Katy Perry

Katy Perry (born Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson) is an American singer, songwriter and television personality. Born in Santa Barbara, California, she was raised in a Christian household by pastors Mary and Maurice Hudson. She began singing in church as a child and briefly pursued a career in gospel music. After earning her GED, Perry moved to Los Angeles to pursue pop music, adopting the stage name Katy Perry to avoid confusion with actress Kate Hudson.

Perry’s breakthrough came with her 2008 album, One of the Boys, featuring the hit singles “I Kissed a Girl” and “Hot n Cold.” Her follow-up, Teenage Dream (2010), produced five No. 1 singles, including “California Gurls,” “Firework” and “E.T.” making her one of the few artists in history to achieve that feat. Her success continued with albums like Prism (2013), Witness (2017) and Smile (2020). In 2024, she released her seventh studio album, 143.

In addition to her music career, she has served as a judge on American Idol from 2018 to 2024 and launched her own shoe line, Katy Perry Collections, in 2017.

Perry married comedian Russell Brand in 2010, and the twosome divorced in 2012. She briefly moved on with John Mayer before she began dating actor Orlando Bloom in 2016. She and Bloom became engaged in 2019. They welcomed daughter Daisy Dove in 2020 before Us Weekly confirmed their split in 2025. She began dating former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that same year.