Katy Perry Talks Manscaping, Says She Prefers "a Trimmed Man, But Not Completely Waxed"

Gentlemen, take note! If you want to date Katy Perry, there are some things you have to whip into shape. One of them? Body grooming.

John Mayer, Russell Brand Jason Merritt/Getty Images; Chris Jackson/Getty Images

And not just general hygiene. The "I Kissed a Girl" singer, 30 — who has famously been off and on with Hollywood playboy John Mayer and was married to British comedian Russell Brand — revealed that she wants her man to be clean, but what is most important is his hair… down there. "If your teeth and nails are good, you're a candidate. If you can’t clean under your nails and you want to touch me, forget it," she told Glamour on Oct. 7, adding, "And personally, the less hair, the better. I like a trimmed man but not completely waxed. I’m not into that f--kboy look."

But her strict rules aren't only for the guys. She also revealed what her beauty standards are for herself, on a day-to-day basis. "I’m Katy Perry onstage. At home I’m Katheryn Hudson. I’ve created this cartoon look when performing, but offstage I don’t always have three hours to put it together. That’s when I’m just about lashes, shaping my brows, and more natural skin," she revealed. 

The Part of Me star also admitted that she's just getting into a Kardashian-approved beauty routine: contouring. "I just learned how to shade a little bit so you slim your face down and take care of your undercarriage underneath your chin."

And the reason why Perry's hair is always a different color? "I’m naturally the most boring dishwater squirrel brown," she said. "So I’ve been playing with colors since I was 15. I loved the grunge green, and shocking blue was fun. Colored hair is such a huge accessory that you don’t even need to add extra stuff."

When it comes to beauty, Perry isn't afraid to be a little rebellious and actually breaks the rules on purpose when her nails are involved. "Now I’m really into a gel mani. People talk about, 'Oh, you know, it hurts your nail beds.' I’m like, 'Listen, nobody is talking about how strong your nail beds look.' They’re saying, 'Oh my God, that mani is incredible.'"

What do you think of Katy's beauty requirements? Tweet with @UsWeekly using the hashtag #stylebyUs!

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Former Gospel Singer Katy Perry: 'I'm Not a Christian'

Pop singer Katy Perry caused an uproar of controversy at Sunday night's Grammy Awards when the singer performed a Satanic-themed rendition of her number-one single, "Dark Horse." Many may be surprised to find out that Perry was once an aspiring Gospel singer who wanted to be the "next Amy Grant."

Katy Perry has become a superstar since the release of her 2008 number-one single "I Kissed a Girl" from the album "One of the Boys." Perry would then cement her name as one of Pop music's biggest stars, with multiple number-one albums and singles that have dominated the charts and airwaves. Despite all the glamor and success Perry has achieved, her start in the music business began in her church.

Perry was born in a Christian home under Pentecostal parents who also served as pastors and founded the Keith Hudson Ministries. As a child growing up, she attended religious camps for church and grew up listening gospel music only. Her parents discouraged her from listening to secular music and was forbidden to become engaged with worldly things.

Related: Katy Perry's Christian Pastor Father on Her Super Bowl XLIX Halftime Performance 

Related: Katy Perry at Grammy Awards 2015: God Spoke to Me Before Super Bowl Performance 

Going by her real name "Katy Hudson," Perry released her first self-titled album as a contemporary Christian artist. "I realized what my calling was at a young age...I sort of felt it in my bones. But God will use a willing vessel and there isn't an age limit on being a willing vessel," said Perry, then known as Katy Hudson.

However, when Perry did not find success as a Christian artist, she branched out to secular music and was signed on to Capitol Music Group. Her debut as Katy Perry was an instant success and she has continued to advance her career. In the process of reestablishing herself as a pop star, Perry turned away from her religious views. "I don't believe in a heaven or a hell or an old man sitting on a throne," said Perry in an issue of Marie Claire. "I believe in a higher power bigger than me because that keeps me accountable."

Perry has even turned from the Conservative ways of her parents, and has become an activist for LGBT rights. Her support for President Obama garnered her to sing at the inauguration, which she forbade her parents to go because of their Republican stance. "My parents are Republicans, and I'm not," she also told Marie Claire. "They didn't vote for Obama, but when I was asked to sing at the inauguration, they were like, 'We can come.' And I was like, 'No, you can't."

The now-secular pop star can be labeled in the league of Miley Cyrus as devout Christians turning away from their faith in exchange for fame. Cyrus, who was once a considered a role model for young girls and reciting Ephesians 6:10-11 as her favorite passage in the Bible, is now known for her provocative twerking dance moves.

