Katy Perry was born in Santa Barbara, California USA. The middle child of two pastors, she grew up listening gospel music and singing in church. She first released a Christian gospel CD in 2001 under the name Katy Hudson.

In her teenage years, Perry found a Queen record with her friend, "and the heavens opened and saved me. From then on, they have been my biggest influence." In an article for Blender Magazine, Perry stated she wasn't "a typical Christian", mentioning that she had done a "lot of bad things" during her adolescence. Among her musical influences are Queen, The Beach Boys, Heart, Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, and Alanis Morissette.

At the age of 17, Perry began working with legendary producer and songwriter Glen Ballard. Her songs captured the attention of Virgin Records CEO Jason Flom, who was the head of Capitol Music Group. Katy Perry was signed to Capitol Music in the spring of 2007. She was named Blender's "Next Big Thing" in October 2004 and Teen People's "One to Watch".

Her songs appeared on MTV's series The Hills ("Self-Inflicted" and "Thinking of You") , on Oxygen Network's reality series Fight Girls ("Fingerprints" - theme song), and on the 2005 film The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants ("Simple"). She was also featured on P.O.D.'s 2006 single "Goodbye For Now".

As an actress, she made a cameo appearance on Carbon Leaf's video "Learn to Fly" and on Gym Class Heroes' video Cupid's Chokehold. On March 10, 2008, she appeared as herself on ABC Family's Wildfire (episode titled "Life's Too Short").She also has appeared in advertisements for Too Faced Cosmetics' Spring 2007 line.

She recently has gained more recognition as Madonna mentioned Perry's song "UR So Gay", on 104.7 KISS FM's JohnJay & Rich morning show in the Phoenix area, stating that "UR So Gay" was her "favorite song right now".

Perry has been on/off dating Gym Class Heroes frontman, Travis McCoy for the past few years.

On April 30, 2008, her first single off of One of the Boys, "I Kissed A Girl", debuted on iTunes.

Perry is currently wrapping up work on her debut full-length album, which she recorded with an array of noted producers and collaborators, including Glen Ballard (Alanis Morissette, Josh Groban), Dr. Luke (Kelly Clarkson, Avril Lavigne), Butch Walker (Pink, The Donnas), and Greg Wells (Natasha Bedingfield, Rufus Wainwright). The full length album titled 'One of the Boys' is set to be released from Capitol Records on June 17, 2008.

--Wikipedia