Katy Perry Rejects Christianity, Heaven and Hell, but Believes in ‘a Higher Power’

Katy Perry is the daughter of Christian ministers. But the widely popular singer recently made it clear that she no longer identifies with Christianity.

“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,” the 29-year-old pop star told Marie Claire magazine in an interview for the January issue. “Accountability is rare to find, especially with people like myself, because nobody wants to tell you something you don’t want to hear.”

Perry, who stormed the charts with her 2008 hit “I Kissed a Girl,” said she no longer considers herself Christian.

“I’m not Buddhist, I’m not Hindu, I’m not Christian, but I still feel like I have a deep connection with God. I pray all the time—for self-control, for humility. There’s a lot of gratitude in it. Just saying ‘thank you’ sometimes is better than asking for things.”

Perry was just a teenager when she scored a gospel contract as Katheryn Hudson. She moved to Los Angeles when she was just 17 to reinvent herself, and had been dropped by three record labels by 23. Her fourth studio album, Prism, released in October.

Though she has strayed far from the days her parents tried to “keep her away from all things secular and sinful,” Perry told Marie Claire she still has a good relationship with her parents.

“People don’t understand that I have a great relationship with my parents—like, how that can exist,” she said. “There isn’t any judgment. They don’t necessarily agree with everything I do, but I don’t necessarily agree with everything they do. They’re at peace with it … they pray for me is what they do. They’re fascinated with the idea that they created someone who has this much attention on her.”