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Martin Sandberg, known professionally as Max Martin, (born 26 February 1971) is a Swedish music producer and songwriter. He broke through as a producer and songwriter in the mid-1990s after crafting a string of hits for pop artists like Ace of Base, E-Type, the Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, *NSYNC and Robyn. Some of his earlier hits include "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)", "...Baby One More Time" and "It's My Life".

His trademark during the second half of the 1990s and the early 2000s was a danceable, keyboard-laden pop sound that blended music styles such as funk, heavy metal and europop. However, with Kelly Clarkson's 2004 hit "Since U Been Gone", Martin stepped back into the spotlight after reinventing himself with a heavier, rock-tinged sound.

Since 2008, he has written and co-written more than 10 number-one hits, including "So What" by Pink, "Hot n Cold", "I Kissed a Girl" by Katy Perry, and "My Life Would Suck Without You" by Kelly Clarkson. Since 2010, he has co-written ten top-10 singles, including "Dynamite" by Taio Cruz, "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love" by Usher, "Whataya Want From Me" by Adam Lambert, "F**kin' Perfect" by Pink, and "Hold It Against Me" by Britney Spears.

Musical career and personal life[link]

Early life and career[link]

Martin grew up in Stenhamra, Ekerö Municipality, a suburb of Stockholm. As a teenager he sang in a variety of bands before joining a glam-style metal band called It's Alive in 1985 as their singer and frontman. It's Alive were formed by ex-LAZY members Per Aldeheim and Kim Björkgren on guitars, and John Rosth who had been a member of Lineout. Martin eventually dropped out of high school to pursue a career in music with his band under the nickname "Martin White". In 1988 they participated in the national rock championships and played as the in-house band at a disco in Cyprus. The band got a breakthrough in 1991, as Dave Constable of Megarock Records offered them to make a demo-record. The later debut album was originally pressed in 1,000 copies and later on given away as a free cover tape in the UK by the Metal Forces magazine.

The decision to focus on a music career paid off as they landed a record deal on producer Denniz PoP's label Cheiron Records, a BMG affiliate. After recording their second album Earthquake Visions, they released three singles in conjunction with the record and toured through Europe in 1994 supporting Kingdom Come. Earthquake Visions eventually sold a disappointing 30,000 copies, despite being released in as many as 30 countries. More importantly though, Martin also began collaborating on songs with PoP. Recognizing a talent for writing pop songs in the young rocker, PoP renamed his new protegé Max Martin and eventually became Martin’s mentor.

Working with Cheiron and Denniz Pop[link]

"I didn't even know what a producer did, I spent two years--day and night--in that studio trying to learn what the hell was going on." - Max Martin, March 19, 2001.^[1]

In 1993 Martin was hired by Cheiron Studios and spent some time learning the basics, before the first production collaboration between Pop and Martin: the Rednex song "Wish You Were Here" in 1994. They both worked on Ace of Base's second album The Bridge shortly thereafter, as well as on albums by 3T, Army of Lovers and Leila K. To date, The Bridge has sold more than six million copies worldwide, including one million in the United States.^[2] When Martin eventually left his band It's Alive in late 1995, he was replaced by Anders Jansson.

In 1995, the Cheiron Studios was hired by Zomba to work on Backstreet Boys' self-titled debut album Backstreet Boys. Zomba became the main working partner since the success in 1995. Martin took part in the production of "Quit Playing Games (With My Heart)", co-written with Herbie Crichlow, a single which quickly went platinum and climbed to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as the singles "As Long As You Love Me" and "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)". The album was not released in the U.S. until 1997, but was released overseas and caught on all across Europe, eventually selling around 8 million copies worldwide. This led to the Backstreet Boys being relaunched in their home country later on, this time more successfully. Later that year, Martin co-produced Robyn’s hit "Show Me Love" which ended up on the Billboard top 10.

In 1998, Cheiron Productions worked on albums by Five, Bryan Adams and Jessica Folcker. Jessica Folcker had first been hired as a backing singer for tracks with Ace of Base and Dr. Alban, and her debut album Jessica became an instant hit with singles like "Tell Me What You Like" and "How Will I Know Who You Are" which both sold platinum. After Denniz Pop died of cancer that same summer, Martin took over as director of Cheiron Studios. He soon started working with writer/producer Rami Yacoub, who has been his partner since.

Backstreet Boys[link]

1999 was a big year for Martin. He wrote, co-wrote and co-produced 7 out of the 12 songs on the album Millennium by the Backstreet Boys. "I Want It That Way", a hit song Martin co-wrote with Andreas Carlsson and co-produced with Kristian Lundin, became the group's biggest single to date and it is still popular today ("I Want It That Way" was voted #10 in the MTV/Rolling Stone list of the "100 Greatest Pop Songs."^[3]). A VH1 special, 100 Greatest Songs of the '90s, ranked the song at number 3, making it the highest ranked boy-band single and pop song. Millennium sold over 1.1 million units in its first week in the United States, setting a record for most albums sold in its debut week (that record was later beaten by 'N Sync's No Strings Attached), and was the #1 best-selling album in the world in 1999. When working on her own solo album, to be released in 2001 on Stockholm Records, Lisa Miskovsky wrote the text for Backstreet Boys new hit single "Shape of My Heart" with Max Martin and Rami. The song, originally written for Miskovsky’s own album, was passed along to the Backstreet Boys by Max Martin when Miskovsky determined it did not fit her style. The song became the first single off the group's new album Black & Blue. In the first week of release, "Shape of My Heart" immediately jumped into the Top Five in Sweden (#1), Norway (#1), Canada (#1), Germany (#2), Switzerland (#4), Austria (#5) and Holland (#5). Black & Blue, containing several songs produced and written by Martin, sold 1.6 million units in its first week in America. Martin again received ASCAP's award "Songwriter of the Year" both in 2000 and 2001,^[4] and is the first songwriter ever to receive the award three years in a row.

Britney Spears[link]

In 1998, Martin wrote Spears' hit "...Baby One More Time" for her album with the same name, (the hit single was originally offered to both the Backstreet Boys, who turned it down, and TLC, who passed because they were 'taking time off'^[5]). On Vh1's "100 Greatest Songs of the '90s", it was ranked at number 7, making it the third highest song by a female. ...Baby One More Time has sold over 15 million copies in the U.S., certifying Diamond Status. Also, within a year of its release, ...Baby One More Time had become the best-selling LP by a teenager in history, selling over 29 million copies. The single remains Spears' best selling single to this date. Martin was the first non-American citizen ever to win ASCAP's prestigious award "Songwriter of the Year" in 1999.

