Christina Perri - Singer-songwriter, Facts and Family

Christina was born Christina Judith Perri at Bensalem, Pennsylvania, USA, on August 19, 1986, into a religious household. While her father, Dante Perri, is of Italian origin, her mother, Mary, is of Polish origin. Christina grew up with her older brother Nick Perri, who was a music enthusiast. Nick, who later went on to become a famous guitarist, was Christina’s only inspiration during her childhood.

Her parents worked as hairdressers and the family struggled with finances. They used to visit the church regularly and Perri had the opportunity to sing during a communion when she was six years old. That changed her life forever as she realized that she had the ability to sing well.

Pleased by her interest in music, her parents enrolled her for piano lessons when she was 8. However, she was expelled from the piano class as she had her own way of ending the songs, which wasn’t liked by her teacher.

She then taught herself to play the guitar and followed her brother around while he practiced with his band. After finishing her high school, she was selected for a scholarship program at the prestigious ‘University of the Arts’ in Philadelphia. However, she dropped out of the university midway.

Wandering around for inspiration, she landed in Los Angeles just after her 21st birthday. With little experience in the field of music, she started auditioning for various record companies to no avail.

She then moved back to Pennsylvania where she continued working on improving her musical skills. After some time, she returned to Los Angeles and rented a small apartment. She started working as a waitress at a restaurant to make ends meet. She continued working at the restaurant for a few days, until she came up with her debut song, which went on to become a massive hit.

She composed her song ‘Jar of Hearts’ while still working at the restaurant. Fortunately, her song was played in one of the episodes of the popular American talent hunt show ‘So You Think you can Dance.’ ‘Jar of Hearts’ was heard by many and it instantly became popular among music lovers. The song was released online on public demand, and it became viral on the internet.

‘Jar of Hearts’ hit 100,000 downloads within two weeks of its release. The song even made it to the Billboard’s top 50 picks, making Perri instantly famous among the music lovers in Los Angeles. Soon, record companies started pursuing her, and she was eventually signed by ‘Atlantic Records.’

In 2010, she released her debut extended play titled ‘The Ocean Way Sessions.’ The extended play was received well by critics as well as the audience, and it even made to the list of ‘US Billboard 200.’ It also topped the ‘US Top Heatseekers’ chart, earning Perri a nation-wide recognition. She gathered huge fan following.

Her debut album ‘Lovestrong’ was an instant success as it grabbed the fourth spot in the list of ‘Billboard 200’ as soon as it was released. In the UK and the US, ‘Lovestrong’ became one of the highest selling albums of the year and Perri embarked on a tour to promote the album.

The tour, which began in Boston on April 20, 2011, ended in Seattle on May 8, 2011. Musician James Blunt accompanied her during the tour, which was a massive success. What further contributed towards her success was her love theme, which she composed for the film ‘The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1.’

The song was loved by thousands of fans and eventually went on to sell more than four million copies, making it one of the most successful songs of Christina Perri. The song was later certified ‘Four times Platinum’ by the ‘Recording Industry Association of America,’ which boosted her confidence.

Perri went on her first world tour, which was called ‘Lovestrong Tour’ in 2011. In 2012, she announced the release of her second album and meanwhile, re-recorded her song ‘A Thousand Years’ for ‘The Twilight Saga.’ The song earned her a ‘BMI Award’ at the 61st ‘BMI Pop Awards.’

In 2013, Perri started promoting her second album on various social media platforms. During a charity concert, she released the first single from the album ‘I Believe.’ The single received an overwhelming response from her fans and soon her social media accounts were filled with requests to release more songs from the album ‘I Believe.’

In November 2013, Perri released another single from the album ‘Human,’ which too, became an instant hit. In April 2014, she released her long-awaited second studio album ‘Head or Heart,’ which was received well by music lovers across the US.

Soon after the release of her second album, Perri embarked on her second tour which was called ‘Head or Heart Tour.’ On June 9, 2014, she released another single titled ‘Burning Gold.’

Perri then got busy with her concerts and promotions. In May 2016, she took to her Instagram account to announce that she was working on her third album. Perri has also performed in the concerts of other musicians, such as Ed Sheeran and Billy Joel.

Christina Perri was suffering from alcoholism during the initial phase of her career. On many occasions, she has said that she would often turn to alcohol during her struggling days. In March 2016, she delighted her fans by announcing on social media that she hadn’t touched alcohol for the past four years and that she was recovering from her addiction.

In January 2016, she started dating an entertainment reporter named Paul Costabile. Perri later announced that they got engaged in June 2017 and the couple exchanged their wedding vows later that year. In August 2017, she confirmed that she was pregnant with her first child.

In one of her interviews, Perri said that she has only a few friends from the entertainment industry and that TV host and correspondent Keltie Knight is one among them.