Perry recently spoke about Call her daddy about how she got into music. She never expected to become a famous pop star.

“I mean, fame never crossed my mind,” she said. “I think it’s a byproduct of everything that everybody is successful at. I just wanted to be seen, period. End of story. And I discovered my magic trick when I was nine. I started singing, and the room froze. And so I was like, oh, this is interesting. And then I enjoyed it. And it just calmed me down. It healed me. My mom called me Bird from a really young age, because I used to sing myself to sleep when I was little. Then I picked up a guitar when I was 13. I started singing in church when I was 9. Started writing my own songs when I was 13. I made a gospel record when I was 16. And so I always wanted to be on stage. My dad was a pastor, and he was on stage, so I was always looking at that. I had a little role model of that. I got my big break at 23, but before I was 23, I was in LA at 17. I was broke. I didn’t have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of. So what my father from the South would say.

“But I was rushing and I always said, ‘Yeah, I can do it,'” she continued. “I’ll be there. I’ll fill in. Give me a turn, coach. It was a struggle. I had two cars impounded. I was signed and dropped by three different labels. People may only know me for Teenage dream and its meteoric rise and success, and the accolades (but that’s not the whole story).“

Alyssa Bailey is the senior news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held roles at In Style And Cosmopolitan. When she’s not working, she enjoys running through Central Park, getting people to take #ootd photos of her, and exploring New York City.