In 2018, she topped its “Highest-Paid Women in Music” listing and ranked at number four on the “Highest-Paid Female Celebrities” list, with earnings of $83 million. In 2016, the magazine estimated her net worth was $125 million, and ranked her number six on their chicken game online list of “Highest-Paid Women in Music” with earnings of $41 million. With earnings of $135 million, Forbes also ranked Perry number one on their 2015 “Top-Earning Women In Music” list as well as the “World’s Highest-Paid Musicians” and declared her the highest earning female celebrity in 2015, placing her at number 3 on the Forbes Celebrity 100 list. She subsequently ranked seventh on the 2013 Forbes list for “Top-Earning Women In Music” with $39 million earned, and fifth on their 2014 list with $40 million. In 2011, Forbes ranked her third on their “Top-Earning Women In Music” list with earnings of $44 million and fifth on their 2012 list with $45 million. Perry’s albums One of the Boys, Teenage Dream, Prism, Witness, and Smile have each surpassed one billion streams on Spotify.
When did Katy Perry tie Michael Jackson’s record of five number one songs from a single album?
Her album One of the Boys (2008), featuring the hit “Hot N Cold,” sold more than three million copies in the United States. Katy Perry achieved mainstream success in 2008 with her single “I Kissed a Girl,” which became a number one hit in multiple countries. This increased to $360 million by June 2025, where she was included on the magazine’s 2025 list of “America’s Richest Women Celebrities”. Later that year, with earnings of $530 million throughout the 2010s, the magazine also ranked her as the ninth-highest-earning musician of the decade. Perry subsequently was placed at number four on the 2019 “Highest-Paid Women in Music” listings, with $57.5 million.
In February 2024, Perry announced her exit from American Idol following the conclusion of the twenty-second season, saying she wanted to “go out and feel that pulse to my own beat” and release new music after being “in the studio for a while”. Four months later, she sold her music rights to Litmus Music for an estimated $225 million. The next month, it was announced Perry would create music for the soundtrack to Jeremy Zag’s animated musical film Melody and voice its title character.
- She described it as “the most fun, colorful world that helps guide your musical dreams”.
- After recording the stripped-down live album MTV Unplugged (2009), Perry returned to the studio.
- On June 15, 2017, Calvin Harris released a song titled “Feels” from his album Funk Wav Bounces Vol.
- Perry’s initial efforts at mainstream stardom were fruitless, with two separate record labels signing and subsequently dropping her before any material was released.
In 2022, Elle dubbed her as “the kitsch-loving pop star renowned for her uniquely experimental style”, while Vogue described her style as “synonymous with outrageous, eye-catching ensembles that lean towards the theatrical”. Perry lists Gwen Stefani, Shirley Manson, Chloë Sevigny, Daphne Guinness, Natalie Portman, and the fictional character Lolita as her style icons. Perry was placed at number one on the Maxim Hot 100 in 2010 as the “most beautiful woman in the world”, with editor Joe Levy describing her as a “triple – no quadruple – kind of hot”.
- The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) ranked her fifth on the list of Top Global Recording Artists of 2013.
- Perry’s third headlining tour, the Prismatic World Tour, began in May 2014 and concluded in October 2015.
- Prism was released on October 18, 2013, and has sold over 6 million copies as of September 2016.
- Tiësto remix of “Resilient” featuring Aitana was released in November 2020, while Bruno Martini remix of “Cry About It Later” featuring Luísa Sonza was released in April 2021.
- She also credits the 1996 film The Craft for inspiring her song “Dark Horse”, and Eckhart Tolle’s book The Power of Now for influencing Prism.
Music Industry Moves: Spotify and NMPA to Expand Direct-Licensing Audiovisual Opportunities for Indie Publishers
Perry started writing songs for her new album in June 2016, and recorded an anthem for NBC Sports’s coverage of the 2016 Summer Olympics titled “Rise”, which was released the following month. Katy Perry tied Michael Jackson’s record of five number one songs from a single album when her song “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)” reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 2011. According to RIAA, Perry is the thirteenth top digital singles artist in the United States, with 121.5 million certified song units in the country including on-demand streams and also has 19 million certified album units, totaling 140.5 million certified units in the United States.
