Katy Perry Covers ‘Billboard,’ Confirms “Unconditionally” As Her Next Single

Katy Perry takes this week’s Billboard to talk about her upcoming LP Prism, using a sleepy-looking promotional photo with some goofy CGI butterflies (sigh), so there’s not much to get excited about visually — but hey! There’s a good interview inside the mag, with Katy talking about her new album (hey!) and her next single (ho!) and taking shit from Barbara Walters (yikes).

On that: She tells a great story about being late for an interview with Barbara Walters just as her marriage was collapsing, then getting dragged by the legendary newswoman: “When I got there, I apologized immediately, but then she said to me, ‘You know, I’ve only ever waited for one other person this long, and you know who that person was? Judy Garland. You know how she turned out, right?’ I was like, ‘Oh, snap! Yes, bitch!’ I think it’s the coolest thing that Barbara Walters shaded me. I just couldn’t tell her as we were sitting down for a mega-interview, ‘Hey, my marriage is falling apart. Give me a break.'”

As for the sound of her album, she reminds us that it’s all about letting the light in: “I didn’t want to do Teenage Dream 2.0,” she said. “Teenage Dream was highly conceptual, super-pop art. Prism is more organic, au naturale, vulnerable and honest, but still has the same amount of fun.”

One thing is certain, though: Expect “Unconditionally,” a storming power ballad (I’ve heard it, and it’s not particularly fun, but it is quite good), to be her next single.

[via Billboard]