The stunning transformation of Katy Perry

Born as Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson on October 25, 1984, Katy Perry was raised, along with her younger brother, David, and older sister, Angela, in Santa Barbara, California by Pentecostal pastors, Mary Christine and Maurice Hudson.

The family helped set up churches across the country and Perry attended religious schools without the highest standards. In fact, of the experience, the star said, “The schools were really makeshift. Education was not the first priority. My education started in my 20s, and there is so much to learn still.”

Her parents had very strict rules and she was not allowed to celebrate Halloween and believed that Jesus brought her Christmas gifts. Certain words were also off-limits including “deviled eggs” (which were renamed “angeled eggs”) and Dirt Devil.

As her parents attempted to shield her from diversity in the world, Perry remembers that she was not “allowed to interact with gay people… and there is some generational racism” in her family. In her earlier years, Perry attended youth group sessions where they supposed conversion therapy and camps and she even admitted to having tried to “pray the gay away.”

She believes that her sheltered upbringing makes her “miss references all the time” and that she sees the opportunity to see the world while on tour as an opportunity for “reeducation.” Perhaps, this lack of exposure has led her to make choices that many equate with cultural appropriation and potential racism.

To avoid confusion with actress, Kate Hudson, Katy Perry emerged (she took on her mother’s maiden name) as a bolder, more mainstream artist singing about formerly taboo topics.  

Perry believes that her breakout hit, “I Kissed a Girl,” was so successful because, “finally someone was singing about something that existed. But it really was [meant to be] fun; there was no agenda.” At the same time, she learned that being risqué could come at a price—especially, for a female artist. When asked if the song was based on a personal story, she explained, “I said no, I hadn’t experienced it, even though I had, because I didn’t like where the guys were taking the interviews.”

Meanwhile, her father, who referred to her as a “devil child” during this time, was very blunt when addressing his daughter’s new persona. “I was at a concert of Katy’s where there were 20,000,” he said. “I’m watching this generation and they were going at it. It almost looked like church. I stood there and wept and kept on weeping and weeping. They’re loving and worshipping the wrong thing.”

Still, that did not dissuade her from continuing to push the envelope by releasing songs such as “Teenage Dream,” and “California Gurls,” the latter of which produced a very sexual music video. When MTV asked about it, there was not a hint of regret. Perry said, “The cotton-candy clouds! I am a little bit naked. I was naked. And, hi, Mom! Hi, Dad!”

While many approved of Perry’s sexy style makeover, there were others who felt that she needed to reel it in for certain occasions. Indeed, her appearance on Sesame Street drew criticism due to her wardrobe choice.  

Perry called being invited to guest star on the children’s show “the highlight of her career” and said, “I think some of these songs, even though sometimes they have a naughty dimension to them, they are so pop infectious it gets into kids, just like whatever parents are saying around the house will get into kids and I love that “Hot N Cold” could translate to Sesame Street. I just love that. I’m gonna have kids someday, and I love that some pop star out there is gonna change their lyrics to make my kids bounce in their diapers.”

Unfortunately, not everyone was as enthusiastic. Parents were upset about the amount of cleavage Perry showed alongside Elmo so the spot was cut from Sesame Street‘s 41st season. When appearing on Saturday Night Live soon after, Perry poked fun by wearing a low-cut Elmo shirt while SNL cast member, Maya Rudolph rhetorically asked, “Who cares if kids are looking at boobs? Boobs feed babies… I turned on CSI the other night, and there’s a dead guy with a worm in his eye. But we can’t look at the tops of boobs?”

Perry married British comedian Russell Brand late in 2010 in a traditional Hindu ceremony in India. Their wedding “featured a procession of camels, elephants and horses, plus fire jugglers, snake charmers, dancers and musicians.”  

At the time, Perry addressed their spiritual differences saying, “Russell is into Hinduism, and I’m not [really] involved in it. He meditates in the morning and the evening; I’m starting to do it more because it really centers me. [But] I just let him be him, and he lets me be me.”

Unfortunately, things came to a screeching halt on New Year’s Eve 2011 when she received a text from Russell asking for a divorce. “There were two weeks of my life after I found out the truth of my marriage where I was like, ‘OK. All right. I can’t feel this. This is too intense right now,'” Perry said. “I was, like, just eating Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and drinking, and that’s it.”

While Brand once referred to Perry as a “vapid, vacuous celebrity” after their split, his tone has softened now that he has become a father. He explained, “I have come away from that experience,” Brand said. “I still feel very warm towards her. I feel like, when I hear about her or see her, ‘Awe, there’s that person. There’s that person in the world.'”

In 2008, Perry openly opposed Proposition 8, “a voter referendum that overturned an earlier Supreme Court decision legalizing marriage equality at the ballot box.” Despite the loss, she continued to stand up for equality.  

Of the resistance to LGBTQ rights, Perry said, “hopefully, we will look back at this moment and think like we do now concerning [other] civil rights issues. We’ll just shake our heads in disbelief, saying, ‘Thank God we’ve evolved.’ That would be my prayer for the future.”

Perry was a huge supporter of Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Presidential Election, the candidate who regularly promoted equality for the LGBTQ community. After Clinton lost to Donald Trump, Perry designed a shoe in her honor. She’s come a long way from believing in the merits of conversion therapy and “praying away the gay” in her youth.

While it’s clear that she’s been heralded for her humanitarian efforts, Perry’s professional work has also been acclaimed. She has won Billboard Music Awards, American Music Awards, People’s Choice Awards, MTV Video Music Awards, and Teen Choice Awards and was nominated for 13 Grammy Awards.

It’s mind blowing to consider the fact that, from May 2010 to September 2011, she actually spent 69 consecutive weeks in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 which, of course, is record-breaking. By the time 2012 rolled around, Billboard declared her “Woman of the Year.”

As if that’s not enough, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry declared Perry the “Top Global Female Recording Artist” of 2013 and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has recognized her “as its most awarded digital act in the history of Gold & Platinum awards.” Of her achievement, Perry told Billboard, “Hitting No. 1 is always a great moment, but when it turns into a small piece of history, you’re reminded of how many millions of people are connected to each other by even one tiny event.”

In an interesting turn of events, Perry has now denounced award shows saying, “All the awards shows are fake and all the awards that I’ve won are fake. They’re constructs.”

As she released her album, Witness, Perry invited fans to follow her through a “confessional weekend,” giving them full access to her life for 96 hours as she ate, slept, meditated, and underwent therapy. It was definitely eye-opening. During this time, she admitted that she wants to return to being more like “Katheryn Hudson,” and struggles with being “Katy Perry,” sometimes. She revealed a battle with depression and suicidal thoughts saying, “I feel ashamed that I would have those thoughts, feel that low and that depressed.”

On a lighter note, she sat down with late-night talk show host James Corden and revealed that, if she had to rank her top three lovers, DJ/producer Diplo would be in last place, actor Orland Bloom would be second, and singer John Mayer would be in first place. Surprisingly, she also admitted that tenor Josh Groban is the one that got away and counts him among her “good friends.”

While she already had a commanding Twitter presence and set a Guinness World Record for Most Twitter Followers back in 2015, it seems that this all-access weekend may have given her an extra boost—she has officially become the first person to have more than 100 million followers on the site. After reaching the milestone, she tweeted, “Thank you, @Twitter, for always giving me an opportunity to have a voice! #LoveKaty.”