Martin worked on Spears' first three studio albums which were made in the style of teen-oriented pop. However, when Spears recorded her 2003 album In the Zone, she decided to move away from the that genre. The duo ended up parting ways, and Martin had no input on that album nor on her 2007 album, Blackout. At the request of Spears, Martin produced and wrote for Spears' 2008 album Circus, released that December. Martin co-wrote and produced the provocatively titled, "If U Seek Amy", which was chosen by fans to be the third single off the album. Different than Martin's previous produced tracks for Spears, "If U Seek Amy" is an electro-pop dance song, in which even the lyrics shows a different, more dance-oriented direction from Spears and Martin's previous work. In July 2009, Spears stated on her Twitter account, that she was in the recording studio in Stockholm, Sweden with Martin.^[6] Later, on September 29, 2009, it was announced that Martin had worked with Spears on her upcoming compilation album. Martin produced "3", the song debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Martin was the executive producer (along with Dr. Luke) of Spears' seventh album Femme Fatale, released March 29, 2011. During a 2011 interview with Rolling Stone, Spears stated that Martin "gets exactly what I am saying when I tell him what I want and don’t want musically. His melodies are incredible and he is always coming up with weird sounds, which I love." Adding; "There is nobody I feel more comfortable collaborating with in the studio."^[7] In January 2011, "Hold It Against Me" was released as the lead single off Spears' new album, the song later debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, Becoming Spears' second single to debut at #1 and her fourth overall, Max also co-produced the album's second single "Till The World Ends", respectively peaking at #3. As well as co-producing "Hold It Against Me" and "Till The World Ends", Martin co-produced the songs "Inside Out", "I Wanna Go", "Seal It with a Kiss", "Criminal" & "Up n' Down". In May 2011, It was announced "I Wanna Go" would serve as the 3rd single from "Femme Fatale".^[8] On August 5, 2011, Spears launched a poll on her Facebook page asking fans whether her next single should be "Criminal", "Inside Out" or "(Drop Dead) Beautiful."^[9] After the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, she revealed to MTV News that "Criminal" was chosen as the fourth single, marking the first time Martin has produced four singles off a Spears album, beating out himself when he had produced the first three singles from Oops!... I Did It Again.

Céline Dion[link]

In late 1999 Céline Dion released "That's the Way It Is," a song co-written by Max Martin to promote her greatest hits album All the Way... A Decade of Song. The song became a hit, going to number 1 on the adult contemporary charts in the United States and Canada, and reaching top 10 all over the world. Since the song was released in November 1999, it has cycled 500,000 times on almost 1400 radio stations across Canada and the U.S. In 2003 Martin co-wrote and produced three songs for Céline Dion's album One Heart. One of them called "Faith" was released as a promotional single in Canada and reached number 4 on the Quebec Airplay Chart and number 37 on the Canadian Adult Contemporary Chart.

Producer role for Cheiron[link]

The traditional division of work in the record industry typically has the artist writing the songs and then hiring a producer to help shape the sound. At Cheiron it was the other way around; the producers wrote the songs, played the instruments, engineered and mixed the recordings and the artist was only brought in near the end of the process to do the vocals. For example, on Britney Spears's second album Oops!… I Did It Again, Cheiron had already written seven songs and had proceeded to record the layers of music before Britney even arrived at the studios in early November 1999. It took her only one week to do the vocals. Martin and his team worked more like a band that alternated singers. Martin explained his working method:

Startup of Maratone[link]

Despite the success, Cheiron Studios was closed down in 2000. The reason behind the decision to close it down was, according to the press release on their homepage, that the heart and soul of the studio had been lost with the death of Denniz Pop. Another reason for closing the studio down was for the people at Cheiron Studios to be able to do more experimental music work without the weight of the now famous name Cheiron upon their shoulders.

Max Martin and Tom Talomaa started a new production company together named Maratone in January 2001 and moved in to the famous Cosmos Studios that had house the production team Kai Erixon and Kent (Gillström) Isaacs whom been very successful at the Swedish pop/hiphop-arena with numerous gold/platinum-selling artist. Also, David Kreuger and Per Magnusson started A Side Productions and Kristian Lundin started the production-company The Location and the publishing-company Location Songs together with Jake Schulze and Andreas Carlsson (both also members of Cheiron's production team) at the same location as Cheiron Studios. The first songs to be written and produced at Maratone were four tracks for Britney Spears' third album Britney. The Maratone production crew now consists of producers/songwriters Max Martin, Rami, Alexandra, Arnthor and young sensation Shellback. Following the work with Celine Dion on the album One Heart in 2003, few new hits appeared from Maratone until 2005. More recently 2009 has seen a string of hits from the studio including the hits "My Life Would Suck Without You" from Kelly Clarkson and "3" from Britney Spears.

Kelly Clarkson goes to Sweden[link]

In 2004, former American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson traveled to Sweden to collaborate with Max Martin and Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald on songs for her album Breakaway. They decided to create songs that were rockier than anticipated by the fans, as can be heard on the hit singles "Since U Been Gone" and "Behind These Hazel Eyes". "Since U Been Gone" became a huge hit and remains one of the biggest hits of Clarkson's career, and one of the biggest hits of 2005. The next single, "Behind These Hazel Eyes", actually reached the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 while the single "Since U Been Gone" was still on the chart. In 2009 he also co-wrote Clarkson's single "My Life Would Suck Without You", which has the record for the highest Billboard hot 100 jump to #1, jumping from #97 in its first week on the chart.

Collaborations with Marion Raven[link]

In 2005 Max Martin collaborated with the Norwegian singer Marion Raven for the release of her debut album entitled Here I Am on what may be his first mainstream Rock work, writing the song "Break You" and co-writing with Raven many songs, including "End of Me," "Here I Am," "Little By Little," "In Spite of Me," and "Six Feet Under." "End of Me" and "Break You" were big hits in Asia and Norway. In 2007 "Break You" was included again in Raven's North American and European debut album called Set Me Free. The American singer Megan McCauley did a cover of "Break You" in 2006 but the song are not included on any McCauleys albums.

Pink and Backstreet Boys[link]

In 2005, Martin collaborated on 4 of the 12 songs on Backstreet Boys' comeback album Never Gone, including "Climbing the Walls", "Just Want You to Know", "Siberia" and the melancholy love song "I Still...", a trademark song for the Backstreet Boys. Martin wanted the album to be more of a contemporary, alternative pop album with a little R&B. The resulting album had a more organic music style with more live instruments, and a departure from The Backstreet Boys' earlier work.

Martin also co-wrote and produced songs with Pink's very successful and critically acclaimed platinum selling fourth album I'm Not Dead. Worldwide the album was the sixth biggest selling album of 2006, going top 5 in the UK, platinum and top ten in the United States, and number one in Australia and Germany. In Australia the album had 5 top five singles, and spent a record 63 weeks in the top 10. As of July 2009 it is presently 10 times Platinum and has been charting in the Australian Top 50 for 146 weeks. Martin also collaborated with Pink for her fifth studio album, "Funhouse," released October 2008. Martin co-wrote the first smash hit single, "So What", plus the tracks "Please Don't Leave Me", "I Don't Believe You" and "It's All Your Fault".

Avril Lavigne[link]

Max Martin worked with Avril Lavigne on four songs for her fourth studio album Goodbye Lullaby; the three singles What the Hell, Smile, and Wish You Were Here, and the album track I Love You.

Katy Perry[link]

Max Martin worked with Katy Perry on several songs on two albums. On One of the Boys including the number-one single "I Kissed a Girl", and Top 5 hit single "Hot n Cold", and following-up album Teenage Dream, including the Billboard Hot 100 numbers-ones hits singles "California Gurls", "Teenage Dream", "E.T.", "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" and the Hot 100 top ten hit "The One That Got Away". Martin also wrote the song "Part of Me" which was topped the Billboard Hot 100 and Perry and Martin's current number-one single since Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F).

Christina Aguilera[link]

Confirmed by RCA Executives on December 18, 2011, Martin will be working on Aguilera's seventh studio album and is rumoured to be the producer on the lead single.

