A former Christian artist who ditched the sacred sounds of CCM for a secular mix of sass and spunk, Katy Perry combines the

cheeky, club-ready pop music of Lily Allen with the commercial pop/rock of Avril Lavigne and Alanis Morissette. Born on October

25, 1984, in Santa Barbara, CA, she grew up in a Christian household as the daughter of two pastors. Though she was not

allowed to listen to secular music as a child, Perry later found herself captivated by Alanis Morissette and Freddie Mercury,

having discovered Queen's music during a slumber party. Religious music remained at the forefront, however, and Perry

released a self-titled Christian album in 2001 under the name Katy Hudson. She would later abandon the genre in favor of a pop

career. At age 17, the burgeoning songwriter began working with hitmaker Glen Ballard, who had produced and co-written

Alanis Morissette's chart-topping Jagged Little Pill in 1995. Several years later, she teamed up with the Matrix, a Grammy-

nominated production/songwriting team whose résumé includes collaborations with Avril Lavigne, Shakira, and Korn. Tired of

producing music for other artists, the Matrix had plans to record their own album with Perry serving as one of the group's two

singers. The project was ultimately shelved, but not before Perry appeared in a 2004 write-up by Blender magazine, who hailed

her as "The Next Big Thing!" With the Matrix's unreleased album sitting in the vaults at Sony Records, Perry went back to the

drawing board and ultimately signed with Columbia in 2007. Her debut single, "UR So Gay," generated some online buzz with its

mischievous lyrics and accompanying music video. However, "I Kissed a Girl" proved to be her true breakthrough single, topping

the charts in 20 countries and pushing its accompanying album, 2008's One of the Boys, into the Top Ten in America. Perry

supported her debut by joining the Warped Tour that summer and appearing in an episode of The Young and the Restless. ~

Andrew Leahey & Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide