What Happened to Katy Perry?

Katy Perry's career has seen a dynamic evolution, particularly in the years leading up to mid-2026. After a highly successful run with her 'Play' Las Vegas residency, which concluded in November 2023, Perry announced a significant shift in her professional life. In February 2024, she revealed her decision to leave 'American Idol' after seven seasons as a judge, citing a desire to create space for new music and touring. Her final appearance as a judge on the show aired in May 2024.

Her focus quickly turned to new musical endeavors. In July 2024, Perry released 'Woman's World,' the lead single from her highly anticipated seventh studio album, '143.' The album, which she described as a 'bold, exuberant, celebratory dance-pop album,' was officially released on September 20, 2024. While '143' marked her return to the music scene after 'Smile' in 2020, its commercial and critical reception was varied, with 'Woman's World' being the only track from the album to reach the Billboard Hot 100, though it did not crack the top 40.

A major financial move occurred in September 2023 when Perry sold her music catalog to Litmus Music for approximately $225 million. This deal included her share of master recordings and publishing rights for her first five Capitol Records albums: 'One of the Boys,' 'Teenage Dream,' 'Prism,' 'Witness,' and 'Smile.' This strategic sale significantly bolstered her net worth, which is estimated to be between $300 million and $400 million as of 2026.

2025 was a busy year for Perry, marked by 'The Lifetimes Tour,' her first major concert tour since 2018, which ran from April to December across multiple continents. The tour supported her '143' album and grossed over $134 million, selling more than 1.05 million tickets. In April 2025, Perry also participated in an all-female commercial spaceflight on Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin rocket, where she famously sang 'What a Wonderful World.' Personally, June 2025 saw the announcement of her split from actor Orlando Bloom after a nine-year relationship, with whom she shares daughter Daisy Dove. Later that year, in November 2025, she released a standalone pop-rock ballad single titled 'Bandaids,' which explored themes of heartbreak and was later included on a 2026 compilation.

The year 2026 has continued to see Katy Perry in the spotlight. In May, she released a compilation album, 'The Ones That Got the Plays,' which featured songs from her past studio albums and the 2025 single 'Bandaids.' Notably, some of her older hits, like 'The One That Got Away' and 'Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.),' experienced a viral resurgence on global charts in early 2026. On the personal front, Perry's relationship with former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, which began to surface in mid-2025, became official with their red-carpet debut at the Tribeca Film Festival in June 2026, where she premiered her concert film 'Katy Perry: The Lifetimes Tour – Live from Paris.' Her most recent public appearance as of June 13, 2026, was a performance at the 2026 FIFA World Cup opening ceremony in Los Angeles on June 12, where she debuted a never-before-performed song from one of her records with a special guest.