Christina Perri Biography

Christina Judith Perri (born August 19, 1986)^[1][2] is an American singer-songwriter and musician from Philadelphia. Her song "Jar of Hearts" charted in the United States after it was featured on the Fox television show So You Think You Can Dance in 2010. Rolling Stone named her the "Band of the Week" on October 26, 2010.^[3] On May 10, 2011, Perri's "Jar of Hearts" was featured in the "Prom Night" episode of Fox musical series Glee;^[4] the following month, it was featured in the episode "Dance Amongst Daggers" of ABC Family drama Switched at Birth. Perri recorded the song "A Thousand Years" for the film The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (2011) and it appears on the accompanying soundtrack.

Perri grew up in Bensalem, Pennsylvania (a suburb of Philadelphia) with her older brother, Nick Perri, who formerly played guitar with Shinedown, Silvertide, Perry Farrell and Matt Sorum.^[5] Her father is from Italy^[6] and mother from Poland.^{[citation needed]} She attended Archbishop Ryan High School as a member of the class of 2004.^[7] 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.^[3]

Perri moved to Los Angeles on her 21st birthday. Later that year she got married and began to produce music videos. She divorced 18 months later and moved back to Philadelphia by the end of 2009; during this time she wrote "Jar of Hearts". She moved back to Los Angeles, waitressing at the Melrose Cafe during the day and recording at night.^[3][8]

Perri's song "Jar of Hearts" was featured on So You Think You Can Dance during the June 30, 2010 show.^[9] It was featured in performance by Billy Bell and Kathryn McCormick.^[10] Perri's friend Keltie Colleen passed the song to show choreographer Stacey Tookey; Perri and Colleen watched the performance in the audience.^[9] Following its exposure on the show, "Jar of Hearts" sold 48,000 digital copies, debuting on the Billboard Hot 100 at #63 and reaching #28 on Billboard's Hot Digital Songs.^[10] Within a month, it sold more than 100,000 copies.^[8] Then, her music video for "Jar of Hearts" landed on the VH1 top 20 music video countdown.
Shortly after, Perri made her debut on national day time and prime time television, performing the song live on the July 10, 2010 episode of The Early Show on CBS as well as the July 15, 2010 episode of So You Think You Can Dance^[8] Perri signed a deal with Atlantic Records on July 21, 2010.^[11] Roadrunner Records continue to promote "Jar of Hearts" on the radio.^[12] Perri appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on July 29, 2010 and Conan on December 7, 2010 where she played "Jar of Hearts." In addition, "Jar of Hearts" was on the show Pretty Little Liars. "Arms" was also in the ABC Family movie Teen Spirit. Perri recorded an EP named The Ocean Way Sessions that was released on November 9, 2010.^[13]

Perri's debut album is titled lovestrong. and was released on May 10, 2011. It follows the release of "Arms", its lead single, released on March 15. She appeared on Late Show with David Letterman, playing her song "Arms". "Arms" was used in the August 26, 2011 episode of The Bold and the Beautiful and has also been used in TV spots for the Fall 2011 season of Investigation Discovery's show Disappeared.
Perri's single, "A Thousand Years", appeared on the soundtrack of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 and Part 2.
On November 1, 2011 Perri appeared on ABC's Dancing with the Stars Results show to perform her song "Arms". On November 13, 2011, she also performed "Jar of Hearts" on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing results show. On February 19, she performed "Jar of Hearts" in the pre-fight buildup to Vitali Klitschko vs. Derek Chisora World Heavyweight Championship boxing contest in Munich.
On January 29, 2012, Perri performed "Jar of Hearts" live on UK ITV's Dancing on Ice show, with Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean in a specially choreographed routine.
On April 22, 2012, Perri performed live on Australia's Dancing with the Stars.
Perri also announced in San Juan, Puerto Rico during her Lovestrong Tour that she will be releasing her second studio album in Spring 2013; also in San Juan she sang new song "Run" for the first time, which will be included on the new album.^[14] In addition, in late 2012 she will be co-headlining the Jason Mraz concert series Tour Is a Four Letter Word across continental North America in 2012.^[15]
On August 1, 2012, she announced via Facebook that she would be releasing a Christmas EP titled A Very Merry Perri Christmas and that the EP would be released on October 16, 2012. On December 12, Perri performed "Something About December", an original Christmas song from this album, on Today.^[16]
Perri is involved with the non-profit organization To Write Love On Her Arms.^[17]

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