By Abby Hassler

“Oh, how I want to break free,” Queen’s Freddie Mercury sings in the band’s 1984 hit “I Want to Break Free.”

For Katy Perry, who was raised in a highly conservative, religious home, listening to the iconic British operatic rock band for the first time gave her the courage she needed to pursue her dreams in the music industry.

Related: Orlando Bloom Confirms He is Still Friends with Katy Perry

In a recent interview with Vogue, Perry explained how she discovered Queen when she was 15 and was inspired by the Mercury, the group’s sexually provocative lead singer and cultural icon.

“I had never heard such an imaginative explanation of how to live,” Perry revealed. “That was my first perspective on that world, and I just loved it. I felt so free and accepted.”