Katy Perry is the most famous woman on the planet. In fact,
her story reads like a pop icon fairytale, the making of a singer who was
destined for greatness. Her fame is now omniscient, as Perry recently surpassed
Justin Bieber as the most followed person on Twitter in the world. In 2014, she
became the first person to have 50 million Twitter followers, which landed her
in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Her star will rise even further in the sky when she plays
the Super Bowl halftime show on February 1, 2015, bringing her name and music
to the three remaining people on the planet who haven’t heard of her. In
celebration of the new queen of pop, here are 25 interesting facts about Katy
Perry.
1. Katy Perry was born October 25, 1984 in Santa Barbara,
California.
2. But that’s not her real name. Her birth name is Katheryn
Elizabeth Hudson. She later changed to a stage name, Kathryn Perry and then later
Katy Perry, using her mother’s maiden name to avoid confusion with actress Kate
Hudson.
3. Her parents were both Pentecostal Christian pastors and ran
a very strict household. Young Katy wasn’t allowed to watch cartoons like the
Smurfs (ironic because her first big movie role was the voice of Smurfette in
the movie The Smurfs) or eat Lucky Charms cereal because “Lucky” reminded her
mom of “Lucipher” too much. Her and her siblings were also not allowed to
listen to any popular music other than Christian music.
4. Her family was poor, moving often and using food stamps and
the local food bank to put food on the table.
5. So Katy started singing Christian music as a child, and at
16 years old released a Christian pop album under her real name, Katy Hudson.
She later said, “It reached literally maybe 100 people,' 'and then the label
went bankrupt.”
6. She studied Italian opera at the Music Academy of the West
for a time, as she has a contralto vocal range.
7. As a young teen, one of her big influences was Alanis Morissette’s
1995 album, Jagged Little Pill. She also credits Freddy Mercury and Queen as
influences.
8. During her high school freshman year, Katy completed her General
Educational Development (GED) requirement by age 15, and left behind Dos
Pueblos High School to pursue her career in music.
9. She moved to Los Angeles at 17 and was signed by Island Def
Jam Music Group to work on a new album, thought it was never released.
10. Her first hit song was 2008’s “I Kissed a Girl,” which
supposedly was inspired by her crush on actress Scarlett Johannson. The song
instantly launched her into stardom.
11. She appeared on the TV soap opera, Young and the Restless in
2008, playing herself.
12. Her third album, Teenage Dream (2010), produced three number
one singles It became the first album by a solo female artist to produce five
number-one Billboard Hot 100 songs, a record that sits behind only Michael
Jackson’s album Bad in 1987.
13. Perry has sold 11 million albums and 81 million singles
worldwide, making her one of the best-selling female artists or any artists of
all time.
14. She’s received uncountable awards and nominations, and holds
three Guinness World Records.
15. She was included on Forbes Magazine’s list of “Top-Earning
Women in Music” in 2011, 2012, and 2013.
16. Her famous song, "Firework" off her second album
was reportedly inspired by a passage in the book On the Road by Jack Kerouac in
which “the author compares people who are full of life to fireworks that shoot
across the sky and make people watch in awe.”
17. Perry has appeared as a guest judge on American Idol. The
show offered her $20,000,000 to be a full time judge on Idol’s 12th
season in 2013, but she turned them down.
18. She’s famous for her perfect figure and Hollywood cleavage,
thought she’s never had any plastic surgery.
19. Her boobs actually got her in trouble when she filmed a
segment for Sesame Street, in which she appeared in a low-cut top and pigtails.
However, after the segment was leaked on YouTube, there was such a reaction to
her cleavage that Sesame Street pulled the episode.
20. Perry met actor and comedian Russell Brand on the set of the
movie Get Him to the Greek, in which she had a scene where they shared a kiss,
though the scene was never included in the final cut.
21. They started dating and Brand proposed to her during the
Christmas and New Years holiday in 2009 when they were vacationing in India,
sitting atop an elephant and watching fireworks.
22. The marriage was a disaster and Brand filed divorce from her
after only one year. Perry later said that Brand ended their marriage by
sending her a text message saying he was filing for divorce.
23. They never spoke again after that, and a confused and
distraught Perry admitted she was depressed and contemplated suicide. But in
2012 she started a new relationship with singer John Mayer.
24. Perry is a huge supporter of the Democratic Party, meeting
Michelle Obama and contributing to the democratic campaign with fundraisers and
performances at political rallies. She actively encourages her Twitter
followers to vote and once appeared onstage in a dress that looked like a
voting ballot, with Obama’s box checked.
25. By all accounts, Perry is genuinely social consciousness and
altruistic. She was named a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 2013 and has
championed many causes that assist children in poverty. She’s donated a portion
of her ticket sales to UNICEF and is active with numerous foundations that
support children’s education. She’s also a huge advocate for LGBT civil rights
and HIV/AIDS awareness.
If you want to see something really cool, watch Perry sing a duet of 'Fireworks' with a young autistic girl who's a big fan at the Night of Too Many Stars.
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