Others[link]

4th runner up of the eighth season of American Idol, Allison Iraheta has been collaborating with Max Martin on her debut album. Her first single, "Friday I'll Be Over U" is confirmed to be written by Martin.^[10] On August 17, 2009, American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert announced via Twitter that he was in New York City with Martin recording a song for his debut album. It turned out to be the song "Whataya Want From Me",^[11] that was also written by Pink.

Martin also co-wrote "Into the Nightlife", a popular club track recorded by Cyndi Lauper in 2008.

Martin also co-wrote "Loser Like Me" and "Light Up the World", two original songs for the popular TV series Glee.

Songwriting and producing[link]

Awards[link]

• Swedish Dance Music Awards 1996
• Swedish Grammis Award in 1997
• ASCAP's Songwriter of the Year in 1999
• ASCAP's Songwriter of the Year in 2000
• ASCAP's Songwriter of the Year in 2001
• ASCAP's Songwriter of the Year in 2011
• ASCAP's Songwriter of the Year in 2012

See also[link]

• Cheiron Studios
• Maratone Studio
• Andreas Carlsson
• Ace of Base

References[link]

External links[link]

• Maratone
• The Location
• A Side Productions

This article may be written from a fan's point of view, rather than a neutral point of view. Please clean it up to conform to a higher standard of quality, and to make it neutral in tone. (November 2010)

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (November 2010)

Denise 'DeDe' Lopez is not to be mixed up with Denise Lopez, who sang Every Dog Has Her Day in the 80's.

Denise Lopez in 2010.

Denise Lopez, born May 31, 1972, is a Swedish pop singer. She has released five albums: TBA (1995), I do (1997), Metaphor (1999), Slave to the Sound (2003) and Black Lace & Leather, which have sold over 500.000 copies.

Early life[link]

Denise "DeDe" Christanne Lopez, was born in Mexico City but grew up in Stockholm, Sweden. She has three brothers and two sisters all spread out in the world. Oldest brother Arturo is a famous photographer in Los Angeles and in -97 shot the album cover of "I do". Sebastian, or "DJ ZEB" as he is called, is a famous DJ and producer in Sweden and has worked with DeDe, Meja, 666, Emilia and others. Youngest brother, Renato is a TV host in Mexico for Telehit. Oldest sister Tiana lives in Spain and youngest sister Samatha is a jewelry designer and lives in New York. Her father, Renato Lopez is a music producer and was VP of Walt Disney Records Latin America Division for more than ten years, he worked with names like Phil Collins, Vanessa Williams and Sting among others. He now runs his own publishing company and jazz/blues bar in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico called "The Jam Session". Her mother is a dance instructor and runs her own dance studio in Stockholm. They were both singers in their youth.^[1]

Early career[link]

DeDe started her career as a dancer & backup singer and toured around the world between 1989-1994 with Dr. Alban, Melodie MC and the famous dance group Culture Beat (Mr. Vain). During her last year with Culture Beat she signed her first record deal and recorded the album TBA (Totally Bombastic Anecdotes) with Sony Music Sweden under her nickname DeDe. Her second single (Party) opened up the market in Japan and her first album TBA went gold within a month.

The end of 99 brought a new challenge for DeDe, she started of her own label, DLP International AB and by July 2002 she released her fourth album in Japan (through Epic Sony) under the title "Like a Queen". 2003 saw the release of three singles as well as her first DVD collection.^[1]

Career[link]

She has worked with some of the best producers and songwriters in the world such as Max Martin, Per Magnusson, David Kreuger, Kristian Lundin, Andreas Carlsson & Herbie Crichlow (Britney Spears, N´Sync, Celine Dion, Backstreet Boys), Anders Bagge (Jennifer Lopez, Madonna), Sean Barney Thomas (Dr. Dre. Snoop Doggy Dog), Jock-E (Dannii Minogue, Ace of Base, Pandora, Holly Valance, Jennifer Page, Lene Nystrom, Sertab), Father MC, Dannii Minogue, Johan Ekhe & Ulf Lindström (Robyn), Random (Lutricia Mc Neal, XLNS, A Teens) among others.

With hits like "Party", "My Lover", "Get to You", "Everybody" and "Love Me Down", DeDe has released five albums, TBA (1995), I do (1997), Metaphor (1999, Slave to the Sound (2003) and Black Lace & Leather (2010), these sold over 500.000 copies

DeDe was contracted as an exclusive songwriter to Air Chrysalis Scandinavia AB since 1993-06-01 -2001-08-01. During this period DeDe has had moderate success as an artist/songwriter worldwide. Her albums has been released in important territories such as Japan, Southeast Asia and Scandinavia.

In 1997 DeDe was the only Swedish support act for Michael Jackson down in Ullevi Gothenburg. On November of 99 she went to Japan to do her show along with Diana King in the Tokyo Dome for two consecutive days. 100 000 people were watching those shows.

Her new single "Turn You On" is written, produced and featured by Fugees star Pras Michel (Fugees). After nine weeks on Sweden's singles chart "Turn You On" went No.2 (week 42). Her fifth album will be released spring 2008. In November 2007 she signed a license deal with Oxyd records in Italy.

On December 13 & 15 she did two shows at the biggest clubs in Beijing, Club Mix and Club Cargo. DeDe would like to thank the Swedish Embassy in China, China Radio International, Radio Hit FM, Club Cargo & Club Mix for your support.

Since 2007 she goes by her real name Denise Lopez but is not to be mixed up with Denise Lopez, who sang Every Dog Has Her Day in the 80's. 2008 she also sing on DJ Swamis song Electro Jugni and the album is #1 in India this week.^[1] July 2010 the new single "Girls & Rock N´Roll" feat. Lazee is released by Universal Music AB and went straight into top 27th of most sold singles in Sweden week.28.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• TBA (Totally Bombastic Anecdotes) (1995)
• I Do (1997)
• Metaphor (1999)
• Like a Queen (Japan) (2002)
• Slave to the Sound (2003)
• Gemini 1994-2004 (2004)
• Black Lace & Leather (2010)

Singles[link]

TBA (Totally Bombastic Anectodes):

• Take a Step Back
• Party
• In the Mood
• (Can We) Swing It

I Do:

• My Lover
• Get to You
• Gimme All You Got

Metaphor:

• Let Me Show You How
• Everybody
• No One Elsez Biz

Like a Queen:

• n/a

Slave to the Sound:

• Someone Somewhere Someday
• Love Me Down
• Last to Know

Gemini 1994-2004:

• No One Elsez Biz (Weekend Latino Mix)

Untitled

• Tarzan Boy 2005

Black Lace & Leather:

• B.I.T.C.H. (Babes In Total Control Of Herself) 2007
• Turn You On feat. Pras Michael 2007
• Girls & Rock N´Roll feat. Lazee 2010

Tours[link]

2010

MAJ 1/5 Företagsjobb Mobiloperatören TRE 7/5 Olearys, Örnsköldsvik 8/5 Olearys, Örnsköldsvik 9/5 Grand Hotel, Företagsevent: Carlsberg 14/5 PURE, Stockholm 21/5 Strandbryggan, Stockholm 21/5 Harrys, Eskilstuna 28/5 PURE, Stockholm 29/5 Emmaboda

JUNI 2/6 Strandbryggan, Stockholm 3/6 Strandbryggan, Stockholm 4/6 PURE, Stockholm 5/6 Slottsbacken, Stockholm - Amraf välgörenhet! 9/6 Nivå, Gävle 12/6 Kalmar 17/6 Strandbryggan, Stockholm 18/6 PURE, Stockholm 23/6 Nivå, Gävle 30/6 Nivå, Gävle

