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 collaborative album with The Matrix and a solo album she worked on with Glen Ballard, the latter of which was never released.
In April 2007, Perry signed a recording contract with Capitol Records. She attracted media attention with the November 2007 online release of "Ur So Gay" and rose 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. In November 2009, she released a live album titled MTV Unplugged, which features performances of several tracks from One of the Boys. 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, Teenage Dream was re-released as Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection and produced the number-one single "Part of Me". She released her fourth album, Prism, in October 2013. It was preceded by singles "Roar" and "Unconditionally". She will embark on the Prismatic World Tour to promote the album in May 2014.