Katy Perry

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Katy Perry's real name is Katheryn Hudson. She was born in 1984 in Santa Barbara, California, the daughter of two pastors in a Pentecostal church. Gospel was mostly played at home; she got to know pop music through CDs that she smuggled in from friends. At sixteen she made a Christian album under her own name, Katy Hudson (2001), which hardly sold. She then moved to Los Angeles, chose her mother's maiden name as her stage name and for years worked with producers and songwriters without a record being released.

Music and breakthrough

In 2007 she signed with Capitol Records. The label put her to work with Dr. Luke, and together they wrote I Kissed a Girl and Hot n Cold. I Kissed a Girl, from the album One of the Boys (2008), spent seven weeks at number 1 in America and also became a number 1 hit in the Netherlands. The disco-tinged Teenage Dream (2010) yielded five American number 1 singles, including California Gurls, Firework and Teenage Dream; no other album by a woman had managed that. Prism (2013) included Roar and Dark Horse. Later albums such as Witness (2017), Smile (2020) and 143 (2024) were less successful.

Influence

Perry is a typical product of the hit factory of the 2000s and 2010s. Her songs came about in teams with top producers such as Dr. Luke and Max Martin: short verses, a chorus that sticks immediately and a glossy, hard-hitting production. To this was added an exuberant, colourful image, with costumes and videos that were just as important as the music.

Listening

Discography

Studio albums

• 2001Katy Hudson
• 2008One of the Boys
• 2010Teenage Dream
• 2013PRISM
• 2017Witness
• 2020Smile
• 2024143

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

• Mixtape 12: The Hit Factory^NL Reader

See also

• 143