JULI 1/7 Strandbryggan, Stockholm 2/7 Trägårn, Uddevalla 3/7 Skärgårdens snabbaste båt, Värmdö 7/7 Harrys, Borgholm 17/7 Strandbryggan, Stockholm 20/7 Strandbryggan, Stockholm 24/7 Nipyran, Sollefteå 28/7 Harrys, Borgholm 31/7 Burmeister, Visby - Warm up for Max Vangeli

AUGUSTI 4/8 Harrys, Borgholm 5/8 Strandbryggan, Stockholm 6/8 – Uddevalla http://sgp-offshore.com/ 7/8 Grand Prix – http://sgp-offshore.com/ 12/8 Strandbryggan, Stockholm 19.00-23.00 19/8 Berns Salonger, Stockholm -Mi Lajki modevisning/Modeveckan 16.30-17.00 20/8 @ 22.00-24.00 Asplunds Terass, Stockholm (Sveavägen 71, på taket av Mc Donalds) 21/8 Mobiloperatören Tre - Företagsevent för slutet sällskap! 27/8 Victuscella, Falun 23-02 28/8 Allstar, Umeå

SEPTEMBER 3/9 PURE, Stockholm 4/9 Parken, Gävle. INSPARK 2010 är ett drogfritt ungdoms disco. Överskottet går till Cancerfonden. Jag + Lazee! 10/9 PURE, Stockholm 11/9 PURE, Stockholm 17/9 PURE, Stockholm 24/9 Harrys - Värnamo 25/9 PURE, Stockholm

OKTOBER 2/10 Gisleparken - Gislaved 8/10 Oslo – Norge 15/10 Sturegallerian "My Closet" - Stockholm 15/10 PURE – Stockholm 22-03 16/10 Sturegallerian "My Closet" - Stockholm 30/10 PURE - Stockholm 22-03

NOVEMBER 6/11 Teaterbaren - Kristianstad - Dj Angels (Denise & Jennifer) 11/11 Guldgalan- Östersund 12/11 Olearys - Örnsköldsvik 13/11 Olearys - Örnsköldsvik 20/11 PURE - Stockholm 27/11 PURE - Stockholm

DECEMBER 4/12 Bahnhof Bar, Ängelholm - Dj Angels (Denise & Jennifer) 10/12 Företagsfest - Stockholm 11/12 Bogrens Salonger - Skövde Dj Angels (Denise Lopez, Miss Lopez & Dj Qute) 17/12 Meyersgården Mo I Rana/ Norge -Dj Angels (Denise Lopez & Miss Lopez) 18/12 Meyersgården Mo I Rana/ Norge - Dj Angels (Denise Lopez & Miss Lopez) 25/12 PURE - Stockholm

References[link]

Benny Blanco
Background information
Born	(1988-03-08) March 8, 1988 (age 24)
Origin	Reston, Virginia
Genres	Electro, pop rock, power pop
Occupations	Rapper, musician, songwriter, record producer

Benjamin Levin (born March 8, 1988), better known as Benny Blanco, is an American songwriter and producer. He first came to attention producing a collaborative EP with Spank Rock. Working with producer Dr. Luke, Blanco helped to write and produce number one singles for female pop stars such as Britney Spears, Katy Perry and Ke$ha, as well as artists like Justin Bieber, Mike Posner and Taio Cruz. He has had a part in co-writing or co-producing twelve number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 as well as other top ten hits.

Life and career[link]

Career beginnings and Disco D influence[link]

When Blanco was 17 he received an e-mail from producer Disco D, and went to his penthouse in Brooklyn and asked if he could work for him. He said, “I’m leaving for Brazil next week, and you’re going to come and fill the studio for me. If you book someone to work at the studio every day of the week, you’re hired.” When Disco came back he hired Blanco who would commute every weekend from Virginia during high school. After graduating, he enrolled in the IAR (Institute of Audio Research) and worked with Disco D every day until being picked up by Pilot Creative Services Inc, a boutique management firm that had been working with D in the latter part of his career.^[1] His first beat was created for a pornography series called Hip Hop Honeys, created by Jonathan Shecter, the cofounder of The Source.^[2][2] Benny Blanco was originally founded by Sam Trocki of Atlantic City, New Jersey

When D died, Spank Rock, friend of D and his manager, James Johnson went to Pilot's Studio to mourn. He started to freestyle over a beat that D has created. Inspired by this, Blanco decided to move on from hip-hop and work with similar bass sounds, explaining that he wanted to "carry on [D's] legacy." Convinced that Spank Rock was the only one that could do the beats justice, Blanco sampled 2 Live Crew songs and begged Spank Rock to work with him. After recording an EP over Blanco's beats in his manager's loft, Spank Rock shopped it and received a deal for Bangers & Cash the following week.^[1][3]

Collaborations with Dr. Luke and chart success: 2008-present[link]

Blanco began working with producer, Dr. Luke in early 2008.^[4] After providing additional production for Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl" and "Hot n Cold",^[5] Blanco co-produced Britney Spears' "Circus" (as well as two other songs on the album) and 3OH!3's breakthrough single "Don't Trust Me", and received widespread attention for both.^[6][7] In addition, Blanco co-wrote and co-produced two tracks for Spears' next album Femme Fatale and new material with Bruno Mars, Mike Posner, Ke$ha, Gym Class Heroes, Maroon 5, Sean Paul, Pitbull. In 2010, Blanco's song for Katy Perry, "California Gurls" debuted at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. On the issue dated June 19, 2010 the song reached #1. In 2011 Blanco's song for Ke$ha, "We R Who We R" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was the seventeenth song in the history of the chart to debut at number one.^[8]

Blanco produced the track "No Sleep" for rapper Wiz Khalifa's debut album Rolling Papers (Wiz Khalifa album). The song debuted at #6 on Billboard Hot 100. Blanco also worked with Neon Hitch on her debut album "Beg, Borrow and Steal" for which he is the executive producer.

Top Ten Singles[link]

The following singles peaked inside the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100, Hot 100 Airplay (Radio Songs) and/or the UK Singles Chart.

• 2008: "I Kissed a Girl" (Katy Perry) #1
• 2008: "Hot n Cold" (Katy Perry) #1
• 2008: "Circus" (Britney Spears) #1
• 2009: "Don't Trust Me" (3OH!3) #1
• 2009: "Tik Tok" (Ke$ha) #1
• 2010: "Eenie Meenie" (Sean Kingston & Justin Bieber)
• 2010: "Blah Blah Blah" (Ke$ha)
• 2010: "Your Love Is My Drug" (Ke$ha) #1
• 2010: "My First Kiss" (3OH!3)
• 2010: "California Gurls" (Katy Perry & Snoop Dogg) #1
• 2010: "Please Don't Go" (Mike Posner)
• 2010: "Dynamite" (Taio Cruz) #1
• 2010: "Teenage Dream" (Katy Perry) #1
• 2010: "We R Who We R" (Ke$ha) #1
• 2011: "Blow" (Ke$ha)
• 2011: "No Sleep" (Wiz Khalifa)
• 2011: "Stereo Hearts" (Gym Class Heroes & Adam Levine) #1
• 2011: "Moves Like Jagger" (Maroon 5 & Christina Aguilera) #1
• 2012: "Payphone" (Maroon 5 & Wiz Khalifa)
• 2012: "Work Hard, Play Hard" (Wiz Khalifa)

