Katy Perry Fans Suspect New Album Will Have Butterfly Theme: All the Clues She's Dropped

Katy Perry has still not revealed when her upcoming album will drop, but her fans have a flurry of theories.

Throughout the endless amount of teasing that the "Teenage Dream" singer has done throughout the past few months, one thing has remained constant: butterflies.

Whether it be through a fake tattoo or confetti, Perry has consistently been teasing the butterflies will have some sort of involvement in her highly-anticipated sixth studio album. Now, after her show-stopping performance in her final episode of American Idol, their theories seem to be closer to getting confirmed.

The season 22 finale was the "Roar" songstress' final appearance as a judge on the singing competition series after seven seasons. For her performance of "What Makes a Woman," she wore a skirt that featured the faces of 168 contestants on the show. After the show, she told Music Times that the performance is something she will "hang on to for a real long time."

"I think [American Idol] actually is still one of the only shows that makes stars, or opens doors on that path of stardom," Perry said to Music Times. "Everyone else is a loser. Everyone else is just faking it."

As her time as an Idol judge as come to an end, her fans - frequently referred to as "Katy Cats" - are now prepared for her "KP6 Era" to kick off. While she has mentioned that something will drop this fall, Perry still has not revealed any specific dates on when new songs are coming.

There have been a few other themes in her social output that could lead to some easter eggs about the record, including the frequent use of the phrase "love is the key that unlocks every door." She has also frequently been using the numbers "143," which represents the amount of letters in "I love you."

With multiple theories leading back to the butterfly concept for the new album, find out other clues that could be leading to a first look at the long-awaited LP.

'American Idol' Butterfly Confetti

Prior to the airing of her final Idol episode, Perry took to Instagram to share a photo of six pieces of butterfly confetti. Many took the amount of butterflies to be a direct reference to her upcoming sixth album.

The confetti was used during her final performance on the show, with a piece of the confetti landing perfectly in her hair at the end of the song.

As a butterfly was also projected onto the screen behind her, many fans pointed out that it had a "cosmic" look, coining the term "cosmic butterfly."

Prosthetic Butterfly Tattoo

While walking the red carpet at the Billboard Women in Music 2024 event earlier this year, Perry sported a 3D butterfly tattoo on her lower back. While she later confirmed that the "tramp stamp" was fake, it was another possible step towards confirming the era's aesthetic.

Final Las Vegas Performance

The "Never Really Over" hitmaker confirmed that her new album would drop this year when she ended her acclaimed Las Vegas residency, Play. As the curtain came down on her final show, "See Ya Next Year" was displayed on the screen while purple butterfly confetti rained down on the audience.

Rock In Rio Announcement

Earlier this year, the Grammy-nominee announced that she would be headlining the massive Rock In Rio music festival in September. Since she will presumably be playing some of her new music at the show, the promotional announcement picture showed the singer wearing yellow gloves with butterflies on them.

Coronation Performance

In 2023, Perry performed at the coronation of King Charles. At the end of her performance of "Roar," a flurry of butterflies were projected to be flying away. The song also features the lyric "Now I'm floating like a butterfly / Stinging like a bee I earned my stripes."

After fans noticed the butterfly nod, they took to social media to share their takes. Perry liked a post that said that her next era would have "everything to do with this theme."

"At the end of Roar's presentation, a bunch of butterflies went up and this is just one of the symbols Katy has been using the most lately," the post on X, formerly Twitter read. "I bet the next era is coming and it will have everything to do with this theme."

Tags

Katy Perry, American Idol