Katy Perry Photos

Although both of Katy's parents are ordained Christian pastors, she does have a great deal of show business in her blood. Her maternal grandparents were film director Frank Perry (who directed films such as the cult classic Mommie Dearest starring Faye Dunaway) and screenwriter Eleanor Perry (Last Summer, The Deadly Trap).

Katy wanted to jump start her music career early, so rather than slog through four years of high school, she took her GED after her freshman year at Dos Pueblos High School and then promptly left to pursue music full time. She recorded her first album at the age of 15.

Raised primarily on Gospel music (her parents forbade her to listen to what they referred to as "secular music"), Katy didn't have a great deal of references to draw from early on in her career. When asked which producers she wanted to work with by Island Records, she didn't know any.

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After a few false starts and albums that were never completed, Katy signed with the newly-formed Capitol Music Group (which was a merger between Virgin Records and Capitol Records) in 2006 and began working with writer-producer Dr. Luke. Their collaboration produced her hit singles "I Kissed a Girl" and "Hot n Cold."

Katy got a huge career boost from, of all people, Madonna. While doing a series of radio interviews in Arizona, most notably on KISS FM and KRQ’s JohnJay & Rich morning show, the Material Girl name-checked the rising pop star and buzz around Perry started immediately.

Her "debut" album "One of the Boys" was released on June 17, 2008. It peaked at number nine on the Billboard 200, and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. "I Kissed a Gir" sat at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for a whopping seven weeks.

The men in Katy's life have also been flamboyant. She dated Travis McCoy, the frontman for the alternative hip hop band Gym Class Heroes on and off for several years until 2008. Perry then met British comedian Russell Brand in 2009, and the pair married in 2010. They divorced less than two years later.

The songs "California Gurls," "Teenage Dream," "Firework," "E.T.," and "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" from Perry's second album "Teenage Dream" made Perry the first female artist and only the second artist ever to have five #1 singles from one album. The only other artist to do that was Michael Jackson.