Three secular albums, nine number-one singles and a divorce later, Perry claims that she is not a Christian and no longer believes in God but rather in a higher power. "I believe in a lot of astrology. I believe in aliens. . . . I look up into the stars and I imagine: How self-important are we to think that we are the only life-form?"  With a heap of success, controversial nonetheless Perry's first identifier as "Katy Hudson" will only be known as her legal name, rather than the aspiring Christian singer. 

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Katy Perry American singer

Katy Perry, original name Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson   (born October 25, 1984, Santa Barbara, California, U.S.), American pop singer who gained fame for a string of anthemic and often sexually suggestive hit songs, as well as for a playfully cartoonish sense of style.

Katy Hudson was raised in southern California, the middle child of two itinerant born-again Christian ministers. Nonreligious music was forbidden in the Hudson household, and she grew up singing church hymns and gospel tunes. As a teenager, she learned to play the guitar and sought a musical career in Nashville with a Christian record label, but her debut album, the gospel-influenced Katy Hudson (2001), sold poorly. By then, however, Hudson had found new musical models in such rock artists as Freddie Mercury and Alanis Morissette, whom she had discovered through friends. She soon moved to Los Angeles to pursue success in the secular music realm, adopting her mother’s maiden name, Perry, to avoid confusion with the actress Kate Hudson.

Perry’s initial efforts at mainstream stardom were fruitless, with two separate record labels signing and subsequently dropping her before any material was released. In 2007, however, Capitol Records put out Perry’s EP Ur So Gay, which attracted modest attention for its cheerfully flippant title track. She made a greater splash several months later with the single “I Kissed a Girl,” an assertive ode to sexual curiosity backed by a hard-edged electro-pop beat. The song quickly stirred controversy, as some critics derided it for promoting same-sex relations and others charged that the racy scenario it depicted catered to male fantasies of female sexuality. Nevertheless, the combination of titillation and polished melodicism helped “I Kissed a Girl” become a number one hit in multiple countries, powering sales for her album One of the Boys(2008). With its bouncy, sharp-tongued second single, “Hot N Cold,” also proving popular, the album—much of which Perry wrote herself—eventually registered sales of more than one million copies in the United States.

By late 2009 Perry had become frequent tabloid fodder, largely because of her quirky, vividly coloured fashions—which borrowed variously from 1940s pinup models, burlesque performers, and the kawaii(“cute”) cultural aesthetic of Japan—as well as her high-profile relationship with English comedian Russell Brand. (The couple were married in 2010–12.) After recording the stripped-down live albumMTV Unplugged (2009), Perry returned to the studio. The resulting release, Teenage Dream (2010), which provided a broader showcase for her full-throated voice, was even more commercially successful than One of the Boys, spawning such hits as the warm-weather frivolity “California Gurls” (featuring rapper Snoop Dogg) and the inspirational “Firework.” When “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)” reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart in mid-2011, Perry tied Michael Jackson’s record of five number one songs from a single album. She maintained her grip on the mainstream with her next release, Prism(2013), which produced, among other hits, the anthemic “Roar.”

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).

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Ask Billboard: Who's Sold More, Katy Perry Or Lady Gaga?

Lady Gaga, Katy Perry

LADY GAGA/TWITTER; GETTY IMAGES

What else would we talk about this week? Plus, more tributes following Madonna's birthday and hits that have made second encores on Billboard charts

As always, submit your questions about Billboard charts, as well as general music musings, to askbb@billboard.com. Please include your first and last name, as well as your city, state and country, if outside the U.S. Or, Tweet questions to Gary Trust: @gthot20

KATY PERRY VS. LADY GAGA: WHO'S SOLD MORE?

Hi Gary,

With the release of Katy Perry and Lady Gaga's new singles, everyone is comparing the two artists. To add fuel to the fire, could you please update us with the Nielsen SoundScan figures for their albums and top-selling singles? And, which artist has sold more albums and singles?

Cheers,

Krzysztof Gorecki
Lublin, Poland

Hi Krzysztof,

The big news on the Billboard Hot 100 this week, other than Robin Thicke snagging an 11th week at No. 1 with "Blurred Lines," was obviously the 85-2 blast of Perry's "Roar" and the No. 6 bow for Lady Gaga's "Applause."

