Katy Perry has officially been confirmed to perform at the 2024 AFL Grand Final in Melbourne in September.
The 39-year-old singer will headline Telstra Pre-Game Entertainment at the sporting event at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday 28 September.
Katy confirmed the news in a statement on Thursday, sharing her excitement at returning to Australia.
“I’m so excited to be back in Australia and at the mighty MCG to perform in front of 100,000 of the best and loudest fans in the world at this year’s Toyota AFL Grand Final. See you in September, oi, oi, oi!” she said.
AFL executive general manager of customer and commercial Kylie Rogers also said the AFL was delighted to have him on board.
‘Katy Perry is an international music icon who has entertained her fans with her chart-topping hits for many years.’
“The AFL is delighted to have her at the 2024 Toyota AFL Grand Final in what will be a spectacular Telstra Pre-Game Entertainment performance,” Rogers said.
‘The AFL continues to attract world-class artists to our game, and we are honoured to have Katy Perry on board to entertain a packed house at the MCG and the millions of fans tuning in around the world.’
Katy Perry (pictured) will perform at the 2024 AFL Grand Final at the MCG in September.
The announcement comes after DailyMail.com revealed she is “pointing the finger at everyone but herself” after her comeback single, Woman’s World, failed to set the charts alight.
Sources close to the singer claim that she is desperate to come up with a new plan to save her musical comeback.
The singer released the lead single from her upcoming seventh studio album 143 last Thursday, but the song, billed as an empowering feminist anthem, was quickly dismissed as unoriginal, hypocritical and formulaic.
The Teenage Dream singer also faced criticism for the sexualized nature of the track’s accompanying video, as well as her decision to work with music producer Dr. Luke, 50, following her highly publicized legal battle with Tick Tock singer Kesha, 37.
With the single plummeting down the US iTunes chart less than a week since its release on July 11, Katy is said to be “freaking out” and demanding her team “go back to the drawing board” to prevent her album suffering the same fate.
“Katy is very nervous at the moment because she is very aware of the reactions Woman’s World is receiving,” a source told DailyMail.com exclusively. “She is pointing the finger at everyone but herself, but it is her own fault.”
“I’m so excited to be back in Australia and at the mighty MCG to perform in front of 100,000 of the best and loudest fans in the world at this year’s Toyota AFL Grand Final. See you in September, oi, oi, oi!” she said in a statement on Thursday.
The source claimed the biggest risk Katy had taken was reconnecting with Dr. Luke, the music producer who worked on her hit singles including 2008’s I Kissed a Girl and 2010’s California Gurls before she was later accused of sexual, physical and emotional abuse by Kesha.
The super-producer, whose real name is Łukasz Gottwald, denied all the allegations, including Kesha’s claim that he raped Katy, something she denied.
Some Katy fans have defended the star, claiming she was forced to work with Dr. Luke due to contractual obligations. But Katy previously confirmed she has no ties to the producer.
During her 2018 deposition for Kesha’s lawsuit against Dr. Luke, Katy confirmed that she had only signed a three-album publishing deal with Dr. Luke’s Kemosabe Records and that the pair no longer had a contractual relationship.
She also acknowledged what the public response would be if she decided to collaborate with Dr. Luke in the midst of her battle with Kesha.
“Working with him right now would mean… I wouldn’t be… I wouldn’t be welcome because of this lawsuit,” she said.
This comes after DailyMail.com revealed she is “pointing the finger at everyone but herself” after her comeback single Woman’s World failed to take the charts by storm. She has re-teamed with long-time collaborator Dr Luke in the wake of her lawsuit against Kesha.
Asked if she thought working with Dr. Luke would potentially impact the success of a future release, the Dark Horse singer responded: “[People]would protest that, a smear campaign, just 20 different narratives than the one I represent.”
After DailyMail.com previously revealed that Katy had been warned not to collaborate with Dr. Luke for the new album, the source confirmed that the Roar singer had ignored the pleas.
“She was crazy to think Dr. Luke was a good idea. She didn’t listen to anyone,” the source claimed. “Instead of diving into the topic and creating art, she posted something that sounded like it could have been on one of her albums from 2010.”
Not only did the song see Katy team up with the producer, but it was also written predominantly alongside men.
The source claimed that Katy is now demanding they “go back to the drawing board” before releasing more singles and are even “fine-tuning the album right now.”
Dr. Luke, Aaron Joseph, Vaughn Oliver and Rocco Did It Again! co-wrote and produced the song, while Katy and Chloe Angelides are the only women who helped write it.
No single woman produced the album.
“You can’t make a song about female empowerment with basically all men,” the source said.
‘Katy can’t relate to other women because she lives in her celebrity bubble. She doesn’t know anything about what it’s like to be a woman in the real world.
“She’s not using her star power to change the world; she’s using it to make money.”