2012: Teenage Dream and marriage
Perry’s fourth album, Prism, is significantly influenced by dance and pop music. Growing up, she could not listen to secular music, but at 17 a friend played her a recording of “Killer Queen” by Queen, which had a profound effect on her. She released “Woman’s World”, the first single from her seventh album, on July 11, 2024. These EPs were followed by the single “Not the End of the World” in December 2020, which had a music video in which Zooey Deschanel impersonates Perry. “Daisies”, the lead single from her sixth album, was released on May 15, 2020. Following the release of her single “Never Worn White” in March 2020, Perry revealed in the accompanying music video that she was expecting her first child with Bloom.
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After serving as a guest judge on American Idol, Perry released “California Gurls” featuring Snoop Dogg on May 7, 2010. The Guinness World Records recognized her in its 2010 edition as the “Best Start on the U.S. Digital Chart by a Female Artist”, for digital single sales of over two million copies. Perry embarked on her first headlining world tour, the Hello Katy Tour, from January to November 2009 to support One of the Boys. That September, a limited-edition Katy Perry doll was produced by Integrity Toys in response to her growing popularity.
That month, a portrait of Perry by artist Will Cotton was included in the United States National Portrait Gallery. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) ranked her fifth on the list of Top Global Recording Artists of 2013. Her performance was critically acclaimed, and Guinness announced two days after the singer’s halftime show that it garnered 118.5 million viewers in the United States, becoming the most watched and highest rated show in Super Bowl history. On November 23, 2014, the National Football League (NFL) announced that Perry would perform at the Super Bowl XLIX halftime show on February 1, 2015.
Her singing caught the attention of rock artists Steve Thomas and Jennifer Knapp from Nashville, Tennessee, who brought her there to improve her writing skills. Perry completed her General Educational Development (GED) requirements early at age 15, during her first year of high school, and left Dos Pueblos High School to pursue a music career. Her brother David described her as a “tomboy” during her adolescence, which Perry talks about on her song “One of the Boys”.
On June 15, 2017, Calvin Harris released a song titled “Feels” from his album Funk Wav Bounces Vol. On July 22, 2009, Perry recorded a live album titled MTV Unplugged, which featured acoustic performances of five tracks from One of the Boys as well as one new song, “Brick by Brick”, and a cover of Fountains of Wayne’s “Hackensack”. The Matrix’s self-titled album, which Perry had recorded with the band in 2004, was released on iTunes on January 27, 2009, as a result of her solo success. She recorded background vocals on P.O.D.’s single “Goodbye for Now”, was featured at the end of its music video in 2006, and performed it with them on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. One of the songs she had recorded for her album with Ballard, “Simple”, was featured on the soundtrack to the 2005 film The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.
Early life and debut album
Other artists who Perry has cited as influences include Stevie Nicks, ABBA, the Cardigans, Whitney Houston, Cyndi Lauper, Ace of Base, 3OH! She cites the band’s frontman, Freddie Mercury, as her biggest influence and expressed how the “combination of his sarcastic approach to writing lyrics and his ‘I don’t give a fuck’ attitude” inspired her music. During the early stages of her career, Perry’s musical style gravitated towards gospel, and she aspired to be as successful as Amy Grant. The record was panned by critics, and Perry was widely criticized for her decision to work with Dr. Luke on it after singer Kesha’s allegations of sexual assault against him.
Six of Perry’s songs have received Diamond certifications from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Her following albums—Witness (2017), Smile (2020) and 143 (2024)—were released to varying critical and commercial success. Its reissue, subtitled The Complete Confection (2012), produced the U.S. number-one single “Part of Me”. Perry recorded an album while signed to Columbia Records, but was dropped before signing to Capitol Records. The world’s highest-paid female musician in 2015 and 2018, she was named by Billboard as one of the greatest pop stars of the 21st century. Perry is known for her influence on pop music and her camp style, being dubbed the “Queen of Camp” by Vogue and Rolling Stone.
Prior to ending her relationship with Mayer in 2014, she recorded and co-wrote a duet with him titled “Who You Love” for his album Paradise Valley. In 2014, “Birthday” and “This Is How We Do” respectively followed as the album’s fourth and fifth singles, and reached the top 25 on the Hot 100. “Dark Horse” with Juicy J was released as the album’s third single in December, and became her ninth U.S. number-one single the following month. Four days later, Perry performed the songs from the album at the iHeartRadio Theater in Los Angeles.
