Your turn, Tay! Katy Perry revealed to the New York Times on Thursday, February 11, that she has invited her archnemesis Taylor Swift to her pre-Grammys party, and the reason for the invite is flattering.
“You have to be a creator — it’s artists, producers and songwriters,” Perry, 31, told the paper of those she reached out to. “And it’s a mixture of new and familiar artists, a combination of the past two years’ Grammy nominees and also [acts] from the Spotify Discover playlist. It’s Kacey Musgraves, Karen O, Miguel, Tove Lo, Shirley Manson, Max Martin. Then up-and-coming songwriters like Blood Pop and Bonnie McKee all under the same roof as Diane Warren. In some ways, I’m trying to start the Met Ball of music.”
Perry confirmed that fellow megastars Adele and Swift, who have withheld their music from Spotify, were still invited to the bash, which is sponsored by the streaming music service. “It’s just up to their schedules,” Perry noted. The black tie affair will be held at Cicada in downtown L.A. on Saturday, February 13, and publicists, journalists and managers are not invited.
“They are not creators. They’re important to the creation, but it’s only artists, producers and songwriters,” the “Firework” singer explained. “There’s a press opportunity in the front, like a red carpet, but if you want to be more low-key you can arrive via garage. I’m trying to keep it as pure as possible because in the eight years that I’ve been going to these things, I am just always so exhausted.”
It’s significant that Perry even extended an invite to Swift, 26, given their rocky relationship. Their memorable feud first started back in September 2014, after the 1989 hitmaker revealed that her song “Bad Blood” was inspired by her rivalry with another female artist. (“For years, I was never sure if we were friends or not,” Swift told Rolling Stone at the time. “She would come up to me at awards shows and say something and walk away, and I would think, ‘Are we friends, or did she just give me the harshest insult of my life?'”)
Though fans speculated that the tune was about Miley Cyrus, Us Weekly exclusively confirmed it was about Perry, who stole one of Swift’s dancers. Then their animosity prevailed in July 2015, when Perry inserted herself into Swift’s feud with Nicki Minaj, tweeting: “Finding it ironic to parade the pit women against other women argument about as one unmeasurably capitalizes on the take down of a woman…”
Though Minaj and Swift subsequently made up, the “Blank Space” singer and Perry have yet to make amends. And don’t expect Perry to root for Swift to take home Album of the Year at the Grammys on Monday, February 15.
“The Weeknd has come a long way, especially since the very beginning when he put out all those records himself,” Perry said of the “Can’t Feel My Face” crooner, 25, who is up for seven Grammys for material from his album Beauty Behind The Madness. “He took a chance and went a little bit more pop. To see that growth happen so quickly and knowing his evolution is a pretty cool story.”
