MY INSPIRATION

Katheryn Elizabeth "Katy" Hudson (born October 25, 1984), better known by her stage name Katy Perry, is an American recording artist, businesswoman, philanthropist, and actress. She was born near Santa Barbara, California and grew up there before moving to Los Angeles. Having had limited 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 (2001). She later recorded a collaborative album with The Matrix and a solo album she worked on with Glen Ballard, the latter of which was never released.

Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson was born near Santa Barbara, California, to Pentecostal pastors Maurice Keith Hudson and Mary Christine Perry of Keith Hudson Ministries. She has a younger brother named David (known as Hudson) and an older sister named Angela. Keith is of English descent while Mary is of 1/8 Irish, 3/8 Portuguese, 1/4 English, and 1/4 German descent.Through Mary, she is a half-niece of film director/producer Frank Joseph Perry, Jr.

As a child, Perry attended religious schools and camps. She was incorporated into her parents' ministry and sang in churches between the ages of nine and sixteen. She grew up listening to gospel music,as her parents discouraged her from listening to too much "secular music".^[As a child, some of the only secular artists she was allowed to listen to were Ella Fitzgeraldand Billie Holiday, as well as the music of Édith Piaf due to her mother being able to speak French. According to Perry, there was a strange "hall pass" with their music, due to her parents' belief that it was less harmful than most secular music. During her early teens, Perry would rely on her friends to sneak in CDs to listen to and would watch MTV at their houses without her parents' knowledge, which led to her discovery of most popular music.

Perry learned how to dance in a recreation building in Santa Barbara. She was taught by seasoned dancers and began with swing, Lindy Hop, and jitterbug. Perry initially started singing because she was in the middle of a phase where she was "copycatting" her sister Angela. Growing up, she often took cassette tapes Angela practiced with and rehearsed the songs and performed them in front of their parents. They suggested she take vocal coaching. She took the opportunity and began taking lessons at the age of nine and continued until she was sixteen.