As a sort-of Hot 100 afterparty, how do Perry and Gaga fare in comparison to each other when it comes to their career album and digital song sales? Given that both artists first charted on the Hot 100 in 2008, it's a pretty even playing field (one which we're apparently about to help set more fire to …)

Here are each star's best-selling digital songs and their U.S. album sales through the week ending Aug. 18, according to Nielsen SoundScan:

Katy Perry: Digital Songs
6,341,000, "Firework"
5,606,000, "E.T." (feat. Kanye West)
5,542,000, "California Gurls" (feat. Snoop Dogg)
5,414,000, "Hot N Cold"
4,573,000, "Teenage Dream" 
4,444,000, "I Kissed a Girl"
3,470,000, "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)"
3,074,000, "Wide Awake"
2,662,000, "Part of Me"
2,617,000, "The One That Got Away"
2,211,000, "Waking Up in Vegas"
1,079,000, "Thinking of You"
643,000, "Peacock"
 
Lady Gaga: Digital Songs
6,987,000, "Poker Face"
6,809,000, "Just Dance" (feat. Colby O'Donis)
5,401,000, "Bad Romance"
3,918,000, "Born This Way"
3,388,000, "Paparazzi"
3,268,000, "Telephone" (feat. Beyonce)
2,792,000, "The Edge of Glory"
2,558,000, "LoveGame"
2,473,000, "Alejandro"
2,181,000, "You and I"
942,000, "Judas"
781,000, "Starstruck"

Katy Perry: Albums
2,749,000, "Teenage Dream" (2010)
1,529,000, "One of the Boys" (2008)
55,000, "MTV Unplugged" (EP) (2009)

Lady Gaga: Albums
4,525,000, "The Fame" (2008)

 

2,298,000, "Born This Way" (2011)
1,566,000, "The Fame Monster" (EP) (2009)
57,000, "Born This Way: The Remix" (2011)
302,000, "The Remix" (2010)
40,000, "A Very Gaga Holiday" (EP) (2011)


The totals?

First, digital song sales:
Katy Perry: 49,897,000
Lady Gaga: 46,322,000

And, album sales:
Lady Gaga: 8,817,000
Katy Perry: 4,333,000


So … Perry narrowly leads in digital song sales, while Gaga boasts a more than two-to-one lead in album sales, reflecting the latter's clearer status as an album act.

In all, victories for both Little Monsters and Katycats! ... Plenty more discussion is a lock as "Roar" and "Applause" grow, leading up to the releases of Perry's album "Prism" (Oct. 22) and Gaga's "ARTPOP" (Nov. 11).

As always, submit your questions about Billboard charts, as well as general music musings, to askbb@billboard.com. Please include your first and last name, as well as your city, state and country, if outside the U.S. Or, Tweet questions to Gary Trust:@gthot20

HER BEST MATERIAL

Hi Gary,

For Madonna's birthday last Friday (Aug. 16), I compiled a playlist of some of her best "B-side" tracks and live performances.

It would be great if you could share that piece. I bet her fans would really appreciate it.

Keep up the great work. You'll always have a fan in me!

Nihal Advani

Thanks Nihal,

Fun list! And, of course, Billboard ranked her 40 top-performing hits on the Hot 100, viewable here.

Your lists and even ours, however, don't quite reflect each fan's specific personal tastes. Here, then, is how I'd rank my top 20 favorite Madonna songs. (As I became a fan upon the release of "Like a Prayer" in 1989, my countdown leans more toward her efforts from then on):

20, "Oh Father"
19, "Beautiful Stranger"
18, "Music"
17, "Live to Tell"
16, "La Isla Bonita" 
15, "Beautiful Killer"
14, "This Used to Be My Playground"
13, "Vogue"
12, "I'll Remember"
11, "Like a Prayer"
10, "Nothing Fails"
9, "Dress You Up"
8, "Don't Cry for Me Argentina"
7, "Cherish"
6, "Sorry"
5, "Time Stood Still"
4, "Frozen"
3, "Rain"
2, "The Power of Goodbye" 

1, "Who's That Girl"

How about you? Please feel free to rank your favorite material by the Material Girl and send it, along with any commentary, to askbb@billboard.com for the next mailbag.

As always, submit your questions about Billboard charts, as well as general music musings, to askbb@billboard.com. Please include your first and last name, as well as your city, state and country, if outside the U.S. Or, Tweet questions to Gary Trust:@gthot20

THR-'ICE' IS N-'ICE'

@gthot20 '13 remix of Walking On Thin Ice is on the dance club play chart for Yoko Ono, a 3rd go round. How many others hit 3x?

