Katy Perry ‘Wasn’t Even Allowed’ to Mention Madonna’s Name While Growing Up

Katy Perry grew up in a religious household. She shared why she couldn't mention Madonna's name while she was a child.

Katy Perry and Madonna have been compared over the years, a fact that may have disappointed her parents. Perry knew Madonna while she was growing up. She did not like her, though. Perry’s family protested Madonna’s music and she was not allowed to mention her while she was in the home.

Katy Perry couldn’t talk about Madonna in her house

Though Perry listens to music across genres as an adult, she struggled to discover new artists as a child. Her parents did not want her to listen to some musicians.

“I just want to make it very clear that I come from very humble beginnings, and I worked for everything!” Perry said in a conversation with Kristen Wiig for Interview Magazine, adding, “I was not even allowed to mention the name Madonna … I think for my parents and their belief systems, the idea that I would be influenced by that was very scary.”

She explained that she primarily listened to Christian music. There were only a handful of secular artists her family liked.

“I wasn’t allowed to listen to a lot of music growing up. It wasn’t until I started to make my gospel record when I was around 14 or 15 that I started to be exposed to more outside influences,” she said. “Before that, I was actually really into Christian music. I knew all about the Christian music scene, which was a very small kind of sect. But I knew all about that world. Then my mom would let me listen to, like, Billie Holiday and Etta James and really classic stuff like that. My mom speaks fluent French, so she was also really into Édith Piaf, which she turned me on to — although, I guess she didn’t really look into the lyrics. [laughs] But as I started to hear different kinds of music, my world got bigger.”

Katy Perry said Madonna is ‘everything’ to her

Perry eventually listened to enough of Madonna that she took inspiration from her. She wanted her film, Part of Me, to resemble Madonna’s film Truth or Dare.

“Madonna is everything to me, and that movie is amazing because it caught her at a time when she was a bit more vulnerable,” Perry told Teen Vogue. “I wanted to do that too, to capture a snapshot of who I am now so that I can remind myself what I’ve lost if I ever do become totally jaded.”

She shared her favorite albums

As she grew older, Perry’s taste in music expanded.

“I got a record by Queen, which was so influential for me,” she said. “I got all the Beatles’ records, like the ‘white’ album [1968], which was really important to me along with Pet Sounds [1966] by the Beach Boys. Those two records were the only things I listened to for probably two years straight. Then I discovered Patty Griffin, Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Jonatha Brooke — a little bit of the Lilith Fair–esque stuff. And then I got into more electronic music. But I’m just open to everything these days.”

She said she hopes to eventually release music influenced by Griffin’s.