KortneyTo celebrate receiving ASCAP’s prestigious Founders Awards, songwriter Desmond Child sat down with PEOPLE to share some stories behind some of his biggest hits, including Katy Perry’s “Waking Up In Vegas.”
Katy Perry is one of the most extraordinary artists of our times. When I met her she had been an integral part of a band created by a production team called the Matrix, responsible for Avril Lavigne’s first album. After leaving the Matrix she was signed to Columbia Records and Katy turned up for a writing session with me and Swedish hitmaker Andreas Carlsson. At the time, Alanis Morissette was a strong inspiration for Katy. That drew us to compose a dark and brooding rock ballad called, “My Last Cry.” Katy, though, was anything but dark and brooding. She was light-hearted and high-spirited. In the most loving sense and being gay myself, I saw her as the ultimate f– hag. “Why are we writing all this angry stuff?” I asked her. “You aren’t angry. You’re fun. You should be singing about the way you are. Let’s write a song about you and your gay best friend hitting Vegas and losing all your money.” And “Waking Up in Vegas,” was born and went straight to number one. I didn’t go straight, but that‘s another story…
