Katy Perry

Katheryn Elizabeth "Katy" Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known by her stage name Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, businesswoman, philanthropist, and actress. She was born and raised in Santa Barbara, California. Having had very little exposure to mainstream pop music in her childhood, she pursued a career in gospel music as a teen and released her debut self-titled studio album. She also recorded a second solo album which never received release. In 2007, she signed with Capitol Records and adopted her current stage name.

Her commercial breakthrough came when she released her first mainstream studio album One of the Boys (2008). This was preceded by the release of her single "I Kissed a Girl". Other singles included "Hot n Cold", "Thinking of You" and "Waking Up in Vegas". She embarked on the Hello Katy Tour in support of the album. She followed this up with her second studio effort Teenage Dream which was an instant commercial success, topping the album charts in several countries. It spawned five number-one hits on the Billboard Hot 100—"California Gurls", "Teenage Dream", "Firework", "E.T." and "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)"; it became the first album in history recorded by a female artist to achieve this, and the second album after Michael Jackson's Bad (1987). In support of the album, she embarked on the California Dreams Tour. Teenage Dream was re-released in March 2012 as Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection, which spawned an additional number one, "Part of Me".

Perry has received numerous awards and nominations. She has also been nominated for nine Grammy Awards and was named by Billboard 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. She has ventured into celebrity endorsement and released fragrances Purr, Meow and Killer Queen. She made her film debut voicing Smurfette in The Smurfs (2011). Perry was ranked at number fourteen on Billboard's list of top moneymakers of 2011, grossing more than $11 million. She was spotlighted in her own 3D autobiographical film Katy Perry: Part of Me (2012), which concentrated on her life as a touring artist and the breakdown of her one-year marriage to English comedian Russell Brand.