Katy Perry has been a judge on American Idol since 2018. Her dalliance with the singing competition show actually began in 2010, when she appeared as a guest judge during the audition stages.
Looking somewhat green and excitable, she proclaimed, "I would see this on TV so many times, I'm so excited! I've always been a very brutally honest type of girl. People are going get the best advice that they need to hear."
She would eventually return as a fully fledged judge nearly seven years later in 2017 and has made a lot of headlines in the role since. It is fair to say that Perry has had quite the journey towards becoming the highest paid judge on American Idol, and fans have had a lot to say about her taking on the gig.
Started Singing In Church
Born in Santa Barbara, California in October 1984, Perry apparently fell in love with music from a very young age. She started singing in church as a young girl, and her first foray into professional music was actually as a gospel singer.
She released her first album - titled Katy Hudson (her actual birth name) - at the age of 16. The gospel record contained ten songs in it and was produced under the Red Hill Records banner. Unfortunately, the label soon went bankrupt and Perry's album failed to receive any marketing or sales support; she barely sold any copies.
The artist changed lanes into secular music soon after and also adopted her mother's maiden name (Perry). She was signed to The Island DefJam Music Group and Columbia Records for a while, but she would eventually find her success at Capitol Records, who she joined in 2007.
Her second album, One of the Boys was essentially her breakthrough moment into musical notoriety. Particularly, the single I Kissed A Girl rose to the top of charts across America and in the UK.
Prior to her joining the American Idol fraternity, Perry generally remained on an upward trajectory. Her follow-up albums Teenage Dream (2010) and Prism (2013) were for the most part well received and won the singer multiple accolades and awards.
Picked Up The Mantle
American Idol initially ran on Fox for the first 15 seasons, before the network canceled the show in 2015. The singing competition's hiatus from television was only short lived, as ABC quickly picked up the mantle and brought it back to the screen in 2018.
Perry signed on to return as a judge for the show's debut season in its new home. She announced the move on Twitter, where she wrote, "SO thrilled [the ABC Network] is bringing back [American Idol], and I’m bringing it back to the MUSIC. See you at [the] auditions!"
A lot of comments on the post were those of excited fans who were looking forward to seeing her on the show, including one who wrote, "The only reason to watch ANY of those shows would be if she was on it." A few more, however, were concerned about how her involvement in the show would affect her touring plans. "How is this gonna work with tour[s] in 2018?," another queried.
Highest Earning Judge
Perry was also joined on the show by other new faces, as fellow singers Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie were brought on board as well. With a rumored salary of $25 million a year, she automatically became the highest earning judge on the show, only losing out to creator Simon Cowell's reported $36 million in the series' all time records. Cowell left the show in 2010 to focus on other ventures.
There were some misgivings amongst fans about this kind of outlay being spent on a first time permanent judge. However, people close to Perry and the show itself dismissed these concerns, and argued that similar sentiments may not have been prevalent had the same salary been awarded to a man.
At the time, Perry was quoted saying, "I'm really proud that, as a woman, I got paid. And you know why? I got paid more than like pretty much any guy that's been on that show." Cecile Frot-Coutaz, at the time the CEO of the American Idol production company FremantleMedia, said that Perry was "more than worth the money," called her "brilliant" and insisted that she "genuinely cares."
Perry also revisited the story while promoting her 2020 album Smile on The Howard Stern Show. Asked if she felt guilty for earning that kind of money on American Idol, she was pretty curt in her response. "Why?," she posed. "I think Simon Cowell did very well and he was a great asset to the show. It’s exciting for a woman to be in that position as well, in that financial bracket. Why not?"