Katy Perry

Katy Perry got exactly what she wanted.

The daughter of two Christian pastors, the 23 year-old Perry was singing about the man upstairs before confessing about the girl in her bedroom. At 16 she released Katy Hudson, a Christian pop album featuring "My Own Monster," "Growing Pains" and "Piercing," all songs about a teen's struggle to keep her faith alive. Growing up in California, her parents wouldn't allow music in the house "because [it was] the devil’s work."

Soon after Perry broke away from her parents and transitioned to mainstream pop with a gig as an in-house vocalist for production team The Matrix (Avril Lavigne, Britney Spears). In 2004, she teamed with producer Glenn Ballard (Alanis Morissette, No Doubt) to work on her debut. Perry only released one single, the Alanis-influenced "Simple," before being dropped by her label.

But she resurfaced late last year with Ur So Gay, a three-and-a-half minute complaint about a metrosexual boyfriend. Perry, who borrows Kelly Clarkson's sound and Lily Allen's swagger, was accused by some of perpetuating gay stereotypes with lyrics like "I hope you hang yourself with your H&M scarf/while ****ing off listening to Mozart." She maintains she "wasn’t stereotyping anyone in particular," and was just "talking about an ex-boyfriend."

Perry would raise even more eyebrows with her current smash: I Kissed A Girl. A catchy pop-rock tune with distorted guitar stabs, buzzing synths and plenty of sex the song has catapulted her to fame on the web and on TV. Before you write her off as a one-hit-wonder, Perry – who says she's never kissed a girl – is sure she'll be back for seconds: “I’m completely outrageous and I’ll do anything for attention!”