Katy Perry

Edgy and non-typically including herself in the good girl image, Katy Perry may be one great example of the future musician. Born on October 25, 1984 in a strict Christian family, Perry was later known for her song "Ur So Gay". Her parents are two devoted pastors who directed their daughter into singing in churches or local restaurants. Perry said that her mother used to ban her from listening to what they call "secular music." Thus, young Perry was apt in gospel music until one day during a slumber party she heard the voice of Freddie Mercury.

Inspired by the Queen frontman's singing style, she was then opened up to another possible side of music, although it was not until much later that this side of her came out as her main music style. At the age of 15, Perry moved from her hometown of Santa Barbara, California to Nashville to work closely with songwriters. Steve Thomas and Jennifer Knapp later signed her to Red Hill Records to work on her debut album which used her real name "Katy Hudson". The set featured Christian songs and was released in 2001.

At 17, she met Glen Ballard, a man behind the extreme success of Alanis Morissette on album "Jagged Little Pill". Citing Morissette as one of her musical influences, Perry found comfort in working with Ballard. In 2004, she became the vocalist of The Matrix production team and recorded several songs with Ballard that made her be dubbed "The Next Big Thing" by Blender magazine. Through her sessions with Ballard, Perry was noticed by Capitol Music executive Jason Flom, who then agreed to sign her to the label in spring 2007.

By joining the massive record label, Perry was introduced to a number of renowned musicians such as Greg Wells, Butch Walker, Dr. Luke and Max Martin. In November 2007, she offered free download of "Ur So Gay" on her MySpace account. It was an instant hit, but it was the second single titled "I Kissed a Girl" that propelled her to chart success. The latter song was used in an episode of teen drama series "Gossip Girl", thus prompted it to climb up the Billboard Hot 100 chart to No. 2.

Perry constantly added her live experience by scoring the opening act slots for big singers like Mika and The Starting Line. Her full-length debut album "One of the Boys" then hit the U.S. stores on June 17, 2008, peaking at No. 9 on Hot 100 chart.

While pursuing a singing career, Perry met Travis McCoy when she recorded a song in a studio in New York and dated him soon afterwards. They played a couple in Gym Class Heroes' "Cupid's Chokehold" music video. After dating casually for several years, she was given a promise ring in 2008, but they broke up several months later. They rekindled their romance in April 2009, only to go their separate ways again a few months later.

In summer 2009, Perry was romantically linked to British comedian Russell Brand. She first met him on the set of his movie "Get Him to the Greek" and ran into each other again at MTV Video Music Awards. She was proposed by the funnyman on New Year's Eve of 2010 during a trip to India, and talks about their impending wedding have swirled around the web since.

Perry and Brand were married on October 23, 2010 in a traditional Hindu ceremony near the Ranthambhore tiger sanctuary in Rajasthan, India. Besides moving on to a new love, Perry rushed a new album "Teenage Dream". The second studio album featured six hit singles titled "California Gurls", "Teenage Dream", "Firework", "E.T.", "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F)" and "The One That Got Away". The first five ruled Hot 100 and the last peaked at No. 3. The album was the second in history to have five No. 1 songs after Michael Jackson's "Bad".

During her hectic career as a performer, she lent her voice in 2011's 3D animated movie "The Smurfs" as Smurfette. The film was a massive success despite gaining negative reviews. It collected more than half a billion dollars across the globe in ticket revenues. She reprised the role in the second installment two years later.

Unfortunately, her love life was not as bright as her career. After 14 months of marriage, Brand filed for divorce in December 2011. The divorce was finalized and became official in July 2012 following a mandatory six-month waiting period. She later revealed in an interview that Brand informed her about the divorce via text message and they never spoke again. However, a month after the divorce, Perry began a romantic relationship with singer John Mayer.

Despite her heartbreak, she continued to travel across the globe until January 2012. She was nominated for five awards for her tour which featured extravagant decorations and costumes. She won three awards, including Choice Music: Tour at Teen Choice Awards and Favorite Tour Headliner at People's Choice Awards. Her "Teenage Dream Tour" was then filmed to be an autobiographical flick called "Katy Perry: Part of Me", which was quite a success in theaters.

Afterwards, Perry slowed down a bit. While she was no longer touring and promoting any song, she was working hard to put together her next album titled "Prism". Its lead single "Roar" was preceded the LP and debuted at No. 1 on Hot 100 chart. The album was released on October 18, 2013, and it received positive reviews from fans and critics.

Perry split from Mayer in February 2014 while gearing up for her tour in support of "Prism". She kicked off "Prismatic World Tour" in May 2014 and concluded it in October 2015. Thanks to the trek's great success, Perry won Top Package Award at the 2014 Billboard Touring Awards. In November 2014, the NFL announced that Perry would perform at the Super Bowl XLIX halftime show on February 1, 2015. Two days after the show, the Guiness World Records announced Perry's performance as the most watched and highest rated show in Super Bowl history, even surpassing the viewership of the game itself.

In January 2016, Perry was romantically linked to actor Orlando Bloom following dating rumors which were sparked after they met at the Golden Globes afterparty. Amidst her new romance, Perry was quite busy supporting presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. She performed on the final day of Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, where she also made a powerful speech in support of Clinton. As presidential election drew near, Perry took sometime apart from her new boyfriend to campaign for Clinton. It sparked split rumors between the new Hollywood couple, but it wasn't until early 2017 that the pair announced the end of their romance, just days after they were spotted together at the exclusive Vanity Fair Oscar party.

Perry started to work on her fifth studio album in June 2016. She revealed that she wanted to make material "that connects and related and inspires." She took her sweet time while making the album, experimenting musical styles, collaborators and producers. On February 10, 2017, she released a song titled "Chained to the Rhythm" featuring Skip Marley which serves as her new album's lead single. Perry performed the song for the first time at the 59th Grammy Awards.

The second single which was Migos-assisted track called "Bon Appetit", was released two months later in April. On May 15, Perry announced that her fifth album would be titled "Witness". Along with the announcement, she shared the tour dates in support of her latest effort. "Witness: The Tour" kicks off in Columbus on September 7, 2017 and runs through February 5, 2018.

The third single titled "Swish Swish" featuring Nicki Minaj was released on May 19. Speculations about the new single being a diss track aimed at Perry's nemesis Taylor Swift have since swirled around, despite Perry's claim that her new project would be an "empowering record." A day after releasing "Swish Swish", Perry performed the song and "Bon Appetit" on "Saturday Night Live". "Witness" features 15 tracks and will be released on June 9, 2017. Additionally, Perry has been confirmed as one of the judges on ABC's reboot of "American Idol" in 2018.