Katy Perry – Ms. “I Kissed A Girl”
Katy Perry
Katy Perry (born Katheryn Hudson[1][2] on October 25, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actress. She is most notable for her singles, “Ur So Gay“, released in 2007, and the worldwide smash hit, “I Kissed a Girl” which in 2008 topped the Billboard Hot 100, Canadian Hot 100, the Australian ARIA Charts and has so far peaked at #4 on the Worldwide Charts.
| Katy Perry | |
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Katy Perry performing at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas.
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Katheryn Hudson |
| Born | October 25, 1984 Santa Barbara, California, USA[1] |
| Genre(s) | Pop, pop rock, rock |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, singer-songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar |
| Years active | 2001–present |
| Label(s) | Capitol Music Group |
| Website | www.katyperry.com |
Early life
Perry was born in Santa Barbara, California, USA. The middle child of two pastors,[1] she grew up listening to gospel music and singing in church.[3] After Steve Thomas and Jennifer Knapp signed Perry to their label Red Hill Records, she released her first CD Katy Hudson in 2001, a Christian gospel album.[4] According to several Christian radio stations, Katy Perry’s most recent album One of The Boys has raised a considerable amount of controversy as two of her singles “Ur So Gay” and “I Kissed A Girl” deal with same-sex issues that conflict with her Christian upbringing. In her teenage years, Perry found a Queen album with her friend, “From then on, they have been my biggest influence”.[5] Also among her musical influences are Alanis Morissette[6] as well as Heart and Joni Mitchell[7]. Perry changed her surname to Perry because “Katy Hudson” was too close to Kate Hudson[8]. Perry was her mother’s maiden name.[1].
Early career
In 2004, Perry became an in-house vocalist for the record production team The Matrix, who had previously worked with Avril Lavigne, Liz Phair, and Britney Spears, among others. Perry also began working on a debut mainstream album, writing with Glen Ballard, which was due for release in 2005; some of the collaborations included “Box” and “Diamonds,” which were released on Perry’s official MySpace page. Her burgeoning music career led to her being named “The Next Big Thing” in October 2004 in Blender Magazine, where Perry stated she wasn’t “a typical Christian“, mentioning that she had done “lots of bad things” during her adolescence.[9] One of the tracks she recorded with Ballard, “Simple”, was released on the soundtrack of the 2005 film The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.[10] She has openly talked about her struggles within the music industry, such as being dropped from record labels for much of her early career. Her songs eventually captured the attention of Virgin Records CEO Jason Flom, who was the head of Capitol Music Group, and she signed to Capitol Music in early-2007. Perry is now regularly heard on MTV, VH1, as well as commercials. She most recently appeared on the reality TV show ‘So You Think You Can Dance,’ singing her hit, “I Kissed a Girl”.
Capitol Records
After signing to Capitol Records, Perry began recording for her official mainstream debut album, released in 2008, working with Greg Wells, Dr. Luke, Butch Walker, Max Martin and Cathy Dennis. The full length album titled One of the Boys was released in the USA on June 17, 2008.[11]
The album was preceded by a digital EP in late 2007, entitled “Ur So Gay“, produced by and co-written with Greg Wells (OneRepublic, Mika). A video for the song premiered in early 2008, and brought Perry to the attention of Madonna, who mentioned her on KISS FM & KRQ’s JohnJay & Rich morning show in Arizona, stating that “Ur So Gay” was her “favorite song right now,”[12] as well as another mention on Ryan Seacrest’s Morning Show. “Ur So Gay” has been criticized for alleged homophobia.[13][8][14][15]
On April 29, 2008, her first official single from One of the Boys, “I Kissed a Girl“, debuted on the iTunes Store. The song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at #76, climbing to #1 as of June 25, 2008. It has peaked on iTunes Top 100 at #1, as of June 3, 2008. The music video for “I Kissed a Girl” was released on May 21, 2008 on MySpace. The song has generated controversy due to its popularity with children and its depiction of sexuality, homosexuality, and/or promiscuity.[16] In contrast, an essay in Slant Magazine argues that the song “isn’t problematic because it promotes homosexuality, but because its appropriation of the gay lifestyle exists for the sole purpose of garnering attention—both from Perry’s boyfriend and her audience.”[15]
In addition, she has had songs from the album featured on MTV’s series, The Hills (“Self Inflicted”, “Waking Up In Vegas” and “Thinking Of You”), on Oxygen Network’s reality series, Fight Girls, and on the 2008 film Baby Mama (“Fingerprints”). She was also featured on P.O.D.’s 2006 single “Goodbye for Now“.
As an actress, she made a cameo appearance on Carbon Leaf’s video “Learn to Fly” and on Gym Class Heroes‘ video “Cupid’s Chokehold“. [17] On March 10, 2008, she appeared as herself on ABC Family’s Wildfire (episode titled “Life’s Too Short”).[18] She has appeared in advertisements for Too Faced Cosmetics’ Spring 2007 line. On June 12, Perry appeared as herself on the popular daytime soap opera, The Young & The Restless, and on MTV’s TRL.
