Katy Perry at an event, reflecting on her unusual collection of celebrity hair locks (Photo Credit – Instagram)
Advertisement
Here’s a throwback for the books: Katy Perry once kept little souvenirs from two of pop’s most prominent icons—and they weren’t autographs or selfies. It was a lock of hair from both Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus. Yep, you read that right. Hair. In her purse. Perry spilled the quirky detail during an audience Q&A at her Prism album release party for iHeartRadio, recalling that she’d snagged the locks at one of her first Grammy appearances.
“One of the first times I went to the Grammys, I got to share a dressing room with Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift,” Perry told the audience. “I asked them for a lock of their hair from each one, which is creepy but awesome.” And this wasn’t just some random, absent-minded act of fan obsession. Perry went further, tying each lock with tiny bows before tucking them away in her purse. “That was my little secret, and I’m a freak!” she joked.
If it sounds a bit spooky, think again—Katy wasn’t collecting hair for voodoo. But it’s rare to see stars getting starstruck, and she openly admitted that meeting Swift and Cyrus back then felt big. In hindsight, that purse-sized memento is a testament to how awe-inspiring that moment was for her.
But it wasn’t Perry’s only personal tidbit as she geared up for the Prism launch. The singer, then 28, was deep into her era of introspection and self-discovery, especially after a rocky divorce from actor Russell Brand. Known for her Firework positivity, Perry revealed that her split with Brand was anything but an easy experience. “I’m not the kind of person that is always like, ‘What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,’” she admitted. “I was pretty f*****, yes. It hurt a lot. I got a good knock.”
She explained how the experience had reshaped her perspective on relationships. “My self-worth was in someone else’s hands, which is never a good idea because it can be taken from you at any time,” Perry reflected. The relationship had left her feeling shattered, but by the time Prism hit the charts, she had found a new approach emphasizing self-reliance.
With stories like these, Perry gave fans a raw, unfiltered look into her life. Her Grammy souvenir story wasn’t just a quirky confession; it symbolized her playful spirit and love for collecting memories, even in the oddest forms. And, like her fans, Perry had her moments of being starstruck by her peers. That lock of hair—complete with bows and all—was a reminder that a pop fan was still marveling at her idols beneath the fame.
For Perry, Prism marked a new chapter that she owned: eccentricities. Whether she was keeping a little souvenir from Swift and Cyrus or sharing her hard-won insights about love and self-worth, Perry’s honesty was refreshingly honest. She may have called herself a freak, but in the end, her quirks only made her more relatable. After all, aren’t we all a little “freaky” in our way?
