American singer-songwriter Katy Perry was BOTD in 1984. Born in Santa Barbara, California to a Christian Pentecostal family, she began singing as a child, performing in her parents’ church ministries until her teens. She moved to Nashville to pursue a career as a gospel singer, with limited success. She relocated to Los Angeles, working with producer Glen Ballard to write secular pop music. She signed with and was eventually dropped by Colombia Records, who declined to release her album Fingerprints. She eventually signed with Capitol Records who produced her breakthrough 2008 album One of the Boys, featuring the chart-topping hit I Kissed a Girl. Her 2010 album Teenage Dream featured five US No 1 singles, including Firework, setting a record for No 1 songs released by a solo female singer. She had further successes with albums Prism, Witness and Smile, presenting dancefloor-friendly pop with a heavy dose of camp and feminist-lite lyrics. One of the best-selling musical artists of all time, she has sold over 140 million records worldwide. Perry has been involved in a number of campaigns for LGBTQ rights, speaking extensively about her homophobic upbringing and teenaged attempts to “pray the gay away” at Christian camps. Beloved by LGBTQ fans, her lyrics for I Kissed a Girl and UR So Gay have been criticised by some gay activists for peddling homophobic tropes. Perry was briefly married to English comedian Russell Brand, and has been in relationships with Travie McCoy, Robert Ackroyd, Diplo and John Mayer. She was in a nine-year relationship with actor Orlando Bloom, with whom she has a daughter, announcing their separation in 2025.