
Katy Perry wants to be a pop star. The 23-year-old's debut, One of The Boys, came out in June on Capitol and has quickly spawned gender-bending underground fare like "I Kissed a Girl," a song whose title, it must be said, leaves little room for interpretation.
Perez Hilton and Madonna took notice early on and championed her; the latter happens to particularly like "Ur So Gay," Perry's screed against a metrosexual ex. That one begins: "I hope you hang yourself with your H&M scarf," and continues on to deride the sensitive tastes of emo boys in general.
"I just started to notice that my jeans were missing, then my flat iron, then my eyeliner," Perry says, laughing.
"I'm not stereotyping gay people, I'm making fun of myself. I always have my sense of humor." A middle child born to two traveling ministers, Perry grew up in Santa Barbara, California, singing gospel, and even released a Christian album in 2001. But things changed when she moved to L.A. at 17, after having managed to recruit Alanis Morissette producer Glen Ballard to help develop her talent. (Ballard's not the only reason for Perry's switch to rock: she blames the influence of Queen and the Beach Boys, too.) The result is a big, shiny collection of mainstream hits-in-waiting -- in other words, exactly what Perry was aiming for.
"There's no Joan Jett, or Cyndi Lauper, or Pat Benatar today," she says.
"I'm really in that pop-rock realm. That's my lane". Source