Katy Perry

American singer and songwriter Katy Perry (real name Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson) was born in Santa Barbara in 1984. Katy was raised by pastor parents and she started to sing in the church choir. Right after the graduation from the school Perry decided to start a music career. The young singer was noticed by Nashville musicians, who taught her how to create songs. When Katy was seventeen, she moved to Los-Angeles and started to work on her album with producer Glen Ballard. In 2001 she released her debut record Katy Hudson: back then the singer performed under her real name. Later she took her mother’s maiden name, because she did not want people to mix her up with actress Kate Hudson.

In 2004 Katy collaborated with the band The Matrix, who needed the vocalist to record their album. In spite of the fact that this work was never completed, Perry was noticed and Blender magazine predicted her big future. Perry started to record a new album, however Columbia Records decided to cancel it, and being completed for eighty percent, that album was not finished. After collaborations with P.O.D., Carbon Leaf and Gym Class Heroes Katy was noticed by several record labels and in early 2007 she signed the contract with Capitol Music Group.

Perry started to work on the material for One of the Boys and she managed to create a bright image. Katy stated that the first single Ur So Gay (2007) was kind of an introduction. A year later she released another single I Kissed a Girl (2008) and it became an international hit in no time. Later Katy was invited to perform at the famous summer festival Warped Tour. Her album One of the Boys was issued in 2008 and it got fair reviews from the musical experts. One of the Boys was well-received by the music lovers and pretty soon it was certified Platinum. Katy started her career in a very confident way and in 2009 she strengthened her positions: the singer was nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the Grammy Awards for her composition I Kissed a Girl. Also in 2009 Perry released her live album MTV Unplugged which included two new songs: Brick by Brick and cover version of Hackensack by the rockers Fountains of Wayne.

In 2009 Katy started to work on her third album Teenage Dream. She collaborated with Greg Wells, Max Martin, Dr. Luke and many other musicians and producers while creating that record. Katy decided to keep the sound of the previous works, because she is absolutely satisfied with the style, which is not limiting her at all. Original sound and Katy Perry’s wonderful voice are the right ingredients to create the good music, and Teenage Dream proves that perfectly.