Katy Perry references THOSE last two ‘flop’ albums while teasing a new era of music is on the way… as she’s set to wrap Las Vegas residency
Katy Perry teased her long-awaited musical comeback during a recent performance of her hit Las Vegas residency PLAY.
But the multi-Grammy Award nominee, 38, also called attention to her last two albums, Witness (2017) and Smile (2020).
The releases underwhelmed critics and saw her worldwide sales plummet — with Smile selling just 1.5 million copies worldwide versus her acclaimed sophomore album Teenage Dream (2010) which has sold over 12 million.
‘Now if you can’t love me at my Witness’ or Smile era, then you can’t love me at my KP6 era!’ exclaimed the mother-of-one while wowing the crowd on the stage.
Her Las Vegas residency will wrap in November after a successful two-year stint at Resorts World that won her ‘Best Strip Headliner’ in 2022.
Perry hinted earlier this year that she’s ‘due’ to go on tour as she hasn’t taken her show on the road since 2018.
A new era is on the way! Katy Perry teased her long-awaited musical comeback during a recent performance of her hit Las Vegas residency PLAY; seen in December 2021
‘Closing a chapter on PLAY allows me to start a new chapter. I’m so excited for the potential of my story to continue,’ she told Out.
Her fourth and last concert tour, Witness: The Tour, was in support of the 2017 album of the same name.
It was the highly-anticipated follow-up to her third studio album Prism, which scored her two of the nine no. 1 singles of her career with Roar and Dark Horse.
Witness managed to top the Billboard 200 Albums in its first week with 180,000 ‘album-equivalent’ units in the United States.
But its lead single Chained To The Rhythm peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100.
The subsequent releases — Bon Appétit” (featuring Migos), Roulette, Swish Swish (featuring Nicki Minaj), Save as Draft and Hey Hey Hey — all failed to break the top 10.
Perry described Witness as ‘purposeful pop’ and it aimed to address relevant political and social issues while also leaning into the singer’s hyper-sexualized persona.
She later confessed that the album’s poor critical and commercial reception sent her into a deep depression.
But the multi-Grammy Award nominee, 38, also called attention to her last two albums, Witness (2017) and Smile (2020).
‘Now if you can’t love me at my ‘Witness’ or ‘Smile’ era, then you can’t love me at my KP6 era!’ exclaimed the mother-of-one while wowing the crowd on the stage; seen in December 2021
Underperformed: The releases underwhelmed critics and saw her worldwide sales plummet — with Smile selling just 1.5 million copies worldwide versus her acclaimed sophomore album Teenage Dream (2010) which has sold over 12 million
‘Coming out of Witness, which was my last album, I became very upset and clinically depressed,’ Perry revealed to Channel Seven’s The Morning Show in 2020.
She continued: ‘I became very insecure and had to go on a journey, both emotionally, spiritually, and psychologically to understand why I relied so much on validation.’
Witness has reportedly sold over 3 million copies worldwide in the six years since its release.
This pales in comparison to Prism which is reported to have sold over 11,000,000 units worldwide as of 2019 and 286,000 copies in its first week.
It also ended up being the ‘best sales week for a woman’ in 2013, according to Billboard.
But her fifth studio album Smile produced all-time lows for the once-reigning pop queen.
It was supposed to be a real snapshot of resilience’ for Perry after coping with and learning from the disaster that was witnessed.
‘I went through that journey and a lot of beautiful songs came from it,’ she explained at the time.
The witness was the highly-anticipated follow-up to her third studio album Prism
Perry described Witness as ‘purposeful pop’ and it aimed to address relevant political and social issues while also leaning into the singer’s hyper-sexualized persona; seen in 2019
Meanwhile, Smile brought in her lowest first-week album sales to date with a recorded 50,000 units sold in the United States
Smile has sold just over 1 million album units worldwide as of 2021; as seen in 2020
But Smile brought in her lowest first-week album sales to date with a recorded 50,000 units sold in the United States.
It also debuted at number four — the second album in her career that failed to hit number one other that One Of The Boys (2008) — on the Billboard 200 chart.
Its lead single Daisies peaked at number 40 and its follow-up singles Smile and Not The End Of The World underperformed.
Smile has sold just over 1 million album units worldwide as of 2021.
Perry’s most successful album to date is her sophomore album Teenage Dream (2010) despite it selling 192,000 units in its first week as per Billboard.
It produced five chart-topping singles: California Gurls, Teenage Dream, Last Friday Night (TGIF), E.T. (featuring Kanye West), and Firework.
This epic feat made her the first female artist and the second in history to score five Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles.
Perry’s most successful album to date is her sophomore album Teenage Dream (2010) despite it selling 192,000 units in its first week as per Billboard
It produced five chart-topping singles: California Gurls, Teenage Dream, Last Friday Night (TGIF), E.T. (featuring Kanye West), and Firework; seen in 2011
One Of The Boys was Perry’s debut album and recently celebrated its 15th anniversary
One Of The Boys was Perry’s debut album and recently celebrated its 15th anniversary.
It featured her first-ever single, I Kissed A Girl, which also became her first #1 six weeks after its release.
She followed up the buzzy track with Hot N’ Cold, Waking Up In Vegas, and Thinking Of You.
One Of The Boys is Perry’s third highest-selling album and it’s reported to have amassed 7 million in worldwide sales since its release in 2008.
