Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson known by her stage name as Katy Perry. She was born on October 25, 1984 in Santa Barbara, California United States. She is an American singer-songwriter. Perry rose to prominence with her 2008 single "I Kissed a Girl" which has become a worldwide hit. She is known for her unconventional style of dress, often humorous, bright in color, and reminiscent of different decades, as well as her frequent use of fruit-shaped accessories, mainly watermelon as part of her outfits. Perry has a contralto vocal range.

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. In 2004, Perry worked for the record production team The Matrix. 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", "Diamonds" and "Long Shot", 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 was not "a typical Christian", mentioning that she had done "lots of bad things" during her adolescence. One of the tracks she recorded with Ballard, "Simple", was released on the soundtrack to the 2005 film The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. In 2006, Perry appeared on P.O.D.'s single, "Goodbye for Now". 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.

After signing to Capitol Records, Perry began recording for her official mainstream debut album, released in 2008, working with Cathy Dennis, Greg Wells, Dr. Luke, Butch Walker, Max Martin, Dave Stewart, and Ted Bruner. The full-length album titled “One of the Boys” was released in the USA on June 17, 2008. Perry was an act in the 2008 Vans Warped Tour to promote the album.

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. Perry released the second single "Hot N Cold" on September 9, 2008. This became Katy's second top 5 hit in the USA, also reaching number 7 in the UK a month before its physical release.