Bill Smith @billcs

Hi Bill,

Great question. Yoko Ono's "Walking on Thin Ice" reached No. 13 on Dance/Club Play Songs in 1981 and returned in 2003, going all the way to No. 1. This week, "Walking on Thin Ice 2013" jumps 22-18 in its fourth week, marking its third run up the tally.

A rare feat, indeed, although not a first on Dance/Club Play Songs. Alison Limerick, for example, sent "Where Love Lives" to No. 3 in 1991. A new "Where Love Lives '96" rose to No. 4 in 1996, while a third mix climbed to No. 16 in 2003. Clearly, the proliferation of remixes makes dance/EDM a natural genre in which songs can return in new forms.

I can think of a few other much more well-known thrice-is-nice hits (excluding holiday classics, which return annually to the seasonal Holiday Songs chart). (And, like "Ice," it's sometimes taken multiple recordings of a composition for it to become a hit three times.)

Two stand out as the most prominent examples of songs that hit the same chart three times:

Dolly Parton, "I Will Always Love You," Hot Country Songs
No. 1 (one week), 1974
No. 1 (one week), 1982 (re-released alongside the film "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas," in which she starred)
No. 15, 1995 (with Vince Gill) (the ballad had found a new generation of fans following Whitney Houston's cover, which led the Hot 100 for 14 weeks in 1992-93)

The Righteous Brothers, "Unchained Melody," Hot 100
No. 4, 1965
No. 13, 1990 (the same version as above returned thanks to its inclusion in the box office smash "Ghost")
No. 19, 1990 (the No. 13-peaking 1990 version was the original, released only on vinyl, and the one which received almost all its airplay that year. A new recording released only as a cassette single sold enough to chart on practically sales alone, as consumers by then had largely moved on from buying 45s to cassette singles, even if the version they surely wanted was the original on vinyl.)

Other songs that fit the spirit of the topic, if, perhaps, with asterisks:

Peter Gabriel, "In Your Eyes": A No. 26 Hot 100 hit in 1986, it returned to reach No. 41 in 1989 thanks to its famous usage in "Say Anything." Last year, a new stripped-down version of the classic reached No. 23 on Alternative Digital Songs.

Elton John, "Candle in the Wind": The ballad peaked at No. 6 on the Hot 100, in live form, in 1988 and returned to spend 14 weeks at No. 1 in 1997-98, rewritten as a tribute for Princess Diana. The 1973 original, meanwhile, was never a U.S. single but did reach No. 11 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart an continues to receive airplay today.

Chubby Checker, "The Twist": The Hot 100's all-time No. 1 song is the only hit to top the tally in each of two chart runs: in 1960 and, following renewed awareness of its legendary dance by adults (after younger crowds had first taken to it), 1962. In 1988, the Fat Boys' version shimmied to No. 16; Checker sings on it although he did not technically receive a featured billing. (The affable Checker also charted five other hits with the word "twist" in their titles, including 1961's No. 8-peaking "Let's Twist Again.")

And, honorable mention to the No. 7 song of the Hot 100's first 55 years: Los Del Rio's "Macarena." The track peaked at No. 45 in 1995 before returning in 1996, as remixed by the Bayside Boys, for a 14-week pop culture-conquering reign.

A separate version, meanwhile, reached No. 23 amid the Bayside Boys' mix's Hot 100 command. Then, that December, "Macarena Christmas" debuted, reaching No. 57.

So, I'm really not sure if that makes Los Del Rio a one-, two-, three- or four-hit wonder …

Any others I missed? Please email askbb@billboard.com or hit me up on twitter:@gthot20

And, see you back here soon for the next "Ask Billboard"!

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Katy Perry Biography

Pop music singing sensation Katy Perry has become known for her over-the-top fashions, quirky stage props and catchy songs like "I Kissed a Girl".

Katy Perry - Mini Biography (TV-14; 3:31) Katy Perry was raised by conservative parents in Santa Barbara, In 2011, 5 of her singles from "Teenage Dream" went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, tying Michael Jackson's record.

Katy Perry was born October 25, 1984, in Santa Barbara, California. After having three record deals fall apart, she signed with Capitol in 2007. Later that year, she released her first single, "Ur So Gay." Still, her career did not fully take off until the release of her next single, "I Kissed a Girl". Her albumTeenage Dreams was released in August 2010.

Singer, songwriter, and musician. Born Katheryn Hudson on October 25, 1984, in Santa Barbara, California. Known for her over-the-top fashions, quirky stage props, and catchy songs, Katy Perry has become a pop music sensation.

