purr-r-r-rs Roar

Today in Music History: January 14

The parents of this day's spotlight winner are both pastors who refused to allow their daughter to listen to any rock or popular music. Interested in music early on she took singing lessons around the age of nine and started playing the guitar at 13. It was about this time when rebellion set in, resulting in the piercing of her own nose with a safety pin. Pursuant to seeking a music career she made several trips to Nashville to record a gospel album, actually with her mother. She has a cat named Kitty Purry complete with her own blog.

Welcome into the Spotlight...

Katy Perry: 25 Things You Don't Know About Me

Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson, aka Katy Perry: Pop music singing sensation that has become known for her over-the-top fashions, quirky stage props and catchy songs

Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson changed her name to Katy Perry in order to avoid confusion with the stage actress Kate Hudson. Perry was her mother's maiden name, which made for the perfect switch over. Being on her own at age 17 proved to be tough. Unlike some recording artists who experienced overnight success but like many who struggled from the beginning, her career began with a string of disappointments before getting her big break. When it arrived, her purr-r-r-r eventually became a Roar!

Katy's Evolution as Queen of the Jungle

Keep your eyes and ears open for there is much more to come! Katy Perry will touch down at the University of Phoenix Stadium on February 1 for what is sure to be a dazzling halftime performance during Super Bowl XLIX. She has a few tricks up her sleeve for what is arguably the gig of a lifetime.

"I can tell you this," she teases. "I have some special guests, I have many costumes, I have different worlds that I'm creating and I would say that my entrance and my exit are very unique."

With a super performance set in motion, step back in time to her No.1 hit on this day in music history...

January 9 – 15 2011 Katy Perry - 'Firework' collected a total of 4 weeks at No.1 beginning on December 12, 2014 with the weeks being split with Bruno Mars, 'Grenade'. The visual won the video of the year award at the 2011 MTV VMAs. It also received a prize for its special effects.

Songfacts:  Perry told Billboard magazine that the inspiration for the song came from an unlikely source. "Basically I have this very morbid idea... when I pass, I want to be put into a firework and shot across the sky over the Santa Barbara Ocean as my last hurrah," she said. "I want to be a firework, both living and dead. My boyfriend showed me a paragraph out of Jack Kerouac's book On The Road, about people that are buzzing and fizzing and full of life and never say a commonplace thing. They shoot across the sky like a firework and make people go, 'Ahhh.' I guess that making people go 'ahhh' is kind of like my motto."

No.1 US hits on this day...

• 
  

  1993 Whitney Houston - 'I Will Always Love You': 14 weeks at No.1

• 1996 Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men - 'One Sweet Day': 16 weeks at No.1

• 1997 Toni Braxton - 'Un-Break My Heart': 11 weeks at No.1

• 2001 Destiny's Child - 'Independent Women Part 1': 11 weeks at No.1

• 2003 Eminem - 'Lose Yourself': 12 weeks at No.1

• 2007 Beyonce - 'Irreplaceable': 10 weeks at No.1

  
  

   2008 Flo Rida feat. T-Pain - 'Low': 10 weeks at No.1

  
  

  2015 Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars - 'Uptown Funk'  No.1 beginning November 11 upsetting Taylor Swift at 7 weeks.

  
  

 

1962 Chubby Checker went back to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'The Twist'. The song first went to No.1 in Sept 1960 and became the only record in American chart history to top the charts on two separate occasions. 

2010 Beyonce and Jay-Z were named Hollywood's top-earning couple by Forbes magazine. The pair earned an estimated $122m (£75.1m) between June 2008 and June 2009 - more than any other couple married or unmarried.  

And the music goes on beating to the rhythm of the changing times...