It's not exactly a hidden piece of pop-cum-Christian rock lore, but fans of Katy Perry are being blessed with re-risen footage of the singer backing up pious alt-metal players P.O.D. Video of a decade-old televised performance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is currently making the rounds online.
Backing up a bit, before Perry put her cherry Chapstick imprint on the world at large, she delivered Christian pop music as Katy Hudson. A 2012 interview with the P.O.D.'s Sonny Sandoval had him noting that when the band were on the hunt for "a cool female vocal" to add to their 2006 single "Goodbye for Now," a producer put them in touch with Hudson/Perry.
Sandoval had told Songfacts about the pre-fame meeting: "She's a little studio rat, she'd just come around, and such a sweet girl. You could tell she came from a good family, and just wanted to show the Jesus tattoo on her wrist, and she was like, 'I think I saw you guys in a youth rally so many years ago.' I'm like, 'That's so cool.' But here she was in Hollywood trying to do her thing and make her career."
Down below, you'll find Perry singing with the band on The Tonight Show, and in the track's accompanying music video.
Perry has given praise to P.O.D. since then, having tweeted out a YouTube link of the band's 2011 single "Satellite" back in the summer.
UPDATE (10/16, 11:15 a.m.): In response to all the sudden media attention, P.O.D.'s Marcos Curiel has shared the following statement with Rolling Stone: "This is revisionist history and disrespectful to our girl Katy who was NEVER a backup singer … We invited her to participate on our record as she was and is still is one of the few pop artists with strong musicianship roots … She paid her dues not as a backup singer but in a van going town to town. This is the problem with music journalism today … Shabby reporting. No research. No history."
Backing up a bit, before Perry put her cherry Chapstick imprint on the world at large, she delivered Christian pop music as Katy Hudson. A 2012 interview with the P.O.D.'s Sonny Sandoval had him noting that when the band were on the hunt for "a cool female vocal" to add to their 2006 single "Goodbye for Now," a producer put them in touch with Hudson/Perry.
Sandoval had told Songfacts about the pre-fame meeting: "She's a little studio rat, she'd just come around, and such a sweet girl. You could tell she came from a good family, and just wanted to show the Jesus tattoo on her wrist, and she was like, 'I think I saw you guys in a youth rally so many years ago.' I'm like, 'That's so cool.' But here she was in Hollywood trying to do her thing and make her career."
Down below, you'll find Perry singing with the band on The Tonight Show, and in the track's accompanying music video.
Perry has given praise to P.O.D. since then, having tweeted out a YouTube link of the band's 2011 single "Satellite" back in the summer.
UPDATE (10/16, 11:15 a.m.): In response to all the sudden media attention, P.O.D.'s Marcos Curiel has shared the following statement with Rolling Stone: "This is revisionist history and disrespectful to our girl Katy who was NEVER a backup singer … We invited her to participate on our record as she was and is still is one of the few pop artists with strong musicianship roots … She paid her dues not as a backup singer but in a van going town to town. This is the problem with music journalism today … Shabby reporting. No research. No history."