Katy Perry kissed a girl, liked it, wrote a song about it, and by mid-summer 2008, "I Kissed a Girl" had soared to the top of the Billboard charts, where it held court for seven consecutive weeks -- a feat unmatched by a Capitol Records artist since 1964. The band was the Beatles, and the song, an innocent ode to G-rated puppy love, "I Want to Hold Your Hand." If there's anyone who could take us from harmless handholding to alcohol-infused same-sex smooching, it's Katy Perry.
Over lunch at L.A.'s Magnolia restaurant, pop music's reigning doe-eyed enfant terrible puts her chart-topping status into perspective, Katy Perry-style: "For a long time, I wished for boobies; I got that. And I wished to have a record out, and I got that. And now I have both boobies and a record -- I don't think there's anything else a woman needs."
Perry grew up in Santa Barbara, California, the middle of three children, her parents devout traveling ministers who wouldn't let her consume mainstream "secular" pop culture (a Simpsons reference I make is met with a blank stare: "I wasn't allowed to watch it when I was younger," she apologizes), and only allowed her to listen to gospel music. At 9, Perry began singing in her church, and during her early teens was regularly traveling between California and Nashville to work with Christian songwriters. By 17, she had released a self-titled gospel album featuring songs with titles like "Faith Won't Fail" and "When There's Nothing Left." The record was a flop, and it was around that time that Perry discovered Freddie Mercury (whom she refers to as her musical idol), graduated from high school and packed up and moved to Los Angeles. Soon after her arrival, she managed to land a meeting with Glen Ballard (he of producing Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill), whom she had watched and admired on an episode of VH1's Behind the Music (when she was finally old enough to watch it).
Robe by Sass & Bide. gown by Nicole Miller, brooch in hair by Yvel and ring by Siera.
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