Katy Perry

Singer Katy Perry and her husband, actor Russell Brand, pictured at a benefit in Los Angeles on Dec. 3, 2011, announced that they were divorcing on Dec. 30. Rumors swirled after the couple, who married in October 2010, spent the Christmas holiday 7,000 miles apart. "Sadly, Katy and I are ending our marriage. I'll always adore her and I know we'll remain friends," Brand said.

Singer Katy Perry burst onto the music scene in 2008 with the release of her second single, "I Kissed a Girl." Now she's a major star, and with stardom comes business ventures, including her own perfume, called "Purr." She's seen here presenting it to the public in Mexico City on Feb. 5, 2011.

Perry made an appearance on Neil Patrick Harris' hit CBS sitcom, "How I Met Your Mother," in February 2011.

Perry accepts the Favorite Female Artist and Favorite Pop Artist awards at the 2011 People's Choice Awards in Los Angeles on Jan. 5, 2011.

Perry rides her bike in New York on Nov. 10, 2010.

Perry poses with her husband, British comic Russell Brand, on the red carpet at the 2010 MTV Europe Music Awards in Madrid, Spain, on Nov. 7, 2010. They met in the summer of 2008 and wed on Oct. 23, 2010, in India.

Keri Hilson, left, Perry, and Sugarland lead singer Jennifer Nettles are seen onstage at the "VH1 Divas Salute the Troops" in San DIego on Friday, Dec. 3, 2010.

Perry performs during the 2010 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show at the Lexington Armory in New York on Nov. 10, 2010.

Perry performs in Melbourne, Australia, on Oct. 13, 2008.

Perry's planned appearance on "Sesame Street" was canceled after she wore a low-cut top. She later parodied the event by playing a busty teen in an Elmo shirt on "Saturday Night Live" on Sept. 26, 2010.

Perry wore a bright blue wig to the 2010 MTV Movie Awards in Universal City, Calif., on June 6, 2010. Later that year, similar wigs became a popular Halloween costume prop.

Brand and Perry attended the Los Angeles premiere of his film, "Get Him to the Greek," with Perry's parents, Mary and Keith Hudson. Perry's parents are both pastors, although her father has been described as having been a "West Coast scenester in the 1960s."

Perry is known for her elaborate and often fanciful outfits. Here she attends the Costume Institute Gala Benefit to celebrate the opening of the "American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity" exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York on May 3, 2010.

Perry shakes off the slime next to actor Jonah Hill at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards in Los Angeles on March 27, 2010.

Perry arrives at the MTV Video Music Awards in New York on Sept. 13, 2009. She won five VMAs in 2008, including best new artist, one in 2009, and two in 2010.

Perry sings from a giant shell at Life Ball 2009 in Vienna, Austria, on May 16, 2009. The Life Ball is Europe's largest event for the fight against AIDS/HIV.

No one ever accused Perry of being a conventional dresser. Here, left to right, she's seen at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards, the 2009 MTV Europe Music Awards, the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards and the 2010 Z100 Jingle Ball concert.

Wearing a Santa-themed short dress, Perry performs during Z100's Jingle Ball at Madison Square Garden in New York on Dec. 12, 2008.

Perry got dressed up as a football player and straddled a giant tube of lipstick at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Liverpool, England, on Nov. 6, 2008.

Perry wore a canary-yellow sequined dress featuring a picture of then-newly elected President Barack Obama at the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards in Liverpool, England, on Nov. 6, 2008.

Before marrying Brand, Perry dated Gym Class Heroes frontman Travie McCoy. They broke up in 2008 after traveling together on the Warped Tour. McCoy is reportedly the subject of Perry's song "Circle The Drain," which includes the line "you could've been the greatest, but you'd rather get wasted."

Perry poses with young singers Taylor Swift, left, and Miley Cyrus at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles on Sept. 7, 2008.

Perry performed a selection of songs at the Dolce & Gabbana headquarters in Milan, Italy, on Sept. 22, 2008. She is wearing a nautical dress from the Dolce & Gabbana spring/summer collection for 2009.

Perry has long been friendly with celebrity blogger Perez Hilton. They attended her record release party for "One of the Boys" in Los Angeles on June 17, 2008.

Perry's first major label release was the single "Ur So Gay," later placed on her major label album, "One of the Boys." The song has been called homophobic, though Perry told TheNewGay.net that she didn't mean a negative connotation. "It's not 'you're so gay' like 'you're so lame,' but the fact of the matter is that this boy should've been gay," she told the site. "I totally understand how it could be misconstrued or whatever."

Perry posted this Glamour Shot from her younger days to TwitPic in August 2010, saying "Grandma brought this one outta the closet today."

Perry was known as Katheryn Hudson when she attended Dos Pueblos High School in Goleta, Calif., just west of Santa Barbara. She left school after her freshman year to pursue a career in music, but did earn her GED. She changed her last name to Perry, her mother's maiden name, because "Katy Hudson" was too similar to actress Kate Hudson.