Katy Perry
I like to go out there looking like a strong woman, because I am strong. But I am also a woman who goes through all kinds of problems and highs and lows.
You know you're living right when you wake up, brush your hair - and confetti falls out!
I never want to be just one thing - I want to be multidimensional.
People don't want just vanilla. They want 31 flavors. I couldn't do what Rihanna does. I couldn't do what Gaga does. They can't do what I do.
I was raised in a super-sheltered atmosphere where we didn't watch anything besides Trinity Broadcasting Network - which was called TBN - or the Fox News channel.
I gave myself until I turned 25 to make it. And if it didn't happen, I thought I'd just try to find a nice husband.
At my second record label, they told me and other female artists that some of us were going on the chopping block. I was 19... and it was devastating.
It was so draining. Going to parties to rub elbows with so-and-so and act like it's no big deal, when really all I was doing was hoping I'd have the success they had.
My career is like an artichoke. People might think that the leaves are tasty and buttered up and delicious, and they don't even know that there's something magical hidden at the base of it. There's a whole other side of me that people didn't know existed.
I don't care what people say about my relationship; I don't care what they say about my boobs. People are buying my songs; I have a sold-out tour. I'm getting incredible feedback from my music.
I think sometimes when children grow up, their parents grow up. Mine grew up with me. We coexist. I don't try to change them anymore, and I don't think they try to change me. We agree to disagree.
I feel really blessed because of where I come from.
Honey, I am the chief of my train. If critics want to hop on board, fantastic. There's plenty of room. The KP train is fun.
I fall in love every time. And I don't really fall in love a lot, but when I do, I fall hard.
I was a hop-around. I hung out with the rockabilly crew, the guys who were trying to be rappers, the funny kids.
I wanted to be that quirky girl who writes funny songs that still have meaning.
I got this Jesus tattoo on my wrist when I was 18 because I know that it's always going to be a part of me. When I'm playing, it's staring right back at me, saying, 'Remember where you came from.'
My dad would give me $10, which is a lot of money when you're 9, to sing at church, on tables at restaurants, at family functions, just about anywhere.
I'm kind of a more sunshiny person myself.
I grew up not really having anything, so the idea that I can take care of my family and my friends now is a really cool bonus.
I just want to make it very clear that I come from very humble beginnings, and I worked for everything!
I've actually always wanted to make something like an acoustic record.
When I was 13, I asked for a guitar. And that's how I really started explaining my point of view.
I just like having fun.
I'm a woman who likes to be courted - strongly.
I can't be the candy queen forever.
You have to spend a lot to make a lot. It's not like I'm sitting on top of a pile of money.
I never live in the present. I'd do interviews and people will say, 'Isn't this great?' or 'Can you believe?' And I would react, like, 'No, I can't believe it because I'm not living in this moment.'
I just have so much love for my record label.
Honesty has always worked for me.
People love the idea of a good girl gone bad, thinking that my parents were so strict and disowned me, but that actually wasn't the case. Even though they don't necessarily agree with some of the things I do, they love me as their daughter. That's always been their perspective.
I write my songs because I've lived them.
There are a lot of things that are personally uncomfortable to show, especially me without makeup and completely bloated or crying. But I've realized that it's time for me to show my audience that you don't have to be perfect to achieve your dreams. Because nobody relates to being perfect.
Not to sound overly cheesy but I really appreciate the freedom we have in America - especially as a female.
I like a good boy, but sometimes you get bored.
Hollywood is so fake and people need to realize that people are just people, and you, too, don't need to be born into something or have money or have whatever product someone is hawking on you.
I'd never devote a whole record to heartbreak.
Touring is always important to me. It's like a big IOU to my fans, because I know they are the reason I exist.
I still believe in love, most definitely. I'm just going to let that take the lead.
I love those documentaries where everyone is fabulous and always perfect.
I don't want to be above my audience; I want to be one with my audience.
I've always been ambitious since I was nine years old and that was never going to change.
There are times I go out and meet people and flirt, but it's not really appropriate to have anything serious.
Fame is, I think, just a disgusting by-product of what I do.
I still want to be as approachable and relatable as possible - when I meet fans and they're crying, I'll say, 'Calm down, there's nothing to cry about.'
I'm okay with having bad dance moves.
I'm okay with having horrible lower teeth.
When I decide to become a mother I will just be that. That will be really important to me.
My singing is really important to me, but when children come along they'll be my main focus. I'd never put my career in front of my babies - it'd be a case of fitting jobs around them.