Katy Perry | Biography, Songs, & Facts - Britannica

Later music projects, American Idol, and Blue Origin spaceflight

Perry maintained her grip on the mainstream with her next release, Prism (2013), which produced, among other hits, the anthemic “Roar.” Her 2016 single “Rise” was featured in television coverage of that year’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Perry’s fifth studio album, Witness (2017), more introspective than her earlier work, was less well received. She returned to mainstream pop with the empowerment-oriented Smile (2020). Perry later released 143(2024), which was notable for its negative reviews.

While critics often disparaged Perry’s songs as vapid, the music industry was generally kinder, rewarding her with several Grammy Award nominations, including album of the year for Teenage Dream. In 2011 she made her big-screen acting debut, providing the voice of Smurfette in the film The Smurfs, and she reprised the role for a 2013 sequel. She was also the subject of the 3-D concert-tour documentary Katy Perry: Part of Me (2012). From 2018 to 2024 Perry was one of the judges on the new incarnation of the singing competition TV show American Idol.

In April 2025 Perry was one of six passengers on an all-female commercial spaceflight on Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin rocket. During the 11-minute flight, Perry sang Louis Armstrong’s classic “What a Wonderful World” to her fellow space tourists, which included journalist Gayle King and former National Aeronautics and Space Administration rocket scientist Aisha Bowe.

Quick Facts Original name: Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (Show more) Born: October 25, 1984, Santa Barbara, California, U.S. (age 41) (Show more) Notable Works: “143” “I Kissed a Girl” “One of the Boys” “Prism” “Smile” “Teenage Dream” “Witness” (Show more) On the Web: Live About - The Top 15 Katy Perry Songs (Jan. 20, 2026) (Show more) See all related content Access for the whole family! Bundle Britannica Premium and Kids for the ultimate resource destination. Subscribe