In 2001, Katy Perry, then still known as Katy Hudson, released her self-titled debut — a gospel rock album — just two days before her seventeenth birthday. But even though Perry was signed to an independent record company, Christian label Red Hill Records went under at the end of that year bringing production and distribution of Perry’s album to a halt. Still, “Trust In Me,” the first track on the album, received positive reviews from music critics.
Her music had already made its way to Madonna's ears by June 2008, when Katy Perry celebrated the release of her Capitol Records debut One of the Boys. At the party, held June 17 at the legendary Capitol studios, Perry performed “One of the Boys," the Butch Walker-penned opening track from the album.
Perry signed with EMI's Capitol Records in 2007 and went full-on pop for her first album, which has sold over 5 million copies to date. Featuring the chart-topping single “I Kissed A Girl” as well as radio hits “Hot N Cold,” “Waking Up in Vegas,” and “Thinking of You,” Perry received two Grammy nominations for the album in 2009 and 2010.
Katy Perry receives the Best New Act Award during the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards, which she co-hosted from the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England. The pop star opened and closed the show performing her break-out hits “I Kissed A Girl” and “Hot N Cold.”
Proving her vocal chops deserve recognition, Perry delivered her No. 1 single, “I Kissed A Girl” at the 2009 Grammy Awards, where she was also nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal performance.
At the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards, Katy Perry's lavish videos were recognized with nominations in two key categories: Best Female Video and Best Pop Video for her “California Gurls,” featuring Snoop Dogg. The song was is the first of five No. 1 singles off her 2010 album, Teenage Dream.
Debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, Katy Perry’s 2010 album Teenage Dream has spawned five chart-topping hit singles, including “California Gurls,” “Teenage Dream,” “Firework,” “E.T.” and “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)” (tying Michael Jackson's record for Bad) and sold over 5.5 million copies. Perry also received six Grammy Award nominations, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year for “Firework.”
Katy Perry met actor-comedian Russell Brand (seen here arriving at the 2010 Grammy Awards in January 2010) on the set of his 2009 movie Get Him to the Greek (her cameo was cut). A little over a year later in October 2010, they were married in India, but 14 months after their spiritual nuptials, he filed for divorce.
Katy Perry opened her sold-out “California Dreams” UK tour at London's Hammersmith Apollo on March 17, 2011. She later visited Europe, Australasia, Asia and the Americas. By the end of 2011, her tour ranked 13th on Billboard's "Top 25 Tours" of the year.
Bringing her talents and whimsy to the fragrance market, the singer launched her own perfume line, Purr by Katy Perry. Featuring a mixture of citrus scents, the women's fragrance is packaged in a bottle that reflects Perry’s love of cats.
Katy Perry made her acting debut in the 2011 animated feature The Smurfs. Voicing the character Smurfette, she would later be nominated for a People's Choice Award for the performance. Ironically, Perry, seen here at the movie's premiere at New York's Ziegfeld Theater on July 24, 2011, was forbidden from watching The Smurfs TV show by her ultra-religious parents.
Katy Perry poses with fellow chart-topping singer and friend Rihanna at the 54th Grammy Awards held in February 2012. Performing two songs that night for an audience of her peers — “E.T.” and “Part of Me” — she also received two nominations for Record of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance.
Adding another product to her budding portfolio, Katy Perry launched a line of false eyelashes in February 2012.
Katy Perry debuted a new single, “Wide Awake,” at the 2012 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas. "I wanted to get some things off my chest and I didn't want to wait for a new record," Perry told THR of the song, which was written for her concert film, Katy Perry: Part of Me.
For her 2012 MuchMusic Awards performance of “Wide Awake,” Perry wore a sequined sheer bodysuit underneath giant butterfly wing (she later used the award she won to cover her backside while walking offstage) and explained the concept to THR as "like a metamorphosis, which really speaks for the song."
Katy Perry put $2 million of her own money into Katy Perry: Part of Me 3D (opening July 5). The concert documentary chronicles the pop star's journey from her strict religious upbringing to false starts in the music industry to her sold-out California Dreams world tour.
