She likes fruit, has a colourful and eclectic dress style, she’s kissed a girl and doesn’t want to smell like a baseball team. All of this we know, but what about the real Katy Perry?

Katy Perry was born in Santa Barbara, California 25th October 1984, Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson. The daughter of religious pastors, Katy’s upbringing was a world away from the one she now rules. She was not allowed to watch MTV and boys were completely out of the question!

Commended by Madonna, no less, and loved by Perez Hilton, Katy’s path to success was not a easy one, having being dropped three times by record companies before making her breakthrough album One of the Boys.

The Beginning

Katy started singing in her parent’s church at an early age and it was there that, at the age of 15, she was spotted and invited to Nashville to record a demo. In Nashville, while working on her writing skills, Katy also learned to play guitar and eventually signed and created her first album with the Red Hill music label.

Her first album was released under her real name, Katy Hudson, while she was just 15. The album, based on gospel rock, was not successful and the label went out of business.

At the age of 17, Katy signed with Def Jam and worked with producer Glen Ballard on another album. This, alas, didn’t do well and Katy’s contract was terminated.

In 2004 Katy moved to Columbia and, although this partnership yielded little,  Katy caught the attention of the music press and was acclaimed as The Next Big Thing by Blender Magazine. Despite this, her contract with Columbia was ended in the same year.

While between labels, Katy found employment at Taxi Music and featured in several music video productions including Cupid’s Chokehold where she met her former boyfriend Travis McCoy

The Breakthrough

Eventually, Katy was spotted by the head of Capitol Records, Jason Flom, who signed her to the label in 2007. It was then that Katy decided to change her surname to Perry, her mother’s maiden name.

Katy started work on her first commercial album, ‘One of the Boys‘ and her debut song from the album, ‘Ur So Gay‘, a personal take on dissing a former boyfriend, was released in November 2007.

The now famous electro glam-pop anthem, ‘I Kissed a Girl‘ was released in May 2008 and reached the top of the charts all over the world soon afterwards, being the number one seller on the Billboard chart for seven weeks.

The album, One of the Boys, a story of teenage dreams, heartbreak and adventure, was released in June 2008. Pop’s new naughty girl, the witty and glamorous Katy Perry had arrived and hasn’t looked back since.

The Controversy

The lyrics and subject matter of Katy’s most successful hits have courted much controversy and speculation.

‘Ur So Gay’ attracted much criticism from gay rights campaigners both in the US and the UK. Katy is dismissive of these objections, in an interview, with Sophie Harris in the Times, Katy pointed to the fact that we now live in a ‘metro sexual’ world where the distinctions between boy and girl are no longer so pronounced.

The song itself is a ‘diss’ about an effeminate ex boyfriend and not an expression of any personal prejudice? She explains “I’m not saying you’re so gay, you’re so lame. I’m saying, you’re so gay, but I don’t understand it because you don’t like boys! It’s meant to be funny!”

Of course, the song for which Katy will always be synonymous I Kissed a Girl is the one which has caused the most speculation. Katy has refuted, many times, any suggestion that she is gay. Referring instead to the unique characteristic of the female species, which is the ability to appreciate beauty regardless of gender.

Did She or Didn’t She?

As to whether Katy actually did the deed is a matter for speculation? In the interview for the Times in august 2008, she said (with a cheeky grin): “Oh yes, it was delightful.” Yet, in the same month, in an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine, the story is quite different.

Perhaps we will never know, or maybe Katy just likes to keep us guessing?