When did Katy Perry achieve mainstream success?
That December, Perry followed this with “When I’m Gone”, a collaboration with Swedish DJ Alesso that made her the third person to reach number one on Croatia’s ARC 100 list across three different decades following Lady Gaga and Coldplay. Tiësto remix of “Resilient” featuring Aitana was released in November 2020, while Bruno Martini remix of “Cry About It Later” featuring Luísa Sonza was released in April 2021. The album received mixed reviews, and debuted at number five in the United States. In July, a jury in California returned a verdict following a week-long trial that Perry’s song “Dark Horse” had copied Flame’s 2008 song “Joyful Noise” after he filed a copyright lawsuit alleging that it used his track’s beat without permission; the verdict was later overturned. In April, Perry was included on a remix of Daddy Yankee’s song “Con Calma”, featuring Snow. In February 2017, the singer launched a shoe line titled Katy Perry Collections.
“Bandaids” marks Perry’s first comeback following the release of her “143,” which she followed and supported with a global tour that concludes in Abu Dhabi on Dec. 7. In the video, Perry finds a moment of calm amid the anxiety of her near-death encounters when she spots a white daisy growing from the ground — another symbol reflecting her real-life state of mind. “It’s not what you did, it’s what you didn’t,” Perry sings in the introduction of the pop track. Katy Perry‘s new single “Bandaids” has her reflecting on the end of her relationship with actor Orlando Bloom.
As a teenager, she learned to play the guitar and sought a musical career in Nashville with a Christian record label, but her debut album, the gospel-influenced Katy Hudson (2001), sold poorly. Her popular singles include “I Kissed a Girl,” “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.),” “Roar,” and “Rise.” Katy Perry (born October 25, 1984, Santa Barbara, California, U.S.) is an American pop singer who gained fame for a string of anthemic and often sexually suggestive hit songs, as well as for a playfully cartoonish sense of style. Katy Perry’s popular singles include “I Kissed a Girl,” “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.),” “Roar,” and “Rise.” Six years later, the RIAA certified “California Gurls” as her fourth Diamond-certified single in the U.S., breaking her tie with Lady Gaga as the female artist with the most Diamond singles there. She also became the first artist to have three songs receive Diamond certifications from the RIAA in 2017 with “Dark Horse”, “Firework”, and “Roar”.
That month, she became the first artist to have four songs sell over 5 million digital units when “E.T.” reached that mark along with “Firework”, “California Gurls”, and “Hot n Cold”. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 for five non-consecutive weeks, making Teenage Dream the ninth album in history to produce four number one singles on the chart. The song was the lead single from her third studio album, Teenage Dream, and reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in June. 3’s song “Starstrukk” in September 2009, and on a duet with Timbaland entitled “If We Ever Meet Again”, from his album Shock Value II, three months later. Perry also appeared on two singles with other artists; she was featured on a remix of Colorado-based band 3OH! Later singles “Thinking of You” and “Waking Up in Vegas” were released in 2009 and reached the top 30 of the Hot 100.
With more than 151 million records sold worldwide, Perry is one of the best-selling music artists of all time. In the United States, she has accumulated nine number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, her most recent being “Dark Horse”, and holds the record for having 18 consecutive number-one songs on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart. Along with Thomas Rhett, Perry recorded a country pop duet titled “Where We Started” for his album of the same name that was released on April 1, 2022. The track was also streamed over three million times on Spotify within 24 hours, breaking the music streaming service’s record at the time for the highest first-day streaming for a single track by a female artist.
She made a greater splash several months later with the single “I Kissed a Girl,” an assertive ode to sexual curiosity backed by a hard-edged electro-pop beat. Perry’s initial efforts at mainstream stardom were fruitless, with two separate record labels signing and subsequently dropping her before any material was released. By then, however, Hudson had found new musical models in such rock artists as Freddie Mercury and Alanis Morissette, whom she had discovered through friends. Perry is among the wealthiest musical artists; during September 2023, Forbes surmised her net worth was $340 million. According to Billboard, she is the 15th most successful dance club artist of all time. She performed at three rallies for Obama, in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Wisconsin, singing a rendition of “Let’s Stay Together” as well as a number of her songs.