Production Discography[link]

Title	Year	Album	Songwriter	Producer
"Send Some Shooters"	2007	Hell Rell – Eat With Me Or Eat A Box Of Bullets		Y
"Shake That"		Spank Rock – Bangers & Cash	Y	Y
"B-O-O-T-A-Y"			Y	Y
"Pu$$y"			Y	Y
"Bitch!"			Y	Y
"Loose"			Y	Y
"Circus"	2008	Britney Spears - Circus	Y	Y
"Shattered Glass"			Y	Y
"Lace and Leather"			Y	Y
"Broken Pieces"		Lil Mama – Voice Of The Young People		Y
"Hot n Cold"		Katy Perry - One Of The Boys		Y
"I Kissed A Girl"				Y
"Don't Ask Why"		Vanessa Hudgens - Identified		Y
"Amazed"				Y
"Set It Off"				Y
"Identified"				Y
"Watch You Go"	2009	Jordin Sparks - Battlefield	Y	Y
"Tell Me What Your Name Is"		Ciara – Fantasy Ride	Y	Y
"Dollhouse"		Priscilla Renea – Jukebox	Y	Y
"Touch Me"		Flo Rida – R.O.O.T.S	Y	Y
"Don't Trust Me"		3OH!3 – Want	Y	Y
"Rich Man"			Y	Y
"So Human"		Lady Sovereign – Jigsaw	Y	Y
"Pennies"			Y	Y
"Stupid Love Letter"		Friday Night Boys – Off The Deep End	Y	Y
"Dynamite"	2010	Taio Cruz – Rokstarr	Y	Y
"Eenie Meenie"		Justin Bieber & Sean Kingston – My World 2.0	Y	Y
"Blah Blah Blah"		Ke$ha – Animal	Y	Y
"Tik Tok"			Y	Y
"Party At A Rich Dude's House"			Y	Y
"Dancing With Tears In My Eyes"			Y	Y
"Blind"			Y	Y
"Your Love Is My Drug"				Y
"Somebody to Love [Remix]"		Justin Bieber & Usher – Versus		Y
"California Gurls"		Katy Perry - Teenage Dream	Y	Y
"Teenage Dream"			Y	Y
"My First Kiss"		3OH!3 - Streets of Gold	Y	Y
"Streets of Gold"			Y	Y
"Double Vision"				Y
"Please Don't Go"		Mike Posner - 31 Minutes to Takeoff	Y	Y
"Cheated"			Y	Y
"We R Who we R"		Ke$ha - Cannibal	Y	Y
"Sleazy"			Y	Y
"Blow"			Y	Y
"Grow A Pear"			Y	Y
"Who Dat Girl"		Flo Rida - Only One Flo (Part 1)	Y	Y
"Get Over U"	2011	Neon Hitch - Beg Borrow and Steal	Y	Y
"Bad Dog"			Y	Y
"Silly Girl"			Y	Y
"(Drop Dead) Beautiful"		Britney Spears - Femme Fatale	Y	Y
"Gasoline"			Y	Y
"No Sleep"		Wiz Khalifa - Rolling Papers	Y	Y
"Stereo Hearts"		Gym Class Heroes - The Papercut Chronicles II	Y	Y
"Ass Back Home"			Y	Y
"Moves Like Jagger"		Maroon 5 - Hands All Over	Y	Y
"Come N Go"		Pitbull - Planet Pit	Y	Y
"She Doesn't Mind"		Sean Paul- Tomahawk Technique	Y	Y
"Fuck U Betta"	2012	Neon Hitch - Beg, Borrow, Steal	Y	Y
"Heart Attack"		Trey Songz - Chapter 5	Y	Y
"Masquerade"		Nicki Minaj - Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded	Y	Y
"Payphone"		Maroon 5 - Overexposed	Y	Y
"Beautiful Goodbye"			Y	Y</ceLnter>
"Work Hard, Play Hard"		Wiz Khalifa - O.N.I.F.C.	Y	Y
"Naked Love"	2012	Adam Lambert - Tresspassing	Y	Y

References[link]

External links[link]

• Benny Blanco on Myspace
• Benny Blanco on Twitter

Katy Perry
Katy Perry at the Logie Awards in 2011
Background information
Birth name	Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson
Also known as	Katy Hudson
Born	(1984-10-25) October 25, 1984 (age 27) Santa Barbara, California, U.S.
Genres	Pop, rock, dance, gospel
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, actress
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Red Hill, Island, Columbia, Capitol
Associated acts	The Matrix
Website	Katyperry.com

Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson^[1] (born October 25, 1984), known by her stage name Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Perry grew up with gospel music, and during her first year of high school she pursued a music career as Katy Hudson, releasing her first studio album called Katy Hudson which failed to chart. She recorded a solo album later, which was never released. After signing with Capitol Music Group in 2007, her fourth record label in seven years, she adopted the stage name Katy Perry.

She first gained recognition with the release of her first mainstream album, One of the Boys in 2008, which spawned three Billboard Hot 100 top-ten songs—"I Kissed A Girl", "Hot n Cold" and "Waking Up In Vegas". Perry supported the album with her Hello Katy Tour. In 2010, her third studio album, Teenage Dream (2010), which topped the Billboard 200 chart, and spawned five number one singles—"California Gurls", "Teenage Dream", "Firework", "E.T." and "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)"—Teenage Dream was the only album (after Michael Jackson's Bad)—to do so, and the first female in history to achieve this milestone. She embarked on the California Dreams Tour, which grossed nearly $60 million worldwide.^[2] Perry re-released the album under the name of Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection on March 26, 2012, and the re-release has already spawned the number-one single "Part of Me".

Perry is the only artist to spend over 52 consecutive weeks in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100, and has since heightened this to 69 weeks.^[3] As of 2012, Perry has been nominated for eight Grammy Awards. She was named 2011's "Artist of the Year" by MTV.^[4] She has sold 37.6 million digital tracks in the United States and 11 million albums worldwide.^[5] Perry was a guest judge on the seventh series of The X Factor UK and the ninth season of American Idol. She has released fragrances "Purr" and "Meow". She ventured into film, voicing Smurfette in the 2011 film The Smurfs. Perry was married to British comedian Russell Brand from 2010 to 2012.

