Her lyrics may say she was once “voted most likely to end up on the back of a milk box drink,” but Katy Perry is definitely not going to be missing in action anytime soon.

With a string of instant pop anthems like “I Kissed a Girl,” “Hot N’ Cold,” and the brand new, and more heartbreaking, “Thinking of You,” Perry has taken the world by storm since the summer 2008 release of her debut album, “One of the Boys.”

In less than a year, Perry has earned the praise of none other than the Queen of Pop herself, Madonna; a Grammy nomination; and platinum sales, not to mention a doll made in her likeness — fashioned after the one in the video for her cheeky ode to a particularly metrosexual ex, “Ur So Gay.”

So how will Perry top herself in 2009? Well, for starters, she’s about to embark on her first solo tour, which will skip Indianapolis, but hit the House of Blues in Chicago on March 26.

She promises lots of eye candy at the show, dubbed the “Hello Katy” tour, and hopes to connect with fans by choosing smaller venues. “It’s important for me to be myself and be accessible,” said Perry. “If I want to get close to the audiences, there won’t be big barricades. My mom always said to, ‘Leave them wanting more.’ I feel like I might just do that.”

On Feb. 8, Perry will do an interactive performance with fans at the Grammys, where she’s been nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for “I Kissed a Girl.”

Perry said each song on “One of the Boys” stems from real-life experiences. “That’s the only way they go around in my head,” she said. “They all stem from a situation in my life, a relationship, a friend or a feeling I was going through. I co-write, but nobody tells me what to say. I’m very aggressive about my lyrics.”

So why then, did she pick Cherry ChapStick for her ode to same-sex kissing?

“Cherry ChapStick is kitsch, and kitsch is kind of my middle name,” Perry said. “You can’t sing ‘the taste of regular ChapStick’ — that sounds awful. Cherry ChapStick is sweet and innocent and the whole world can sing along with it.”

Achieving fame with a song about kissing a girl is somewhat surprising for a woman who was raised by two strict pastor parents who wouldn’t even let her watch music videos while growing up in California.

“I wasn’t exposed to anything,” Perry said. “I was in my own little world. At 17, I hit the wall and decided there was a much bigger world to explore, and I’ve never looked back.”

Perry said she would be thrilled if she sold out every venue on the tour — “that would be the cherry on top” — but most importantly, she hopes her fans are surprised by her “super advantageous” stage shenanigans.

Patrick Roland, Indy.com correspondent