(Billboard) Katy Perry took home the Woman of the Year Award at the 2012 Billboard Women in Music event yesterday, in New York City, capping off a year that’s seen the pop star break chart records, release a 3D feature film and bring her candy-coloured tour all over the world.
After launching into the mainstream with the saucy single “I Kissed a Girl” and hit album ‘One of the Boys’, Perry set fire to the charts with 2010’s “Teenage Dream”. The record-setting album notched five Hot 100 No 1s, a first for an album by a female artist, and has sold 2.5 million copies in the US, according to Nielsen SoundScan. “Dream” spent over 100 weeks in the Billboard 200.
Perry’s impressive numbers also include a record nine No 1s on the Pop Songs chart, a record seven on the Adult Pop Songs chart, 10 on Dance/Club Play Songs and an overall seven atop the Hot 100. She’s sold 48 million songs in the US alone, according to SoundScan, with tracks such as “Firework” and “California Gurls” among the top 30 downloads ever.
Her chart dominance extended to her ambitious “California Dreams” tour, which sold out 124 arenas while helping fund charity efforts for the Children’s Health Fund, Generosity Water, the Humane Society and the Red Cross. The tour was documented earlier this year in Katy Perry: Part of Me, the 3-D concert film that Perry both starred in and produced.
She debuted the film in Los Angeles with a special performance for Billboard and Pepsi’s Summer Beats series this summer, shutting down the Hollywood and Highland intersection for hundreds of fans.
Perry debuted her latest hit single, “Wide Awake,” during a high flying performance on the Billboard Music Awards on May 20 in Las Vegas. The song went on to reach No 2 on the Hot 100.
“Katy Perry broke into the industry not even five years ago, and has already accomplished more than most artists can hope for in an entire career,” Bill Werde, Billboard’s editorial director, says. “We are thrilled to celebrate these incredible achievements and her amazing past 12 months by honouring her with the Billboard Woman of the Year Award. With what seems like a never-ending supply of record-breaking, chart-topping hits, coupled with her unique and fresh style, Katy Perry is hands-down one of the most exciting and inspiring artists in the industry today.”
Billboard’s annual Women in Music Event, now in its seventh year, celebrates the most powerful and talented women in the music business, coinciding with the publication of Billboard’s Women in Music Power Players list.
This year’s event took place yesterday at Capitale in New York City. Previous honourees include Taylor Swift, Fergie and Beyonce.