Early life[link]

Perry was born Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson in Santa Barbara, California^[6] to Keith, a West Coast scenester in the 1960s,^[7] and Mary Hudson (née Perry), an evangelist who grew up in Southern California and had a "tempestuous" first marriage in Zimbabwe.^[7] Perry has Portuguese, German, Irish, and English ancestry.^[8][9][10] She is the second child of two pastors.^[11] She has an older sister named Angela Hudson and younger brother named David Hudson.^[12] Perry's mother's aunt and uncle were screenwriter Eleanor Perry and director Frank Perry.^[7] Perry was incorporated into her parents' ministry^[11] and sang in their church between the ages of 9 and 17.^[13] She grew up listening to gospel music,^[14] was not allowed to listen to what her mother called "secular music",^[13][15] and attended Christian schools and camps.^[11] As a child, Perry learned how to dance in a recreation building in Santa Barbara. She was taught by seasoned dancers and began with swing, Lindy Hop, and jitterbug.^[16] She took her GED after her first year at Dos Pueblos High School and decided to leave school in the pursuit of a career in music.^[17] Perry initially started singing "because [she] was at that point in [her] childhood where [she] was copycatting [her] sister and everything she [would do]."^[17] Her sister practiced with cassette tapes, while Perry took the tapes herself when her sister was not around. She rehearsed the songs and performed them in front of her parents, who suggested she take vocal coaching. She grabbed the opportunity and began taking lessons at the age of nine and continued until she was sixteen. She later enrolled in at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, and studied Italian opera for a short period of time.^[17]

Career[link]

1999–2006: Career beginnings[link]

Perry performing on her guitar, an instrument she learned to play when she was just starting her record career

When Perry was 15, her singing in church attracted the attention of rock veterans from Nashville, Tennessee, who brought her there to polish her writing skills.^[18] In Nashville, Perry started recording demos and was taught by country music veterans how to craft songs and play guitar.^[13][15] Perry signed to the Christian music label Red Hill, under which she recorded her first album at the age of 15.^[19] Performing as Katy Hudson, she released a self-titled gospel rock album in 2001.^[18] She supported this album with The Strangely Normal Tour, accompanied by Phil Joel, LaRue, Luna Halo, Earthsuit and V*Enna.^[20] The album was unsuccessful as the label ceased operations at the end of 2001.^[19] She later changed her surname to Perry, her mother's maiden name, because "Katy Hudson" was too close to film actress Kate Hudson.^[18][21]

Perry performs at the 2008 Warped Tour

At the age of 17, Perry left her home for Los Angeles, where she worked with Glen Ballard on an album for Island Records.^[22] Growing up listening to mostly gospel music, Perry had few references when she began recording songs.^[13] Asked by the producer with whom she would like to collaborate, Perry had no idea. That night, she went with her mother to a hotel. Inside, she turned on VH1 and saw producer Glen Ballard talking about Alanis Morissette;^[13] Ballard produced Morissette's Jagged Little Pill, which had a "huge influence" on Perry.^[18] She expressed interest in working with Ballard to her initial collaborator, who arranged a meeting for her with Ballard in Los Angeles. Perry presented one of her songs to Ballard. Ballard then helped Perry develop her songwriting over the next few years.^[13] The album was due for release in 2005,^[18][19] but Billboard reported it also went nowhere.^[19] Perry was dropped by The Island Def Jam Music Group.^[7] Some of Perry and Ballard's collaborations included "Box", "Diamonds" and "Long Shot", were posted on her official MySpace page. "Simple", one of the songs she recorded with Ballard, was released on the soundtrack to the 2005 film The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.^[23][24] "Long Shot" and "I Do Not Hook Up" was later recorded by Kelly Clarkson for her 2009 album All I Ever Wanted.^[25]

Perry signed to Columbia Records in 2004. However, the label was not amenable with her vision, not putting her in the "driver's seat".^[19] Instead, one of Columbia's ideas was to pair Perry with the record production team The Matrix, who was working on an album, to serve as its female vocalist. Although the album was later shelved,^[26] she caught the attention of the music press: Her burgeoning music career led to her being named "The Next Big Thing" in October 2004 by Blender magazine.^[19] With no album project ongoing, Perry began recording her own. Eighty percent completed, however, Columbia decided not to finish it and dropped her from the label.^[19] While waiting to find another label, she worked in an independent A&R company called Taxi Music. In 2006, Perry was featured in the tail-end of the video to P.O.D.'s single "Goodbye for Now".^[27] She made a cameo appearance in Carbon Leaf's video, "Learn to Fly".

[edit] 2007–09: Commercial success with One of the Boys and MTV Unplugged

While in the process of being dropped by Columbia in 2006, the company's publicity executive Angelica Cob-Baehler enthusiastically recommended Perry to Virgin Records chairman Jason Flom.^[28] At the time Flom was leading a complete revival in fortunes at the label and looking to crown recent achievements by breaking a global pop act.^[28] Despite mixed reactions from fellow Virgin executives, Flom became convinced that Perry could be that breakthrough star, and at the start of 2007 extended discussions with Columbia resulted in Perry signing to the newly created Capitol Music Group, a merger between Virgin and Capitol. As part of the deal, the label secured the masters to the unfinished album, recorded while at Columbia, that would go on to form a significant part of her official mainstream debut album, One of the Boys.^[28]

The Columbia recordings were seen by Flom as being "very strong but lacking an undeniable smash or two that would work both at U.S. pop radio and internationally" and so one of the executive's first actions after completing the signing was to set up a collaboration between Perry and the writer-producer Dr. Luke.^[28] The results were the songs "I Kissed a Girl" and "Hot n Cold". Establishing her image was one of the immediate concerns of her management.^[19] A campaign was started in November 2007 with the release of the video to "Ur So Gay", aimed at introducing her to the music market. A digital EP led by "Ur So Gay" was later released to create online buzz and press story.^[11][19][29] This was a successful move that resulted in bringing Perry to the attention of Madonna,^[19] who mentioned her on KISS FM and KRQ's JohnJay & Rich morning show in Arizona. On March 10, 2008, she appeared as herself on the ABC Family television series, Wildfire, on the episode "Life's Too Short".^[30]

Perry during Hello Katy Tour on March 27, 2009

In the next step of promoting the album, Perry undertook a two-month tour of radio stations. The album's official lead single, "I Kissed a Girl", was released on May 6, 2008. Perry's A&R, Chris Anokute, told HitQuarters the song and its controversial theme had met with strong resistance at the label: "People said, 'This is never going to get played on the radio. How do we sell this? How’s this going to be played in the bible belt?'"^[29] Anokute said that they needed the support of one of the label's radio promoters to convince people to believe in the record; otherwise, Perry would have likely been dropped again. Capitol's SVP of Promotions, Dennis Reese, saw the vision and helped push the single on national radio. The first station to pick it up and take a chance was The River in Nashville. After playing it for three days they were innundated with enthusiastic calls.^[29] With the song climbing atop the charts, Perry embarked on the annual Warped Tour music festival, which her management used to "establish her as a credible performer and make sure she wasn't seen as just a one-hit wonder."^[19] The single was a commercial success, peaking at number one for seven weeks on the Billboard Hot 100.^[19] It has since become a major worldwide hit, topping charts in 30 countries,^[26] including Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom.^[31] On June 12, 2008, Perry appeared as herself on the daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless,^[30] posing for the cover to the June 2008 issue of the fictional magazine Restless Style.^[32] Perry also performed backing vocals on the song, "Another Night in the Hills" from Gavin Rossdale's 2008 solo album Wanderlust.^[33]

One of the Boys was released on June 17, 2008, to mixed critical reviews.^[34] The album has reached number nine on the Billboard 200,^[35] and has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.^[36] Perry released her second single, "Hot n Cold", which became her second top three single in dozens of countries around the world, including the United States where it reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100,^[19] as well as topping the charts in Germany, Canada, and Denmark. After Perry wrapped up her appearance at the Warped Tour, she went on tours in Europe. She later launched her first headlining tour, the Hello Katy Tour, in January 2009.^[19] "I Kissed a Girl" earned Perry a nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 2009 Grammy Awards.^[37] Perry was nominated in five categories at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, including Best New Artist and Best Female Video, but lost to Britney Spears.^[38] She won Best New Act at the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards, which she co-hosted,^[39] and Best International Female Artist at the 2009 BRIT Awards.^[40] On February 9, 2009, both "I Kissed a Girl" and "Hot n Cold" were certified three-time platinum by Recording Industry Association of America for individual digital sales of over three million.^[41] The Guinness Book of World Records recognized Perry in its 2010 version as the "Best Start on the US Digital Chart by a Female Artist," for having her first two singles sell over two million digital copies.^[42]

