10 Musical Superstars You Never Knew Wrote Other Artists' Hit Songs

3. Katy Perry

Katy Perry’s music career started way back in 2001 when she was promoting herself as Christian singer Katy Hudson. Needless to say, the Hot n Cold crooner’s star has shined much brighter since she broke into the pop scene in 2008.

Perry has since released six albums (including her live album), 34 singles, and two EPs. Oh, and she’s the first by a female artist to produce five number-one songs. Breaking the record with California Gurls, Teenage Dream, Firework, E.T., and Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.), Perry’s One of the Boys is second only to Michael Jackson’s Bad.

While waiting to kiss a girl and like it, Perry penned tracks for other stars, including Kelly Clarkson, Selena Gomez, and Jessie James. Apparently everyone writes songs for Britney Spears—and you can thank the Teenage Dream singer for “Passenger.”

Perry also wrote the hook and chorus for Nicki Minaj’s Get on Your Knees. This makes the song’s verse, Got me seein’ them fireworks/I’m on my Kate Perry, make a bit more sense, but at the end of the day, it was Ariana Grande who lent her voice to the chorus to the Pinkprint hit.