About “Witness”

Witness is Katy Perry’s fourth album. It is the follow-up album to PRISM (2013) and was released on June 9, 2017.

In May 2017, Katy told Entertainment Weekly she wrote almost 40 songs for the album and that they represent her in an important transition in her life as she faces the reality of growing up:

It’s really quite brave…Sonically, it’s fun and dance-y and dark and light. It’s all of these things. It definitely is a change. I left my 20s and I’ve gone to my 30s…I’ve embraced. I’ve surrendered. I’ve healed some of my issues with my family, with my relationships. Today I’m sober but I don’t know about tomorrow! One day at a time, right? It’s all kind of beautiful. I built up Katy Perry and she was so fun. And I still am Katy Perry and I love her so much but, at the core, I’m Katheryn Hudson and I think that’s being revealed as I embrace who I really am.

Fans have theorised the album’s title as Witness based on her appearance at the 2017 Met Gala and other cryptic marketing clues. They also anticipate the album as a clapback to Taylor Swift’s hit “Bad Blood”. Katy responded: