Before Katy Perry was super famous she was just an average, awkward teenager | Miami Herald

Before Katy Perry was a superstar singer and kissed a girl, she was an ambitious teenager with blond, chunky highlights named Katy Hudson who had aspirations in the gospel music world.

A newly released video posted on Buzzfeed, Katy Perry Uncensored Raw Talent, shows on- and off-stage footage of the pop star in waiting embarking on her first tour in 2001.

Apparently, the young lady, now 29, had the same problems many teens have: acne (“I’m a pizza face!”), anxiety (“Sometimes I, like, hyperventilate”); homesickness (she cries talking about missing her mom and dad, both preachers); and bad grades.

“Too bad I’m in ninth grade for the second year,” she laments jokingly in the short, adding impishly: “I’m specially skilled in other places.”

Cinematographer Jim Standridge happened upon the film while cleaning out his office, he writes in the introduction to the video. He had been commissioned by Perry’s then-record label to make a mini-documentary about her.

The spark was already there.

“I was very fortunate to meet and hang out with this genuine talent in the beginning of her career,” Stanridge said. “I think Katy has grown into an amazing entertainer and woman.”

@MadeleineMarr