Katy Perry is a titan of pop music. Her hit songs including "I Kissed a Girl," "Firework" and "California Gurls" have made her one of the most influential voices in the genre, winning her five American Music Awards and 14 People's Choice Awards. She's been dubbed the "Queen of Camp" by magazines such as Vogue and Rolling Stone.
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Well, before Perry kissed a girl and liked it, she released an unsuccessful Christian music album at the age of 16 — the self-titled debut Katy Hudson (2001). Afterward, she moved to Los Angeles and adopted a secular style, completing her transformation by taking her mother's maiden name, Perry. Her vocal range dips about as low as a woman can go, and she uses it to command a rocker front woman voice that warms up any genre she tackles, from disco to pop to rock.
It's impossible not to be at least somewhat familiar with Katy Perry's music. But you may not have known that she's written several songs for other artists, including Kelly Clarkson, Selena Gomez and Britney Spears. Perry wrote most of these songs for herself. But when they were axed from the final album, she handed them off to talented peers with the chops to match her powerful voice.
Keep going to see nine songs you didn't know Katy Perry wrote for other artists.
'I Do Not Hook Up,' Kelly Clarkson (2009)
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'Get On Your Knees,' Nicki Minaj Featuring Ariana Grande (2014)
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The provocative yet empowering lyrics of "Get On Your Knees" are right in Perry's wheelhouse. The trap-pop verses, however, are a bit of a departure for Perry. Before the track was released, fans saw Perry's name attached and assumed she would sing the chorus for Nicki Minaj's vocals. But Perry lent only her pen. The vocals went to the exceedingly capable Ariana Grande.
'Passenger,' Britney Spears (2013)
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Perry wrote this track in collaboration with Sia, and it was originally intended for Perry's Prisms album. But somewhere along the line, it ended up on Britney Spears' album Britney Jean. While the album isn't considered a bright spot in Spears' career, "Passenger" stood out from the rest with synths that float over chugging electric guitar and lyrics about having the courage to let love in.
'Girl Next Door,' Jessie James Decker (2009)
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Perry's signature is all over this song she wrote for Jessie James Decker's self-titled debut album. If you didn't know better, you'd think it was Perry blasting through the high notes laced with just a hint of gravel. James is characterized as a country-pop artist, but this shimmering song leans heavily to the pop side.
'Rock God,' Selena Gomez & The Scene (2010)
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Perry lent her background vocals as well as her writing to this track for Selena Gomez's pop-rock sophomore outing, A Year Without Rain. It was originally intended for Perry's unreleased album (A) Katy Perry but missed the final cut. A Year Without Rain marked Gomez's fond farewell to the pop-rock genre that seemed to define every Disney star at the time. And Perry helped her bid adieu to the "-rock" element of her sound with the fabulously playful lyrics of "Rock God."
'That's More Like It,' Selena Gomez & The Scene (2011)
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'Time's Up,' Ashley Tisdale (2009)
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Perry wrote a song called "Love is a Train" but never released it. Enter "High School Musical" star Ashely Tisdale, who scooped up the lonely track, put her own spin on it, renamed it "Time's Up" and stuck it in her sophomore album Guilty Pleasure.
'Long Shot,' Kelly Clarkson (2009)
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When Perry's work still had distinct remnants of her Christian music era, she co-wrote a song with her then-boyfriend Matt Thiessen, the frontman of the Christian-adjacent rock band Relient K. "Long Shot" is about how farfetched it can seem to have a successful romance — then going for it anyway. Perry's lyrics add just a dash of melancholia to the riff-heavy backing, the latter of which is undoubtedly Thiessen's handiwork. Perry never released the song, which found its way to Clarkson, whose voice adds a coziness that makes it sound far more hopeful than heartbreaking.
'Black Widow,' Iggy Azalea Featuring Rita Ora
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Here's another trap-tinged song that was axed from Perry's Prisms album — a bit of genre experimentation that never quite meshed with Perry's vibe (tracks such as "Dark Horse" featuring Juicy J still made the cut). Iggy Azalea used "Black Widow" for her debut album, The New Classic, tapping Rita Ora to feature.