Albums
- 2001: Katy Hudson
- 2008: One of the Boys
EPs
- 2007: Ur So Gay
Singles
| Year | Title | Album | Chart positions[19] | Worldwide Points | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. | U.S. Pop |
U.S. Mod |
AUS | NZ | CAN | BRA | GER | UK | EU | WW | ||||
| 2007 | “Ur So Gay“ | One of the Boys | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2008 | “I Kissed a Girl“ | 1 | 1 | 27 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 14 | - | - | - | 4 | 1,267,000 (+) | |
| “Hot n Cold“ | 88 | — | — | — | — | 66 | - | - | - | — | — | |||
Katy Perry
Interview
Bathing Suits, Guyliner, and Mercury Worship
Everything should be half as fun as Katy Perry (photo gallery). The Santa Barbara-born singer-songwriter broke away from her strict religious upbringing and has found her groove writing pop songs inspired by Freddie Mercury. In addition to a new album coming out this year, Perry will bring a little class (and possibly some Silly String) to Warped Tour this summer.
What’s been going on lately?
I’m just starting the New Year, you know. The stars are aligning for Katy Perry in 2008. I’ve been working on my record since I was eighteen years old. I’ve gone through two record labels and written between sixty-five and seventy songs, and now it’s ready to come out. It’s been a long trip. I’ve had lots of money, lost lots of money, but the record’s here and it’s the right one.
What can we expect from the album?
UR So Gay was a soft hello. It wasn’t meant to be a big single or show what the album is going to be all about. That was for my Internet bloggers, so I’m not coming out of nowhere. UR So Gay was meant to be an introduction and a background. The album will have a lot of the same characteristics, though. There will be lots of storytelling, because lyrics are important to me. There are a few songs that will make you cry, but there are others to make you dance and sing. Every song is on the album for a specific reason.
What do most people not know about recording an album?
One of the unique things about me recording is that I like to put down the vocal track with all the lights off in the studio. If I remember the lyrics, I don’t want anything to get in the way.I want to be a voice in the darkness. That’s not weird is it? It’s not like I’m naked or anything.
Do you prefer to be recording or playing live?
I guess I prefer to play live, but I don’t want to have only live CDs. I like playing live because there are alot of things that can happen. I can interact with the audience and say some things to get me in trouble. On the other hand, the studio is nice because you can really take your time and make something that you know is the best thing that you can ever do. But nothing beats being up on stage in front of all that energy.
Give me an awesome tour story, then.
There was the Silly String incident. I was playing a concert and I decided that I wanted a beach theme. No particular reason, I’m just fun like that. The band entered to “Wipe Out” and everybody was wearing their bathing suits. I should mention at this point that we were doing this show for Garnier Fructis hair-care products, and they’ve spent like an hour and a half getting my hair just right. So I’m out there in my bathing suit with my awesome hair and I have some Silly String. I don’t know why I have the silly string, of course. It’s just kind of fun. So I point it at the audience and try to spray them. Only instead of spraying it at the audience I had thecan backward and sprayed it all over my awesome hair. Everybody thought that was pretty funny. Except maybe the hair people, I guess.
Do you have conscious influences? Do you ever say like, ‘I’m going to try to write a song that sounds like Prince today?
Yeah. I’m a huge fan of Freddie Mercury. I’m a fan of lots of music, but he was a turning point. I wasn’t allowed to listen to secular music when I was kid, but there was a time when I was hanging out at my friend’s house. We’re trying on all our outfits, like girls do, and out of nowhere I heard the lyrics to “Killer Queen.” Time stood still. The music was totally different from anything I’d heard. I still love Freddie Mercury. He was flamboyant with atwist of the operatic, but more importantly he just didn’t give a fuck.
And then there was Alanis Morrisette. Jagged Little Pill was huge for me. One of the vivid memories of my childhood is swinging on the swing set singing “Ironic” at the top of my lungs. I went to Christian school, so I got into a little trouble for that one.
How did you come across “Use Your Love”?
There were a couple of choices in the pile for covers. I actually wanted to do a Queen cover, but there wasn’t anything they would play in the club. So I’m back to square one, and I go out dancing with my girls. “Use Your Love,” the original version by the Outfield, comes on, and immediately every girl hits the dance floor. Everybody’s out there dancing and trying to hit these notes. It was the best time, and I wanted to capture that on the UR So Gay.
Do you think that UR So Gay enforces a negative stereotype?
Every time I play that song, everybody has come back laughing. I’m not the type of person who walks around calling everything gay. That song is about a specific guy that I used to date and specific issues that he had. The song is about my ex wearing guyliner and taking emo pictures of himself in the bathroom mirror. The listeners have to read the context of the song and decide for themselves.
Why should people seek out Katy Perry?
That’s a hard question. Nobody likes to brag. If you’re forcing me, though, I think people should check out my music it’s fun and funny, and I actually sing them live. I think that my music makes pop-music cool again.
***
Artist: http://www.katyperry.com
Label: http://www.capitolrecords.com
Audio: http://www.myspace.com/katyperry
http://www.prefixmag.com/features/katy-perry/interview/17027/
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