{"id":480095,"date":"2026-03-17T08:55:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T08:55:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/480095\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T08:55:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T08:55:13","slug":"when-was-katy-perry-in-p-o-d-the-unlikely-story-of-a-future-pop-superstar-and-a-nu-metal-band","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/480095\/","title":{"rendered":"When was Katy Perry in P.O.D.? The unlikely story of a future pop superstar and a nu metal band"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you think of Katy Perry, chances are the words \u201cChristian\u201d and \u201cnu metal<\/a>\u201d aren\u2019t the first things that spring to mind. And that\u2019d be fair enough \u2013 as well as being one of the most followed women on X, she\u2019s also responsible for some of the most enduring pop bangers produced this century. But years before making her name as one of the world\u2019s biggest pop stars, Perry was a fledgling name in the Christian rock scene.<\/p>\n

Releasing one self-titled album under her birth name, Katy Hudson, Perry\u2019s 2001 debut was filled with tracks which lamented loneliness, self-doubt and other themes dripping with teen angst and how they related to her faith.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Katy\n<\/p>\n

Katy Perry is no stranger to the rock scene: here she is playing Warped in 2008 (Image credit: Joey Foley\/FilmMagic via Getty)<\/p>\n

The record was an unequivocal flop, selling just under 200 copies, but it did afford Perry the sort of credentials one might need to be considered for a guest spot with the world\u2019s premier Christian nu metal band.<\/p>\n

Article continues below <\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Cut to 2006, when, upon searching for a female vocalist to work with them on their new album Testify, San Diego metallers P.O.D.<\/a> were introduced to Perry by their producer. She recorded vocals for the band on the album\u2019s lead single, Goodbye For Now, as well as appearing in its music video and live TV performances to promote it.<\/p>\n

One notable spot was on chart show CD:USA, where Perry joined the band in a particularly mid-2000s outfit (cut-off tights and ballet pumps, anyone?) and a shaggy Myspace hairdo to match.<\/p>\n

P.O.D. – Goodbye For Now (Live) – YouTube
\n\"P.O.D.<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n

\u201c[Katy]\u2019s lovely,\u201d P.O.D. singer Sonny Sandoval told the San Diego Union-Tribune<\/a> in 2018. \u201cShe did a video with us, she recorded on our record \u2013 we were recording a record with [producer] Glen Ballard at the time, and she was kind of his protege. We were saying ‘Man, this song would really sound nice with some beautiful female vocals over the top\u201d, and he said ‘I have the girl'”.<\/p>\n

Perry would blow up in her own right just two years later, having changed her name and, seemingly, shed any remnants of Christianity in her music \u2013 ironically, her debut single I Kissed A Girl nearly got junked by her label for fears of how it would be received in the Bible belt.<\/p>\n

Sign up below to get the latest from Metal Hammer, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox!<\/p>\n

In 2015, following resurfaced clips of Katy Perry’s performances with the band, P.O.D. were quick to come to her defence, fiercely shooting down the idea that she’d been hired purely as a ‘backing singer’.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is revisionist history and disrespectful to our girl Katy who was never a back-up singer,” the band stated. “We invited her to participate on our record as she was and still is one of the few pop artists with strong musicianship roots. She paid her dues not as a back-up singer but in a van going town to town.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regardless of the specific role she played, Sonny Sandoval would later speak warmly of his experiences of working with Katy.<\/p>\n

What to read next<\/p>\n

She was and still is one of the few pop artists with strong musicianship roots<\/p>\n

P.O.D.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know Katy Perry the diva,\u201d he told the San Diego Union-Tribune. \u201cI know Katy Perry the tomboy who came in acting like one of us, picking her nose and being goofy, having dinner with us and we\u2019d sit around like a family. That\u2019s the kid I know.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd she went on to become Katy Perry, which is crazy. But when you\u2019re around 26 years you see it all.\u201d<\/p>\n

To be fair, Katy Perry has never been a stranger to the US alternative scene. In the same year she was playing gigs with P.O.D., she also attended an exclusive Hollywood launch party for Korn<\/a>‘s latest album, See You On The Other Side, while in 2008, she even played 44 dates of that year’s Vans Warped Tour.<\/p>\n

Nothing, though, will firmly cement her place in millennial rock history like being a part of the lore of the nu metal heroes who brought us Alive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When you think of Katy Perry, chances are the words \u201cChristian\u201d and \u201cnu metal\u201d aren\u2019t the first things…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":480096,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[96,128,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-480095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=480095"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480095\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/480096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=480095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=480095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=480095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}