Oct. 25: "California Gurls" Katy Perry is 26 today.

 

Born in Santa Barbara, California, and raised by Christian pastor parents, Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson grew up listening to only gospel music, sang in her local church and was not allowed to listen to "secular music" as a child. After earning a GED during her freshman year of high school, she began to pursue a singing career.

 

She released a self-titled gospel album in 2001 as Katy Hudson but it flopped when the record label went out of business. In 2007, she used the stage name Katy Perry and released her first Internet single, "Ur So Gay." She then hit it big with her second single "I Kissed a Girl" in 2008, which went on to top international charts.

Katy's first major studio album, One of the Boys, followed that same year and became the thirty-third best selling album worldwide of 2008. It achieved platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America.

Also, "I Kissed a Girl" and her second single "Hot n Cold" both received multi-platinum certifications. Perry was ranked the ninety-seventh Artist of the 2000–10 decade by Billboard.

In 2010, she recorded "California Gurls" with Snoop Dogg. (See below.)

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Her second album, Teenage Dream, was released in August 2010 and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. The album included the hit singles "California Gurls" and "Teenage Dream"; both of which topped the charts on the Billboard Hot 100 and several other countries.

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