Katy Perry is ''happy'' she is being taken seriously as an artist.

The 'Unconditionally' hitmaker - who was catapulted to the spotlight with her hit single 'I Kissed a Girl' - is glad that people value her music and she thinks it's because she taps into her emotions and ''vulnerability'' when she writes songs.

Katy told BBC Radio 2: ''That [being taken seriously] has taken a little time to come about, which I am totally OK with. I am happy that it is revealing itself that way. I think I have a certain level of vulnerability that I tap into with my lyric writing especially with the deeper cuts, that separates me from my peers. I do something different that they do and they do something that I can't do.''

The star only listened to gospel and Christian music while she was growing up but when she was exposed to Queen in her early teens the band inspired her and impacted the way she created lyrics.

Katy explained: ''I only listened to gospel and Christian music until about 13. Then I had the revelation of Queen revealed to me. That changed my life forever, and the way that I write lyrics and paint pictures with my lyrics.''