Katy Perry To Perform At 2013 MTV VMAs, Talks “Roar” With Ryan Seacrest

Bianca Gracie | August 12, 2013 9:39 am

Katy Perry is the latest artist to join Lady Gaga, Kanye WestDaft Punk and Miley Cyrus as a performer at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards. The pop star announced the big news on Ryan Seacrest‘s radio show this morning (August 12), and she also broke down the meaning of her new single “Roar.”

As seen with her numerous teaser clips, Perry is shedding her Teenage Dream bubblegum imagery for a new, more mature and “raw” look. She told Seacrest, “it’s just metaphorically speaking. It’s time to move on to the next era, which is bigger and better and just something different because we all know that we like that Teenage Dream era, but everybody evolves.”

“Roar” is definitely a power anthem, which was Perry’s intention. “[It’s] a song about speaking up for yourself because there was a time in my life I didn’t stand for anything, so I fell for everything,” she said. “Sometimes you can feel burdened by people or a thing or a relationship and it causes you to go inside yourself rather than to be like ‘Hey! No, this isn’t okay.’ So it has been very therapeutic writing these songs. I’m getting myself stronger.”

Perry jokingly reveals she originally wanted to name the album The Adult Reality (Doing Well in Therapy), but instead chose the more succinct name: “I’ve let a lot of light into my life and now I can beam that light out through my songs to all of my fans.” The singer will be shining that light onto the stage when she performs at the VMAs on August 25, a secret she says she has been keeping for months.

Listen to the full interview below.