Perry during the Hello Katy Tour in June 2009

The Matrix's self-titled debut album, which features Perry, was later released via the team's label, Let's Hear It, during Perry's solo tour. When the release date was scheduled, "I Kissed a Girl" had been charting well. Matrix member Lauren Christy spoke to Perry about the decision, but she wanted to hold the release until the fourth single of One of the Boys had been dispatched. Despite their communication, The Matrix was released on January 27, 2009, via iTunes Store.^[43]

In December 2008, Perry apologized to British singer Lily Allen for remarks in which she called herself a "skinnier version" of her, saying she meant it as a joke.^[44] Allen retaliated and told a British radio station that she "happen[ed] to know for a fact that she [Perry] was an American version" of her because their record company needed "to find something controversial and 'kooky'" like her.^[45] In January 2009, Perry embarked on her first headlining world tour, the Hello Katy Tour, visiting North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Beginning on January 23, 2009, and ending on November 28, 2009, the tour consisted of 89 concerts. During that time, Perry also opened select concerts for the band No Doubt, on their Summer Tour 2009.

On May 16, 2009, Perry performed at the opening ceremony of the annual Life Ball in Vienna, Austria.^[46] In June 2009, lawyers acting for Perry opposed the then-recent trademark of Australian fashion designer Katie Perry, who uses her own name to market loungewear.^[47] Some media outlets reported this as a lawsuit, which Perry denied on her blog.^[48] Katie Perry reported on her blog that at a hearing with IP Australia on July 10, 2009, the singer's lawyers withdrew their opposition to the trademark.^[49] During the summer of 2009 Perry filmed a cameo appearance for Get Him to the Greek; her scene, in which she kisses her future fiancé Russell Brand was cut, and does not appear in the final film. Discussing the issue with MTV, Perry hypothesized there may have been some fear that seeing the two make out would have taken viewers out of the experience.^[50] In 2009, Perry was featured on two singles: in August, a remix of Colorado-based band 3OH!3's song "Starstrukk" (the idea for the collaboration having come after Perry's tour that featured 3OH!3 as the supporting act, the song being released by iTunes on September 8, 2009); and, thereafter, in December, on "If We Ever Meet Again", the fourth single from Timbaland's album Shock Value II.^[51] In October 2009, MTV Unplugged revealed that Perry was one of the artists to perform for them, and that she would be releasing a live album of the performance, including two new tracks, "Brick by Brick" and Fountains of Wayne cover "Hackensack".^[52] The album, released on November 17, included both a CD and a DVD,^[53] and debuted at No. 168 on the US Billboard 200 chart.

[edit] 2010–present: Teenage Dream, film debut and The Complete Confection

Perry at 2011 MTV Video Music Awards

Perry appeared as a guest judge alongside Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole and Louis Walsh during the Dublin audition stage of the seventh series of the British television show The X Factor on June 28, 2010.^[54] She was one of the many celebrities chosen to fulfil the role of judge whilst Dannii Minogue was on maternity leave. In May 2010, Perry released the first single from her second studio album, Teenage Dream entitled, "California Gurls". The single peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for six consecutive weeks.^[55][56] "Teenage Dream" was released as the second single from her album, and it also topped the Billboard Hot 100, becoming her third number one and second from the album. Teenage Dream was released August 24, 2010 and debuted atop the Billboard 200 chart with sales of 192,000 copies in its first week.^[57] The album as since sold over 2 million copies in the US, being certified Platinum by the RIAA. Following the album's release, the third single "Firework" was released and became the third consecutive single from Teenage Dream to top the Hot 100. With this, Perry became the first female in eleven years to have three consecutive number-ones from one album.^[58] In February 2011, Perry released the fourth single, "E.T.", a remixed version featuring Kanye West, that peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for five non-consecutive weeks.^[59] The music video for "E.T." was directed by Floria Sigismondi and features Shaun Ross as the main love interest. With "E.T." at number one on the chart of May 12, 2011, Perry became the first artist to spend 52 consecutive weeks in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100.^[3] In June 2011, Perry released the fifth single, "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)". A remixed version featuring American rapper Missy Elliot was released in early August.^[60] The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 on August 17, 2011, making Perry the first female and second artist (tied with Michael Jackson) ever to have five No. 1 singles from one album. Also, when the song reached number 1 in the Pop Songs airplay chart, "Teenage Dream" became the first album to have 5 number 1's from the same album on that chart. Additionally, when the song reached number one in the Adult Pop Songs airplay chart, the album become the first to have 4 number 1's from the same album on the chart.^[61] In October 2011, Perry released the sixth single, "The One That Got Away". It reached No. 3 on Hot 100, becoming the third album in history to produce six top five hit singles,^[62] and the seventh song from Teenage Dream to reach the top of the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs, the most by any album and setting a new record in the chart.^[63] Perry released a "The One That Got Away" remix featuring American rapper B.o.B. in December 2011. An acoustic version of the song was released in January 2012.^[64]

From February 2011 to January 2012, Perry embarked on an extensive world tour in support of Teenage Dream, the California Dreams Tour, playing 124 shows in Europe, Australasia, Asia, North America and South America and earning over $59 million.^[2] Perry made her perfume debut, releasing a fragrance named "Purr" in November. It is packaged in a cat-shaped bottle, and is available through Nordstrom stores.^[65][66] She followed it up with the fragrance's first flanker, "Meow".^[67][68]

Perry promoting her 2011 fragrance 'Purr'

In July 2011, Perry made her film debut in the 3D family film The Smurfs as Smurfette. The Smurfs earned $557,771,535 worldwide during its theatrical run. Perry appeared at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards on August 28, 2011. She was nominated for ten awards, received the most nominations of the ceremony and was the first singer to have four different music videos shown in various categories, eventually winning three of those, Video of the Year for "Firework", Best Collaboration and Best Special Effects for "E.T.". On September 17, 2011, marked Perry' 69th consecutive week in the Top 10 with single "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)".^[69][70] On September 23, 2011, she performed, along with Elton John, Brazilian Claudia Leitte and friend Rihanna, on the opening day of the 2011 Rock in Rio festival, which was extended to October 2.^[71] Perry performed for 100 thousand people, a show that received high praise from critics and audience alike.^[72]

On December 14, 2011, the annual list Forbes was elected the third singer who earned more than US$44 million, behind Lady Gaga (US$90 million) and Taylor Swift (US$45 million).^[73] On December 15, 2011, Perry was elected the Artist of the Year by MTV, for their performance on the charts worldwide and won the record during the year.^[4] On December 20, 2011, She released a Barbie doll that represents her style in 2012.^[74] On January 8, 2012, Perry was named the sixth best-selling digital artist of all time in the United States, having sold 37,620,00 million singles and albums as of 2011, according to Nielsen SoundScan.^[75]

