You call her Katy Perry, we call her Katy Hudson, the singer who at the tender age of 16 released her self-titled debut album in the Christian marketplace.
You got it. Katy Perry, whose single "I Kissed A Girl" is tearing up the Billboard charts, got her start in the Christian industry.
The daughter of two conservative preachers, Katy Hudson signed with Red Hill Records and in 2001 released an album filled with Christian pop/rock radio-friendly songs. She even toured with Phil Joel.
Red Hill Records folded. Somewhere along the way changed her name to Katy Perry, whether to avoid confusion with actress Kate Hudson or to shed her Christian association, I don't know, but in 2004 she went on to become an in-house vocalist for the production team, The Matrix, whose credits include Avril Lavigne and Britney Spears.
A series of typical industry ups and downs eventually led her to sign with Capital Records in 2007, and she was on her way. Last year she released the single "Ur So Gay," which garnered her attention, but it's the recent "I Kissed A Girl" that's got her at the top of the Billboard charts. Her album, One Of The Boys, released last week.
This is definitely not a Christian album, although they lyrics to the song, "Lost," allude to a spiritual searching:
"Have you ever been so lost
Known the way and still so lost ...
My mother says I should come back home but
Can't find the way cause the way is gone
So if I pray am I just sending words into outer space"
So where did Katy Hudson/Perry switch paths?
Looking back, her 2001 debut wasn't a "Jesus is my boyfriend" album; the lyrics were genuine and the album was a legitimate Christian release. By all accounts, Hudson had a promising career as a Christian artist.
But was she a legitimate Christian artist? In 2004, at the age of 19, she told Blender Magazine that during her adolescence, she wasn't "your typical Christian. I've done a lot of bad things. Use your imagination."
It's a curious thing, that a girl who was obviously engaging in rebellious behavior got a Christian record deal in the first place. Either she's a great actress or a lot of people in the industry looked the other way.
Should we have expected more from Katy Hudson, just because her parents were preachers and she grew up in the church? And should we even be using teens as spiritual role models - and let's face it, Christian artists are Christian role models - when often they really haven't yet begun to understand their own faith?
Probably not. There's a reason that a lot of Christian teens get to college and rebel. They need to find out on their own what their faith means and how Jesus is real in their lives. Sometimes they stay on the Christian path and end up with a stronger faith, but sometimes they step away and never look back, sometimes because they never really believed to begin with.
Only Katy Perry knows which of those is true for her.
In any event, it's clear that this isn't a crossover thing. Katy Perry long ago shed her association with the Christian industry, and while that's been good for her career it's not so good for her spiritual condition. The one thing I hope is that if she ever wants to find her way back to the faith of her youth, the Christian community can welcome her back with open arms.
We've all been lost and found, and let's not ever forget that.
(PS I need to give a big thank you to Dave Weiss at Running A.M.O.K. ministries, who alerted me to this story. I would never have made the connection!)
RELATED POST
**** NEW: 1/26/09: Katy Perry: Clearing The Air On Her Faith, Her Parents And The Celibacy Vow ****
Christian Year In Review
Katy Perry's parents sound off about about their daughter's I Kissed A Girl
Head on over to join the discussion on the "What Is Christian Music, Anyway?" post
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Two points here...maybe she got her start in Christian music. The author of this article is more than judgmental about her which is not her place at all. Katy Perry is who she is. Her parents brought her up in a Christian home and it's her that has to answer to God one day not us. It's not our place to judge her.
Second, she more than likely got a record deal in the first place because she can sing. I don't necessarily agree with what she sings about or how she portrays herself. HOWEVER, Jessica Simpson also got her start in the Gospel/Christian world and while she has been portrayed in a less than stellar light while maintaining her faith.
In the end, it's the person's individual faith that matters, not what her peers like us think.
Katy Perry is a most talented song writer, composer, and singer. Gifts of God are irrovocable, and the Christian Church and community rejected her talent and music, so she went to the world who embraced her talent and music.
This happens so many times. Think about it. Elvis Pressley, Jessica Simpson, and the list could go on.
Most of the greatest musicians and singers began their roots in the church, and some go "off track" because of fame and wealth, or personal vanities, but others go off track from rejection of the church.
Katy Perry will one day come back to the Church and will sing for her Master. She love Jesus, and once you have been loved by the Master, you may go astray, but you will always always return to the one who loved you unconditionally, and this is Jesus.
I think that Katy had every right to change her faith. Nobody should be forced into a religion, especially one so flawed! Christianity is full of contradictions, including the biggest claim that "God" loves you indefinitely but if you commit any sins you will burn in hell. For example if you are gay, something that cannot be helped, you go to hell.
I think the fact that you are all saying Kate is not a christian is a joke. Just because her new music taste doesn't suite the church doesn't mean she isn't a christian. I know for a fact her faith is very strong, possibly her pop music acts as a veil to this. moral of the story is don't judge. I'm no expert on Christianity but I think the whole judging thing is supposed to be left up to God. I think everyone just needs to get off their moral high horse and enjoy this girls music and realise that its tongue in cheek and nothing more.
The original blogger never judged Kate just made a decision not to play her music based of the lyrics to her music. Where did the idea come up that Kate was rejected by the Christian music industry and as a result turned to secular music? Being raised by Christian parents is no guarantee that a person will immediately walk in that path once they are out of their parent’s home. Fame has a subtle way of leading us away from our original core values as strong or weak as they may be. Fame is rare in the music industry. My prayer is that some day she will see the true freedom and life offered in a dedicated Christian walk.
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