnam, Korn and Britney Spears, among others. Perry also began working on a debut mainstream album, writing with Glen Ballard, which was due for release in 2005; some of the collaborations included "Box", "Diamonds" and "Long Shot," which were released on Perry's official MySpace page. Her burgeoning music career led to her being named "The Next Big Thing" in October 2004 in Blender Magazine, where Perry stated she wasn't "a typical Christian", mentioning that she had done "lots of bad things" during her adolescence.

One of the tracks she recorded with Ballard, "Simple", was released on the soundtrack of the 2005 film The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. In 2006, Perry appeared on P.O.D.'s single, "Goodbye for Now". She has openly talked about her struggles within the music industry, such as being dropped from record labels for much of her early career. Her songs eventually captured the attention of Virgin Records CEO Jason Flom, who was the head of Capitol Music Group, and she signed to Capitol Music in early-2007. Perry is now regularly heard on MTV, VH1, as well as commercials. She most recently appeared on the MTV VMA Awards singing Madonna's hit single, "Like a Virgin".

Her two songs, "Ur So Gay" and "I Kissed a Girl", have been cited as being homophobic as well as misandric by columnists, activists, and commentators including Glenn Sacks, and gay periodicals like the Washington Blade.

MSNBC contributor Tony Sclafani wrote "The litmus test of hypocrisy here is that if you substituted a different minority in Perry’s tunes, they’d never get airplay. 'I Kissed a Black Guy' or 'Ur So Korean' would not be Top 40. For that matter, a song called 'I Kissed a Boy,' sung by a male, would probably die on the vine".

Others, such as Chicago Sun-Times columnist Dr. Laura Berman, find the lyrics positive, arguing that "the fact that this song [I Kissed a Girl] is sparking so much interest" suggests that our society is beginning to accept that there isn't always one box, gay or straight, for people to check".

Perry responded to the controversy about "Gay" with "It’s not a negative connotation. It’s not 'you're so gay', like 'you're so lame', but the fact of the matter is that this boy should’ve been gay. I totally understand how it could be misconstrued or whatever... I wasn’t stereotyping anyone in particular, I was talking about ex-boyfriends".

In October 2008 a picture arose in the UK tabloids of her holding a three inch blade inches from her face, She later apologized, the photo was taken in 2005 and Katy never ment it to get onto the internet.