Katy Perry: Bosses wanted me to be Avril Lavigne

Katy Perry says her previous record labels wanted her to be like Kelly Clarkson and Avril Lavigne.

The 'Part of Me' singer explained that she was dropped from three record labels before she signed with Capitol in the United States.

However the 27-year-old insists she had to battle with bosses to keep her sense of identity.

She told 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show': ''There was a lot of the word 'no' being thrown my way and I just never accepted that.

''You know overcoming everybody saying, 'It's not going to work', because a lot of people wanted me to be like someone - whether that was a Kelly Clarkson or an Avril Lavigne - and I was like, 'I want to be Katy Perry first', and they didn't really understand that.''

Katy - who will officially release her new single on July 2, while her concert film 'Part of Me 3D' will follow on July 5 - retains that her bold ideas are what got her where she is today.

She added: ''Maybe because my vision was so strong, but finally I got to go with it and it's kind of worked out.''