Katy Perry

Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson, born on October 25, 1984, grew up in a strictly religious family where secular pop music was out of the question. Nothing, therefore, suggests she would become one of the most successful singers of her time. In fact, in 2001, as Katy Hudson, she recorded her debut gospel album. Legend has it that it sold around 200 copies before the (small) label folded.

Seven years later, her real debut album finally arrived: One Of The Boys. Katy Perry, as she now calls herself, debuted with a catchy blend of pop and rock. It contained her first major hits, "I Kissed A Girl" and "Hot N Cold." It wasn't an easy birth, however. In the preceding years, the singer moved record labels several times, and a few entire albums were thrown in the trash.

The success of her "real" debut makes up for everything. Katy Perry spreads her wings further on the album Teenage Dream. She floats away on a cloud of funk, pop, disco, hip hop, dance, and rock. Whatever she does, Katy Perry proves to have the right voice and the right songs for it. Once again, the hits are pouring in: California Gurls – featuring rapper Snoop Dogg – Teenage Dream, Firework, and ET. In America alone, the album has sold over three million copies, and elsewhere in the world, it has also effortlessly achieved gold and platinum status.

In the years that followed, Katy Perry remained visible both as a celebrity and as a singer. Her 2013 album, Prims, demonstrated her creative growth. 2017's Witness was her foray into dance and electronica, while she considered 2020's Smile the light at the end of the tunnel. In previous years, she struggled with depression, partly due to the mixed reactions to Witness. From 2021 to 2023, she cemented her status as a seasoned pop diva with a long concert series in the glamorous city of Las Vegas. The relative silence on the album front was broken in 2024 with 143 – the letters that symbolize love. It was her seventh album to reach the top 10 of the US album chart.