Katy Perry’s huge hit I kissed A Girl is turning 16 this week but many people still don’t know who the huge Hollywood star who inspired the globally recognised tune back in the noughties was

One of Katy Perry’s most iconic hits turns 16 this weekend and is still going strong as a party anthem.

I Kissed A girl was originally released on April 28 2008 and has been a dancefloor staple around the world ever since. However many fans have no idea that a huge Hollywood star was the inspiration behind the song for Katy.

She previously opened up about how she was flicking through the pages of a glossy magazine when she saw a picture of the actress and immediately said to her boyfriend at the time how she would love to make out with her. The lady in question was none other than Avengers star Scarlett Johansson.

Scarlett inspired Katy for the song ( Image: Max Cisotti/Dave Benett/Getty Im)

Katy admitted she would ‘make out’ with Scarlett ( Image: Getty Images)

Katy explained to Steppin’ Out magazine at the time: “I Kissed a Girl was inspired when I opened up a magazine and I saw a picture of Scarlett Johansson. I was with my boyfriend at the time, and I said to him, ‘I’m not going to lie: If Scarlett Johansson walked into the room and wanted to make out with me, I would make out with her. I hope you’re okay with that?’”

At the time Katy was dating Gym Class Heroes singer Travis McCoy. The success of the track saw it top the US Billboard Hot 100 chart for seven consecutive weeks. Te resounding success of the song means it has sold over 4.8 million units in the US alone.

It also topped the charts in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The song has also been certified multi-platinum in Australia, Canada, Denmark, the UK, and the US.

The track was a huge hit worldwide ( Image: Katy Perry /Youtube)DON’T MISS

Katie also previously explained further how the song took over a year and a half to finish. She said: “It was one of those moments where you hear artists talking about songs they get in dreams or in the middle of the night. I was like ‘wow, what an interesting subject matter to kind of pop into the head’ and I didn’t do anything with it for about a year-and-a-half.

“Then all of a sudden at the very, very end of making my album, I literally had two days left in the recording studio with my producer, Dr Luke. We just said, ‘we’re gonna finish it—it’s so catchy because it won’t get out of our heads.'”