Perry was born on October 25, 1984 at Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, California, to Maurice Hudson and Mary Hudson ("née" Perry), both pastors. She has an older sister, Angela, and a younger brother, David, who is also a musician. Perry has said that her upbringing was "sheltered" and that an example of this was that her family did not eat Lucky Charms cereal because her parents thought that luck was something that came from the devil. She also called deviled eggs "angeled eggs" growing up.