12 songs Katy Perry has written about other celebrities
Katy Perry released her long-awaited fifth album Witness on June 9, and we have to admit, we're a little bit obsessed (Roulette is the 💣).
Her latest single, Swish Swish, is rumoured to be about her rival Taylor Swift. So we did a bit of digging, and it turns out Taylor isn't the only star Katy has written a song about...
I Kissed a Girl (2008)
Katy's debut single from her second album One of the Boys smashed the charts in 2008. With lyrics about girl-on-girl action and cherry chapstick, how could it not? But it's only recently that we found out who the song was written about - none other than Miley Cyrus. Or so she says.
“When she came out with I Kissed a Girl, I was doing the Hannah Montana movie," said Miley. "I heard her on the radio, they said, ‘Who’d you write that about?’ And she said me.”
We can believe it.
Hot 'n' Cold (2008)
Katy followed I Kissed a Girl with Hot 'n' Cold and scored herself another number one.
"One day this person would send me a text and I would be so thrilled about it because I had been waiting for some kind of sign - a smoke signal," she said. "He would be all interested and then I would just lose him, or one day he would want to see me and then one day he wouldn't. I didn't know what was wrong with him, if he was bipolar, or if he was wearing a mood ring. I took the theme and the song kind of spilled out of me."
It's rumoured to be about her then-boyfriend, Gym Class Heroes' Travie McCoy. They dated from summer 2007 to December 2008.
Circle the Drain (2010)
From her third album Teenage Dream, Katy released another single about Travie McCoy. The track includes the lyrics, "You fall asleep during foreplay/Cause the pills you take are more your forte/I'm not sticking around to watch you go down/Wanna be your lover, not your fucking mother". Savage.
Travie spent time in rehab for drug addiction in 2008. In 2010, he addressed the rumours about the single, saying: "I'm just stoked that she finally has a song with some substance on her record."
The One That Got Away (2010)
As well as ranking her exes on how good they are in bed, Katy finally revealed the man behind her single The One That Got Away during her recent livestream. At the time there was speculation it was about her ex-boyfriend Sons of Anarchy star Johnny Lewis, who later died after falling from a rooftop in 2012. But Katy says US singer John Groban, who she dated in 2009, inspired her to write the track.
Wide Awake (2012)
Fast-forward just two years and Katy had married and divorced British comedian Russell Brand. He allegedly broke up with her over text in December 2011 and Wide Awake was released six months later. She described the track as "a dose of reality".
"It's kind of like coming down from a high," she told MTV. "You've been on cloud nine for so long and it can't always be so sweet and sometimes you need to realise that, and you have to pick yourself up and move forward and face the facts of life, and know that this is just a lesson you learn and you're stronger because of it."
Part of Me (2012)
Several Russell Brand-inspired songs followed. At the time, Katy said Part of Mefrom Teenage Dream's re-release wasn't about their relationship, but with lyrics like, "You chewed me up/And spat me out/Like I was poison in your mouth", it's too much of a coincidence - right?
Unconditionally (2013)
Katy started dating singer-songwriter John Mayer in summer 2012. He'd already earned himself a bad boy reputation after Taylor Swift's song Dear John called him out for his "twisted games", but Katy's track was quite a contrast.
“Unconditionallywas influenced by my boyfriend and also really influenced by Africa,” she told Entertainment Weekly. “I went to Madagascar and did a UNICEF trip that changed my life and gave me this song. It’s just a simple message about loving someone and accepting them. You don’t have to be so self-conscious, you don’t have to fear, because essentially, everybody has their stuff. Nobody comes stuff-free. Everybody has their things and you’re never going to be perfect, and accepting that and understanding that, especially in a relationship, it makes room for a real, genuine kind of love.”
Roar (2013)
Katy's first single from her fourth album Prism was also written about John Mayer. Roar became her biggest success to date, topping the charts in 14 countries and selling over six million copies in the US alone.
"Roar is a song I wrote as I was a little bit upset," she told Radio 1. "I found myself having a break with my boyfriend, who I loved very much and it really hurt my heart. I said to myself, 'I need to see what is going on with me and make sure I'm all good.' When you break up with someone it's easy to say they are crazy and think it's all them, but, honestly, maybe there is 50% responsibility on your behalf. It was just time for me to be honest with myself."
After a three-year on/off relationship, Katy and John ended things for good in 2015. Earlier this year, he released a song about her called I Still Feel Like Your Man.
Ghost & By the Grace of God (2013)
Back to Russell. He was too irrelevant at this point to make the cut for any singles, but Katy sneaked a couple of filler break-up songs on to Prism.
She laid herself bare with Ghost, singing the lyrics, "You sent a text/It's like the wind changed your mind/We were best friends/Yeah we were building our life", while By the Grace of God was about picking herself up after the split and makes a rare reference to her Christian upbringing.
Speaking of her fourth album to The Sunday Times, Katy said: "What I wanted to call this record at first was Adult Reality. Teenage Dream was me so high on that cotton-candy cloud, and then it's like I got punched in the face and kicked down the stairs a couple of times."
Chained to the Rhythm (2017)
The first single from Katy's new album Witness was a nod to the perils of modern society, from politics (and more specifically, Trump) to social media. Katy openly supported Hillary Clinton during the 2016 US election and when she performed Chained to the Rhythm at the 2017 BRIT Awards, a giant President Trump and Theresa May controversially appeared on stage. Let's just say, it wasn't flattering.
Swish Swish (2017)
After the release of Taylor Swift's infamous single Bad Blood in 2015, Katy has finally retaliated. It's Taylor and her entire girl squad vs. Katy and Nicki Minaj, which we think makes for a pretty even playing field.
Katy sings: "So keep calm, honey, I'ma stick around/For more than a minute, get used to it/Funny my name keeps comin' outcha mouth/'Cause I stay winning". But in a shocking turnaround, she recently apologised, saying, "I love her, and I want the best for her".
We'll just be over here waiting patiently for the Orlando Bloom single to roll out.
