Katy Perry Announces Sixth Album ‘143’ and Shares Release Date

Katy Perry has announced the release of her upcoming sixth studio album “143,” releasing on September 20.

The pop singer made the announcement on her socials shortly after fans sleuthed the album title, covers and release date on her official merch store. “143” is a code for “I love you,” often used in the early 1990s in messages sent on pagers.

More from Variety

“I set out to create a bold, exuberant, celebratory dance-pop album with the symbolic 143 numerical expression of love as a throughline message,” said Perry in a statement.

The project will be led by the single “Woman’s World,” which Perry will release tomorrow at 7 p.m. ET. The video for “Woman’s World” will follow on July 12. She’s been teasing bits of the song since she announced it in June on TikTok and has fired up conversations on social media regarding her reunion with Dr. Luke, who handles production on the song.

Details regarding the album are otherwise scarce. She last released her fifth album “Smile” in August 2020. The record produced a handful of singles including “Daisies” and the title track, and became her lowest-performing album in years with a debut at No. 5 on the Billboard 200.

Since then, Perry descended on Las Vegas for her Play residency, which ran from 2021 to 2023. The final performance came last November with a hint that her next era would be coming soon.

Perry has kept busy outside of music with a stint as a judge on “American Idol” for seven seasons. In February, she announced that the 22nd season would be her last, and she finished her stint on the show in May. In September, she sold her catalog for $255 million to Litmus Music, the Carlyle-backed company that launched in 2022 and also purchased Keith Urban’s rights to his master recordings.

Best of Variety

Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.