Singer and formerAmerican IdoljudgeKaty Perryis among the best-selling musicians ever. Withover 143 million records sold worldwide, the pop star’s career has spanned over two decades. And now, Perry is embarking on herfifth world tour, The Lifetimes Tour.However, even though Perry has legions of fans, her critics have been growing due to her questionable career moves lately. For example, the “Firework” singer was lambasted online for embarking on a space mission and more recentlycriticized for her lackluster and cringe-worthy stage presence. Her most recent album,143, was also panned by critics and sold less than her previous albums. In particular, the album’s lead single, “Woman’s World”, was heavily lambasted for several reasons, making it one of the most controversial and least favored tracks of her career.
Why Katy Perry’s “Woman’s World” Flopped
Few artists have made acultural impact on popmusicand dominated the charts in our generation than singer and songwriter Katy Perry. She’s part of a small group of artists whose unforgettable records, such as “I Kissed A Girl,” “Thinking of You” and “California Gurls,” helped shape an entire decade (the 2010s) and genre. Her work has opened the doors for many of pop music’s more recent stars, such asCharli XCXandOlivia Rodrigo,who have cited Perry as an inspiration in their work. In an overtwo-decade-long career, Perryhas stayed relevant with her old and current music. And as the talented songstress embarks on herworld tour, it’s safe to say that her work, much like her colorful personality, will have a lasting impact for decades. However, lately, the mom of one has been getting a lot of flack on social media for her cringe-worthy career decisions. Most recently, the star was lambasted for her11-minute trip to outer spaceas the public and media largely hailed it as a tone-deaf and tacky publicity stunt. She’s also been criticized for her latest music releases, particularly “Womans World”, for whom the popular music publication Rolling Stone questioned whether it was the worst comeback single ever.
The two-minute, forty-three-second track was written by Perry and co-written by her long-time collaborator,producer Dr. Luke. As music fans are sure to know,Dr. Luke’s reputation within the industry suffered when, in 2014, he was accused by pop star Ke$ha of alleged sexual misconductand other egregious offenses. Many celebrities and fans havecritiqued Perry’s decision to continue working professionally with Dr. Lukedespite the fact that he’s produced some of her biggest songs, such as “Hot N Cold', “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F)”, and “Part of Me”.
Why Katy Perry’s Life-Changing Space Flight Left Her With Unexpected Regrets
“Keep looking to the light.”
In a 2023 interview on the popular podcastCall Her Daddy,Perry defended her decision to work with Dr. Luke on her recent album 143. “Look, I understand that it started a lot of conversation. He was one of many of my collaborators. But the reality is that it comes from me. The truth is that I wrote these songs from my experience of my whole life going through this metamorphosis.He was one of the people who helped facilitate all of that.” Perry also discussed her perspective on the album’s lead single, “Woman’s World,” “And I am speaking from my own experience.For example, when I speak about “Woman’s World”. I talk about feeling so empowered as a mother and as a woman.”
“Woman’s World” was also panned by the mediaas a “terrible disappointment”, as stated by the publication Showbiz CheatSheet. The track also failed to impress on the charts, debuting and peaking at an abysmal number 63 on theBillboard Hot 100 chartsand number 47 on the UK singles charts. The music video for it also got lambasted by viewers for, as Billboard magazine stated, “a dated attempt at a feminist anthem”. Katy Perry later released a behind-the-scenes clip of the music video in which she defended the anthem and mv, “We’re kind of just having fun, being a bit sarcastic about it. It’s very slapstick, and very on the nose. With this set, it’s like, ‘We’re not about the male gaze, but we really are about the male gaze,’ and we’re really overplaying it and on the nose because I’m about to get smashed, which is like a reset, a reset for me, and a reset for my idea of feminine divine, and it’s a whole different world we go to after this.”
Although Katy Perry initially enjoyed relatively good press throughout the majority of her singing career, the “Dark Horse” singer has been lambasted for more than just her space flight mission and her music.She’s also been criticized for her stage presence during her Lifetimes world tour. Several performances, which have been uploaded on social media, showPerry in an unflattering light. For example, during a performance of her hit song “E.T.,” Perry is seen fending off attacks against men wielding ‘hoses’ with a lightsaber. One person on X wrote, “Katy Perry’s tour budget clearly didn’t hit the mark,so they picked up a lightsaber from 5 and below for her…” While another user wrote, “You can see the sadness in her eyes, the lack of spirit, the lack of money. She’s doing anything for the sake of doing it, just to fulfill the contract with the record company.”
Even Perry’s costumes, which are usually applauded for being creative and colorful, have been mocked,with Page Six reportinghow fans have called her space-themed outfits an insufferable and desperate nod to her space journey. In addition to complaints about the lack of budget and low quality of the set, performances, and wardrobe,critics have lambasted Perry’s choreography. One performance that has received significant critique is “Part of Me,” whereinPerry can be seen dancing roboticallybefore dropping to the floor and lifting one leg in the air. One user wrote on Reddit,” My expectations for this were low but Holy f— that’s bad. Even if we ignore the lip syncing (which she’s not even doing half the time by the looks of it), the choreography is just puke-worthy. I wasn’t expecting anything spectacular, but I was expecting her to have more energy and enthusiasm than a 60-year-old.” In response to all the criticism, Perry commented on her Instagram page on April 29 that “the ‘online’ world tries to make me a human Piñata.”
You can listen to Katy Perry’s catalog of music on Spotify.
