Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (October 25, 1984), known by her stage name as Katy Perry, is a Grammy Award nominated, American singer-songwriter. Perry rose to prominence with her 2008 single "I Kissed a Girl" which has become a worldwide hit.She is known for her unconventional style of dress, often humorous, 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, United States. 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 eighteen.She changed her surname to Perry because "Katy Hudson" was too close to Kate Hudson.Perry is her mother's maiden name.
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.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".
Her two songs, "Ur So Gay" and "I Kissed a Girl", have been cited as being homophobic as well as misandric by Glenn Sacks and gay periodicals.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".Chicago Sun-Times columnist Laura Berman defended the lyrics as positive, arguing that the interest caused by the song "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".
Anti-knife campaigners criticized Perry after a publicity photo of her clasping a switchblade emerged in June 2008,which was criticized for glamourising knives.The shoot was defended as an effort to give Perry a "sexy, harder edge".
Perry stated that the success of British singer-songwriters Amy Winehouse and labelmate Lily Allen more female artists have been appearing on the charts. She also said that Winehouse and Allen "have introduced America to great music".Lily Allen told a British radio station that "I happen to know for a fact that she was an American version of me" because their record company needed "to find something controversial and kooky like Lily Allen". Allen also called Perry's lyrics "crass".On 9 December Perry apologized to Allen for remarks in which she called herself a “skinnier version” of Allen saying she meant it as a joke.
Katy is currently dating Travis McCoy of the band Gym Class Heroes and has her own blog,Kitty Purry. |
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