Katy Perry Unseen Pictures

Katheryn Elizabeth "Katy" Hudson (born October 25, 1984), better known by her stage name Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, businesswoman, philanthropist, and actress. She was born and raised in Santa Barbara, California. Having had very little exposure to mainstream pop music in her childhood, she pursued a career in gospel music as a teen and released her debut studio album, Katy Hudson, in March 2001. She also recorded a second solo album which was never released.

In 2007, Perry signed a recording contract with Capitol Records and adopted her current stage name. The following year, she came to prominence with the June 2008 release of her second album, One of the Boys, which produced the singles "I Kissed a Girl", "Hot n Cold", "Thinking of You", and "Waking Up in Vegas". The project was further promoted through the Hello Katy Tour. Perry's third record, Teenage Dream, was released in August 2010 and spawned the Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping singles "California Gurls", "Teenage Dream", "Firework", "E.T.", and "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)". In doing so, it became the first album recorded by a female artist in history to produce five number-one hits, and the second album overall after Michael Jackson's August 1987 album Bad. Perry embarked on the California Dreams Tour following its release. In March 2012, it was re-released as Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection and contained the number-one single "Part of Me". Her fourth album, Prism, which contains the Billboard Hot 100 number 1 single "Roar", is scheduled for an October 2013 release.

Perry has received numerous awards and nominations. She has also been nominated for nine Grammy Awards and was named by Billboard as 2012's Woman of the Year. She remains the only artist to spend 69 consecutive weeks in the top ten of the Hot 100. She has ventured into celebrity endorsement and released fragrances Purr, Meow, and Killer Queen. She made her film debut voicing Smurfette in The Smurfs (2011). Perry was ranked at number fourteen on Billboard's list of top moneymakers of 2011, grossing more than $11 million. She was spotlighted in her own 3D autobiographical film, Katy Perry: Part of Me (2012), which concentrated on her life as a touring artist and the breakdown of her one-year marriage to English comedian Russell Brand.

Perry has had relationships with Justin York, Matt Thiessen, Johnny Lewis, Travie McCoy, and Russell Brand. Since August 2012, she has been in an on-again, off-again relationship with John Mayer.

She first met Russell Brand in 2009 when she filmed a cameo appearance for his film Get Him to the Greek. The two began dating after meeting again in September 2009 at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. The couple became engaged in December 2009 while vacationing in Rajasthan, India. They married on October 23, 2010, in a traditional Hindu ceremony near the Ranthambhore tiger sanctuary in Rajasthan. After 14 months of marriage, he filed for divorce on December 30, 2011, citing irreconcilable differences. After they reached an agreement on financial issues, a judge granted the divorce request in February 2012. The divorce became effective in July 2012 following a mandatory six-month waiting period. Her autobiographical movie revealed that the disagreement over starting a family led to the end of the marriage.