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" California Gurls" is a song by American singer Katy Perry from her third studio album, Teenage Dream (2010). It was released as the album's lead single on May 7, 2010, through Capitol Records. The song features rap verses from Snoop Dogg. They both co-wrote "California Gurls" with Bonnie McKee and its producers Dr. Luke, Max Martin, and Benny Blanco. The track was recorded at Conway Recording Studios, based in Hollywood, Los Angeles. The song's mid-tempo production incorporates Disco and Funk with influences of electropop and new wave. Its lyrics are an ode to the state of California, in which both Perry and Dogg were born and raised. According to Perry, "California Gurls" is an answer song to "Empire State of Mind" by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys.
Originally, "California Gurls" was intended to be sent to mainstream and rhythmic airplay on May 25, 2010. However, it instead debuted on May 7, 2010, after the song leaked online. It was subsequently released to iTunes on May 11, 2010. Upon its release, "California Gurls" received generally positive reviews from music critics, with the majority of critics labeling it a "summer anthem", as well as complimenting its production and chorus. The song earned a Grammy Awards nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards. In 2012, Billboard ranked it No. 1 on a special "The 30 Summer Songs of All Time" listing.
"California Gurls" was a commercial success, topping the US Billboard Hot 100 for six consecutive weeks, giving Perry her second No. 1 single in the United States and Dogg his third. It also topped the record charts in seven other countries, was the best-selling single of 2010 in Canada, and is certified Platinum or higher in nine countries, including 9× Platinum in Australia, and Diamond in Canada and the United States. When "California Gurls" was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), Perry became the first female artist to have four Diamond-certified singles in the United States, the others being "Firework", "Roar" and "Dark Horse".
The accompanying music video for "California Gurls" was directed by Mathew Cullen, and depicts Perry and her backup dancers as pieces of a board game, set in the fictional "Candyfornia". Perry has said that the inspiration behind the music video was artist Will Cotton, who was also the artistic director for the video. It has also been noted that the music video was influenced by several other works, including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and the board game Candyland. The song would be performed on all of Perry's tours since her California Dreams Tour, alongside her concert residency, Play. It was also included in Perry's performance at Pepsi's Super Bowl XLIX halftime show in 2015, at Glendale, Arizona. It has also appeared in numerous pieces of media, including the video game Just Dance 3.
Perry used Wikipedia to research which rapper she wanted to collaborate with for "California Gurls", browsing West Coast artists before selecting Snoop Dogg. Initially, the song was going to be titled "California Girls". The spelling was changed to "California Gurls" after the death of Big Star member Alex Chilton as a nod to their song, "September Gurls". Rondor Music, the company that owns the publishing rights to the Beach Boys' "California Girls", allegedly threatened a lawsuit due to the lyric "I wish they could all be California Girls", a line that was taken from the Beach Boys' song.
After the song was leaked online, Capitol Records decided to release it early, and it was posted on Perry's official website, and the radio date was moved down from May 25, 2010, to May 7, 2010.
Glenn Gamboa of Newsday reviewed the song saying, "'California Gurls' is a fizzy-pop concoction of empty calories, but it sure does stick with you." He went on to note that the craftsmanship of the song was of a high standard. Steve Leftridge of PopMatters called "California Gurls" the radio jam of the summer of 2010 and "the gargantuan singalong fantasy that delivered on the promise built by the disco thump of hits like 'I Kissed a Girl' and 'Hot n Cold'." Leftridge also praised the song's musical composition, lyrical content and chorus which he said "you know by heart halfway through your first listen." The track was deemed as a highlight on Teenage Dream by Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic. Michael Cragg of musicOMH praised the song, "First single California Gurls is brilliant, brattish fun, Perry sounding sweet and coy on the verses before that huge chorus erupts". Edna Gundersen of USA Today said that the track is "an effervescent toast to summer fun." In a negative review, Greg Kot of Chicago Tribune dismissed the song as "relentlessly mechanical". He went on to describe Perry's vocal performance on the song as "a series of syllables digitally stitched together." The single received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. On May 25, 2012, Billboard ranked the song number one on a special The 30 Summer Songs of All Time listing.
]]On May 24, 2010, "California Gurls" debuted on the Australian Singles Chart at number three, and later reached the number-one spot. On the RIANZ Top 10 Radio Airplay Charts, the song came in at number one in New Zealand and also received Gold certification from Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ). "California Gurls" entered the UK Singles Chart on June 27, 2010, at number one, becoming her second chart-topper in the country. The single sold 123,607 copies in the UK in its first week (the second highest number in 2010 after the Helping Haiti charity single "Everybody Hurts"). After two weeks, the song sold 216,000 copies in the UK. On October 29, 2010, the British Phonographic Industry classified the single as a "platinum record" (meaning it has sold over 600,000 units).
Customise search with the following settings – Search by: "Keyword", By Award: "Platinum", By Format: "Single" – then search by "California Gurls". As of October 2013, the single had sold 780,787 copies in the United Kingdom, becoming Perry's third best-selling single there behind "Firework" and "Roar". Elsewhere, "California Gurls" reached number one in Canada. In Germany, the song rose to number three, staying 37 weeks on the chart. "California Gurls" was certified Platinum in Germany in November 2011 for 300,000 units sold. "California Gurls" has sold 13 million copies worldwide as of May 2022.
In the music video, Perry is a game piece in Candyfornia, a game based in poker and . The settings are inspired in part by Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and the board game Candy Land, with much of the set decorated with , , cotton candy, and . Snoop Dogg, who is referenced in the lyrics by his old name Snoop "Doggy" Dogg, appears in the video as a king named "Sugar Daddy" that is holding several young women (Queens of Candyfornia) captive throughout the game, using candy-related devices to hold them. Perry moves around, experimenting with objects. She moves through the land, making discoveries and freeing the women. In the chorus, she appears lying down on a cotton candy cloud, naked. Snoop Dogg tries to block her advances in many ways. When all the women are free, Perry leads them in a dance on the beach. Seeing the women freed, "Sugar Daddy" becomes enraged, marching on the women's position with an army of gummi bear. Perry defeats the army with whipped cream guns attached to her breasts, after which the stunned king throws down his staff and surrenders. The video ends with "Sugar Daddy" buried up to his neck in the sand by the women, nonetheless admiring their beauty and (in a nod to the California Girls) wishing that women everywhere could be California girls. Various California landmarks appear in the video, such as the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Hollywood Sign, Sunset Boulevard, the Capitol Records Building, the Golden Gate Bridge and Venice Beach which were all made out of confectionery.
On May 25, 2014, Perry performed the song at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in Glasgow. On February 1, 2015, Perry was the headliner of Super Bowl XLIX halftime show and "California Gurls" was part of the performance. On May 27, 2017, Perry performed the song at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in Hull. On January 30, 2025, Perry performed the song at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, for FireAid to help with relief efforts for the January 2025 Southern California wildfires.
"California Gurls" appears in the 2011 video game Just Dance 3, alongside fellow album tracks "E.T." and "Teenage Dream".
| + Release dates and formats for "California Gurls" ! scope="col" | Region ! scope="col" | Date ! scope="col" | Format(s) ! scope="col" | Version(s) ! scope="col" | Label ! scope="col" | |
| June 7, 2010 | Hot adult contemporary radio | |||||
| June 10, 2010 | CD single | |||||
| June 29, 2010 | CD | |||||
| July 16, 2010 | Digital download | Remixes | ||||
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