Katy Perry had the support of the Queen of Pop from day one. The “Lifetimes” superstar joined Australian talk show The Project this week, where she opened up about getting love from Madonna early in her career. “Madonna was really nice to me, well it took a minute because she was testing me and then she became super nice to me,” she recalled, though she wouldn’t clarify what exactly the “testing” was.

“She just does her Madonna thing,” Perry explained, “She would invite me to a party and we had to do a photoshoot together which was amazing. She’s the greatest.” Perry also revealed that Madonna shouting out her 2007 single “Ur So Gay” on a radio show helped her popularity grow.

“She actually shouted out my song and that was really the beginning of my career. That’s kind of what started to break me,” she recalled. See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news Ultimately, Perry says “every female [artist] still needs to continue to say thank you” to Madonna.

“I’m 40 I still get to do music because of Madonna,” she concluded. Perry is fresh off the release of her latest album, 143 , her first project since 2020’s Smile . Watch The Project ‘s full interview with Katy Perry below.

.