Fans might be surprised to learn that the singer who writes about sexual exploration in "I Kissed a Girl" grew up in a very conservative family. Both of her parents are pastors, and they refused to let her listen to any rock or popular music. "The only things I was allowed to listen to were the Sister Act 1 and 2 soundtracks," Perry told Entertainment Weekly. She and her two siblings were also not permitted to watch such cable channels as MTV and VH1.

Perry started taking singing lessons around the age of 9 and learned to play guitar when she was 13. Around this time, she began rebelling against her strict upbringing by piercing her own nose. She soon became interested in pursuing a career in music. With her mother, Perry made several trips to Nashville to record a gospel album, Katy Hudson, which was released in 2001. "It reached literally maybe 100 people, and then the label went bankrupt," Perry explained to Entertainment Weekly.

As a teenager, Perry was exposed to other musical influences. One friend introduced her to the music of Queen, which remains one of her favorite groups. "I'm very inspired by Freddie Mercury and how flamboyant and theatrical he was," she told fashion magazine WWD. In high school, she strove to be her own person, choosing not to limit herself to one social group. "I was a hop-around. I hung out with the rockabilly crew, the guys who were trying to be rappers, the funny kids," she told Seventeen magazine.

Focused on her music, Perry got her GED and moved to Los Angeles to work with producer and songwriter Glen Ballard, who had worked with such artists as Christina Aguilera and Alanis Morissette. She was only 17 years old at time, and being on her own proved tough. "It was five years of living in L.A. with no money, writing bad checks, selling my clothes to make rent, [and] borrowing money," she told Seventeen magazine. Perry also experienced a string of disappointments before getting her big break. She and Ballard were unable to find a record company willing to take them on, and her 2004 collaboration with music producers-turned-performers The Matrix was scrapped shortly before the project was to be released. After having three record deals fall apart, Perry finally signed with Capitol in 2007.

Later that year, Perry released her first single, "Ur So Gay." Pop superstar Madonna became a fan of the song, calling it one of her favorites of the moment. The song drew comparisons to the likes of Lily Allen, another singer known for her quirky, cheeky lyrics. Perry said the single was inspired by the emo scene, and the "guys with guy-liner who use flatirons." Still, her career did not fully take off until the release of her next single, "I Kissed a Girl," which reached the top of the charts during the summer of 2008. With that song's success, her debut album, One of the Boys, made it into the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song also earned Perry a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

Katy Perry also became famous for her theatricality. On the Warped Tour, she performed "I Kissed a Girl" with a giant tube of lip balm, referencing a line in the song. Perry has also jumped into a larger-than-life cake and appeared in a number of wild outfits while onstage. She has described her style as "Lucille Ball meets Bob Mackie. It's about innuendo. I want everybody to get the joke, but I want them to think about it for a minute," she explained to Esquire magazine.

In 2009, Perry appeared in her own acoustic special on MTV. The soundtrack from the show, Katy Perry: MTV Unplugged, was released around the same time. That same year, Perry made tabloid headlines for her relationship with British comedian Russell Brand. The couple became engaged over the New Year's holiday while on a trip to India. On October 23, 2010, the couple married in India in a traditional Hindu ceremony. According to The Times of India, the wedding featured a procession of camels, elephants and horses, plus fire jugglers, snake charmers, dancers and musicians. Perry had previously dated Travis McCoy from the band Gym Class Heroes.

The young pop star has great ambitions for her future. "Ultimately I want Katy Perry to be as much of a household name as Madonna," she toldEntertainment Weekly. Her album Teenage Dreams was released in August 2010. The single from the album, "California Gurls," quickly rose through the charts to #1 on the Billboard charts. More hits from the album soon followed, including the title track and "Firework."

Later that year, Perry tied the knot with comedian and actor Russell Brand. Their union, however, did not last long. Brand filed for divorce in December 2011. Things were much better on the professional front for Perry. With the success of Teenage Dreams, she had become one of the country's top pop stars.

In 2012, she released a new edition of her hit album called Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection. The record had several new tracks, including more successful singles "Part of Me" and "Wide Awake." Perry continued to dominate the music charts with 2013's Prism. The album featured "Roar," which climbed to the number one spot. "Dark Horse," her collaboration with Juicy J, also made an impressive showing. The song spent several weeks at the top of charts, helping Perry beat Mariah Carey's career total record of 45 weeks with all of her hits. Perry made another splash in 2014 with "This Is How We Do," which also featured Riff Raff.

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