In the week ending January 15, 2012, Perry became the first artist ever to have five songs sell over 5 million digital copies in the USA.^[76] Perry was once again recruited by EA Games to promote their new expansion pack The Sims 3: Showtime for their The Sims game franchise. The game content was based on Perry.^[77] Perry became the first person to have six songs top the Billboard Adult Pop Songs chart.^[78] In March 27, 2012, she re-released Teenage Dream under the title Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection on March 27, 2012. The lead single from the re-release (and seventh single from the Teenage Dream era overall) was "Part of Me", which released in February, debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart.^[79] Perry has announced that she will release a part-biopic, part-concert film to be shown in 3D titled Katy Perry: Part of Me to be released on the 4th of July weekend of 2012 by Paramount Pictures.^[80][81] In April 2012, Perry performed in India for the first time at the opening ceremony of 5th edition of Indian Premier League, cricket match, in Chennai along with Indian actors Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Prabhu Deva.^[82][83][84] She performed her songs "Teenage Dream" and a remix version of "California Gurls".^{[85][83][86][87]} In April 2012, Perry stated that she was working on new music and changing her musical style, "My music is about to get real f—ing dark. You'd never see my face because my hair would be in it."^[88]

Artistry[link]

Musical style and themes[link]

Perry performing in 2009

Perry has a contralto vocal range.^[89] Perry's first album is of the Gospel music genre.^[11][19] She related that her perspective in music was "a bit enclosed and very strict", and everything she did was church-related.^[11] Her second album, One of the Boys, is described as "secular" and "rock," and reflects a departure from her religious musical roots.^[11] Her next album Teenage Dream featured more pop songs in the vein of Boys.^[16][90] In her childhood, Perry was introduced to the music of Alanis Morissette and Freddie Mercury, the late frontman of the British band Queen.^[26] In her tribute to Mercury on what would have been his 65th birthday, Perry stated; "Without you I wouldn't be making music or doing what I do because your lyrics inspired me as a 15 year old girl."^[91] Queen's song "Killer Queen" has inspired her to pursue a career in pop music after her first album.^[11] She also described that Morissette's album Jagged Little Pill as having influenced her music profoundly; even going on to work with Morissette's collaborator on the album, Glen Ballard because of that.^[18] Influence also came from a number of female pop rock singers, including Cyndi Lauper, Shirley Manson, Pat Benatar and Joan Jett, as "they came out with a vengeance."^[92] Perry also cited Madonna as another big influence, saying "I want to evolve like Madonna."^[93][94]

	"Part of Me" noicon A 22 second sample of Part of Me, a song with a pop rock influence, which is a common genre for Perry's songs.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

Perry is artistically involved in her projects, especially in the writing process. Since she could play guitar, she would start writing songs at home and present it to her producers. Perry is mostly inspired by specific moments of her life. She said it is easy for her to write songs about heartbreak.^[13] Most of the themes in One of the Boys deal with heartbreak, teen adventure, and "puking into toilets".^[18] Perry's mother reportedly told British tabloid Daily Mail that she dislikes her daughter's music, calling it "shameful and disgusting".^[11][95] Perry said her mother was misquoted and told MTV that it was false information.^[95] Her songs "Ur So Gay" and "I Kissed a Girl" have received negative reactions from both religious and gay sectors.^[95] The songs have been respectively labeled as being homophobic and promoting homosexuality, as well as "lez ploitational".^[11] Musicians Pink, Kathleen Hanna and Beth Ditto criticized "I Kissed A Girl" as offensive to the LGBT community.^[96][97][98] MTV mentioned criticism suggesting that Perry is using "bi-curiosity" as a way to sell records.^[95] Perry responded to the controversy surrounding "Ur So Gay": "It's not a negative connotation. It's not, 'you're so gay,' like, 'you're so lame,' but the fact of the matter is that this boy should've been gay. I totally understand how it could be misconstrued or whatever ... It wasn't stereotyping anyone in particular, I was talking about ex-boyfriends."^[99] Perry has written several songs for other singers, including Ashley Tisdale ("Time's Up"), Selena Gomez & the Scene ("Rock God" and "That's More Like It"), Kelly Clarkson ("Long Shot" and "I Do Not Hook Up"), Jessica James ("Bullet" and "Girl Next Door"), Lesley Roy ("Slow Goodbye"), and Kady Malloy ("Wish You the Worst").

Public image[link]

Perry is known for her unconventional style of dress.^[16] It is often humorous, bright in color, and reminiscent of different decades, and she frequently uses fruit-shaped accessories, mainly watermelon, as part of her outfits.^[92] Perry's transformation into an artist began with fashion, inspired by American film actress Dominique Swain's portrayal in the 1997 film Lolita.^[18] She defines her fashion style as "a bit of a concoction of different things".^[16] Her fashion has caught the attention of designers.^[11][92] In June 2008, a publicity photo that showed Perry posing with a switchblade was criticized.^[100] The picture was defended as only an effort to give Perry a "sexy, harder edge".^[100] The criticism leveled at her was mocked by Perry who subsequently posed with a spoon instead.^[101] She was ranked 7th in Rolling Stone's global Queen of Pop poll in July 2011.^[102] Perry is also a gay activist. According to Dosomething.org, Perry had stated "I am a gay activist and I say that proudly. I voted no on Prop 8 (California’s Nov. 4, 2008, amendment declaring that marriage is defined as a union solely between a man and a woman), of course."^[103]

Personal life[link]

Russell Brand, Perry's estranged husband

Perry has had relationships with Gym Class Heroes frontman Travie McCoy, whom she met in a recording studio in New York,^[21] breaking up in December 2008;^[104] Relient K frontman Matt Thiessen, with whom she worked on her album Teenage Dream^[105] and British comedian Russell Brand.

Perry first met Brand in the summer of 2009 when she filmed a cameo appearance for Brand's film Get Him to the Greek. Although the cameo ultimately did not make it into the final cut of the movie, Perry later noted that the "scene called for me to make out with him...And on the way down the stairs after the scene, I was hopping like a bunny. I hop like a bunny when I'm happy".^[106][107] Perry and Brand began dating after meeting again several months later in September 2009 at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, where Brand, as host, remarked, "Katy Perry didn't win an award and she's staying at the same hotel as me, so she's gonna need a shoulder to cry on. So in a way, I'm the real winner tonight."^[108] The couple became engaged in December 2009 while vacationing in India.^{[109][110][111]} At the time, Perry stated that she had plans to take dual British citizenship. "One of the first things I'll do is apply for dual citizenship. I'm not too sure if I have to take a test as I've not had time to look into it. But England is like my second home".^[112] In an August 2010 interview with Rolling Stone, Perry also noted that, "I am sensitive to Russell taking the Lord's name in vain and to Lady Gaga putting a rosary in her mouth. I think when you put sex and spirituality in the same bottle and shake it up, bad things happen."^{[113][114][115]} Perry and Brand married on October 23, 2010, in a traditional Hindu ceremony near the Ranthambhore tiger sanctuary in Rajasthan, India, the same location where Brand proposed.^[116][117]

After 14 months of marriage, Brand filed for divorce from Perry on December 30, 2011, in Los Angeles, citing irreconcilable differences.^[118][119] The announcement of the divorce followed media speculation that the couple was having marital problems, including an Us Weekly report that they had got into a "massive fight" and spent Christmas 2011 on opposite sides of the globe, with Perry in Hawaii and Brand in London, both without their wedding rings.^[120][121] After Perry and Brand reached an agreement on financial issues, a judge granted the divorce request in February 2012; however the divorce will not become effective until July 2012, as California law requires a six-month interval from the initial filing.^[122]

Discography[link]

• Katy Hudson (2001)
• One of the Boys (2008)
• Teenage Dream (2010)

Tours[link]

Filmography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]