Katy Perry: 'I'm Still a Christian'

Eight years ago, I interviewed Katy Hudson for a cover story for our sister publication Campus Life, our now defunct magazine for teenagers. The story, titled "The New Girls of Christian Music," also featured Stacie Orrico, Rachael Lampa, Paige Lewis, and Joy Williams, all of whom went on to enjoy more successful careers in Christian music than Hudson. But today, all four could well be featured in a story titled, "Where Are They Now?"

Not so for Katy Hudson, who has since gone on to change her name to Katy Perry, becoming one of the biggest female pop stars in the world. I could hardly imagine, talking to the then 17-year-old Hudson, that she'd someday be an international music idol, in a sense. But even back then, she seemed to be seeking craving attention in unique ways. After a concert at a local church, she met people at her merch table with the words "I'm Katy" written on her forehead with a black Sharpie. She had also put a black star around a big zit on her chin (today, ironically, she's a pitchwoman for Proactiv acne treatment), and she'd blackened out a tooth.

At the time (that's her one and only Christian CD cover, at left), I wrote, "Katy Hudson's motto might well be, 'What you see is what you get.' And with Katy, you never know what you'll see. Or get." I described her as "a regular teen, trying to figure out faith and life and everything in between." And she told me, "I just want to be real. I'll never wear a mask."

She's not wearing much of anything in the brand-new cover story of Rolling Stone, an article titled, "Sex, God & Katy Perry." (Caution: The cover photo and several inside photos are quite steamy.) And she's not holding much back as she tells her story of growing up in a Christian home, of her brief dalliance with Christian music, her longing to be a pop star, her relationship with fiance Russell Brand, and her present-day beliefs.

RS writes that "one would think her religious past is behind her, but [Perry] still considers herself a Christian." She tells the magazine, "God is very much still a part of my life. But the way the details are told in the Bible--that's very fuzzy for me. And I want to throw up when I saw that. But that's the truth. . . . I still believe that Jesus is the son of God. But I also believe in extraterrestrials, and that there are people sent from God to be messengers, and all sorts of crazy stuff.

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