Christina Perri
Christina Judith Perri (born August 19, 1986)[1] is an American singer and songwriter. After her debut single "Jar of Hearts" was featured on the television series So You Think You Can Dance in 2010, Perri signed with Atlantic Records and released her debut extended play, The Ocean Way Sessions. Her debut studio album, Lovestrong (2011), followed soon after and has since been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[2]
Christina Perri
- Singer
- songwriter
3[a]
Nick Perri (brother)
- Vocals
- guitar
- piano
- keyboards
Perri also gained recognition for writing and recording "A Thousand Years", the love theme for the film The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 (2012), which appears on the accompanying soundtrack. The song went on to sell over 10 million copies in the United States, being certified Diamond, and the official music video reached two billion views on YouTube in December 2021. She later released her second extended play, A Very Merry Perri Christmas (2012), followed by her second studio album, Head or Heart (2014). After recording the lullaby albums Songs for Carmella (2019) and Songs for Rosie (2021), Perri released her third studio album, A Lighter Shade of Blue (2022). In 2023, she released the albums Songs for Pixie and Songs for Christmas.
Early life[edit]
Perri was born in Bensalem, Pennsylvania.[3] She is of Italian and Polish descent, and has called her family "very Italian".[4] She has an older brother, Nick Perri, who formerly played guitar with Shinedown, Silvertide, Perry Farrell and Matt Sorum and cousin Dominic Perri.[5][6]
She graduated from Saint Ephrem Catholic School, and then from Archbishop Ryan High School in 2004 and later attended the University of the Arts.[7][8] She taught herself how to play guitar as a 16-year-old by watching a videotape of Shannon Hoon from the group Blind Melon performing on VH1.[9] In college she majored in communication for a year before dropping out to pursue a music career.
She frequently sang and acted in musical theater as a child. Perri claims to have learned to play piano and guitar because she missed hearing music being played in the house when she moved away. According to Perri, whenever she played the guitar or piano, she would sing and "all of a sudden these songs would appear."[10]
Career[edit]
Early career[edit]
Perri moved to Los Angeles on her 21st birthday. According to Perri, she felt terrified of being over 3,000 miles away from her family, saying that she "cried [her] eyes out every day."[11]
Later that year she married and began to produce music videos for a living. She divorced 18 months later and moved into a small apartment on her own to focus entirely on working on music. She moved back to Philadelphia by the end of 2009; it was during this time that she wrote "Jar of Hearts". She later moved back to Los Angeles, working as a waitress at the Melrose Cafe during the day and recording at night.[9][12]
Personal life[edit]
Perri and Paul Costabile became engaged in June 2017[37] and were married on December 12, 2017.[38] In August 2017, Perri announced she was pregnant with their first child. Perri gave birth to their daughter Carmella Stanley in January 2018.[39] In January 2020, Perri said she was "completely heartbroken" after suffering a miscarriage at 11 weeks.[40] In July, Perri announced she was pregnant for a third time.[41] On November 10, 2020, Perri said she was experiencing pregnancy complications, and two weeks later, Perri revealed that her daughter was stillborn, stating: "She is at peace now and will live forever in our hearts."[42] In May 2022, Perri announced she was pregnant with their fourth child.[43] Perri gave birth to their daughter Pixie Rose in October 2022.[44]