Coming off of quite a successful year in the spotlight already, Super Bowl XLIX halftime performer Katy Perry has been announced as the final artist to be added to the list of performers at this year's 57th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, February 8.
Perry will reportedly be performing her hit "By The Grace of God" from her Grammy-nominated album, Prism.
But despite the name of the song, Perry has made a point in recent years of letting her fans know that she is not the Christian Gospel singer that she once was.
Katy started her music career out under her real name, Katy Hudson, on her 2001 debut album of the same name. When she didn't find success with Red Hill Records and the Gospel music scene, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue secular music under the new name Katy Perry (using her mother's maiden name).
Despite being raised by Pentecostal pastors as parents, Katy gave up her family's views to concentrate on a singing career. When her second album, One of the Boys, featured the hit song "I Kissed a Girl," Perry was sky-rocketed into the spotlight.
In a recent interview with GQ, Perry made it very clear that she no longer believed in God, a proclamation that has been a sure ingredient for success for secular singers in recent years. "I don't believe in a heaven or a hell or an old man sitting on a throne. I believe in a higher power bigger than me because that keeps me accountable," she said. "I believe in a lot of astrology. I believe in aliens. I look up into the stars and I imagine: How self-important are we to think that we are the only life-form?"
But the inclusion on this year's Grammy performers' list hearkens back to her appearance last year on the show when she performed her hit song "Dark Horse." The performance raised concerns over its overtly dark imagery that allegedly caused Christian singer Natalie Grant to walk out of the event.
Grant later tweeted about the experience, saying, "We left the Grammy's early. I've many thoughts, most of which are probably better left inside my head. But I'll say this: I've never been more honored to sing about Jesus and for Jesus. And I've never been more sure of the path I've chosen."
Perry's performance for the song included fire, images of demons, and witch-like attire to play into the lyrics for the "Dark Horse" song.
"So you wanna play with magic / Boy, you should know what you're falling for / Baby do you dare to do this? / Cause I'm coming at you like a dark horse," the lyrics state.
And the message of evil wasn't lost on the mainstream media, either, as many outlets such as E! Online and BuzzFeed made mention of the witch-like nature of the performance.
But Natalie Grant wasn't the only Christian performer who was not entertained by Perry's depictions of witchcraft and the direction that the Grammy's have been taking in recent years. Christian singer Mandisa, who won "Best Christian Contemporary Music Album" and "Best Contemporary Christian Music Song" last year, didn't attend the ceremony at all, stating on her Facebook page: "Both times I have gone to the Grammys I have witnessed performances I wish I could erase from my memory, and yes, I fast forwarded through several performances this year. I knew that submerging myself into an environment that celebrates those things was risky for me at this time."
Aside from the previously mentioned song from Perry's new album, there is no word on what else she plans to do for this year's performance.
The 57th Annual Grammy Awards will take place on Sunday, February 8 on CBS from 8 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. (ET/PT) from the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
