Katy Perry’s risqué appearances at her recent comeback gigs have friends rolling their eyes in a big way and blaming sex-obsessed husband Orlando Bloom for cheapening her look, a family friend of the couple and industry insider exclusively tells Life & Style.
“It’s actually a little scary that Katy’s decision to return to her sex-appeal roots has fallen flat with her fans,” the source says. “She’s all but admitted that this was something Orlando wanted her to try, but that doesn’t make the bad reviews and ‘who cares?’ response from the industry any easier to swallow.”
The “Dark Horse” singer, 39, released her latest album, 143, on September 20 to overwhelmingly negative reviews, throwing cold water on Katy’s high hopes of a roaring career resurgence. The theme of the album featured heavy feminist messaging that many felt was undercut by the pop star’s choice of collaborators – chiefly the controversial producer Dr. Luke.
While that may have left fans with a bad taste in their mouths, more criticism against the album piled up, which amounted to the general consensus that Katy’s music had failed to evolve in the decade since she last dominated charts. The album’s hit single, “Woman’s World,” stalled at No. 63 on the Billboard Hot 100.
It’s a hard fall for an artist that has more diamond singles – singles that have sold over 10 million units – than any other singer besides Rihanna at 6.
With new pop queens to contend with, mostly the current cultural domination of Taylor Swift, the insider says Katy just isn’t holding her own when it comes to making hit songs anymore.
“Her entire category of radio pop exists in the shadow of Taylor Swift at the moment and Katy was foolish to think she could be the exception to that rule,” the source explains.
“So, it’s back to the drawing board and hopefully this time she will take less of Orlando’s advice and not more of it.”
The insider suggests that Katy look back to what made her a household name in the late 2000s and early 2010s – abandoning the gimmicks suggested by her horny hubby Orlando, 47, and focusing on her craft.
“Katy’s strongest work – like her mega-hit ‘Roar’ – was popular because of the songwriting, not the videos and certainly not her skimpy outfits. When she has the right collaboration with a songwriter she is still capable of making hit music,” the insider says.
“What she doesn’t have is an extremely loyal songwriting collaborator like Billie Eilish has with her brother Finneas and Taylor has with Jack Antonoff.”
“Katy likes to work with a lot of different people instead of just one or two writers or producers, but Billie and Finneas have shown how a creative partnership can grow and deepen over multiple album cycles and continue to yield hits.”
“Katy needs to find a writing collaborator she likes and then really invest in that relationship.”
“It’s not rocket science but Katy clearly miscalculated by listening to her husband for advice on her pop career!”
