American singer, songwriter, and television personality Katy Perry were born Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson on October 25, 1984. She has been dubbed the “Queen of Camp” by Vogue and is well known for her influence on contemporary pop music as well as her campy appearance. At the age of 16, Perry decided to pursue a career in gospel music. In 2001, Red Hill Records released her debut album, Katy Hudson, which was not a commercial success. At the age of 17, she relocated to Los Angeles to pursue a career in secular music. She later took on the stage name “Katy Perry” derived from her mother’s maiden name. Before joining Capitol Records, she was booted from Columbia Records after recording an album there. Over 143 million records have been sold globally by Perry, making her one of the most successful musicians of all time. Six billion Spotify streams have been made over all of her studio albums published under Capitol, which together have more than one billion streams. She has nine U.S. number-one singles, three U.S. number-one albums, and several honors, including four Guinness World Records, five Billboard Music Awards, five American Music Awards, a Brit Award, and a Juno Award. She is also the only female musician to have won a Billboard Spotlight Award. From 2011 to 2019, Perry appeared on the yearly Forbes rankings of the highest-paid female musicians. The most-watched halftime show in history was her lauded Super Bowl performance in 2015.
Perry was named the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry’s Top Global Female Recording Artist of 2013 (IFPI). She has 17 million certified album units and 109.5 million certified song units, for a total of 126 million certified units in the United States, according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), making her the fifth most successful digital singles artist in the country. With “Dark Horse,” “Firework,” and “Roar,” she also made history by becoming the first artist to have three songs get Diamond certifications from the RIAA. Each of them, along with “E.T.,” “California Gurls,” and “Hot n Cold,” has racked up more than 5 million digital sales. One of the best-selling musicians of all time, Perry has sold more than 125 million singles and over 18 million albums worldwide.
