Her debut studio album, Lovestrong (2011), followed soon after and has since been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

[2] Perri also gained recognition for writing and recording "A Thousand Years", the love theme for the film The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 (2012), which appears on the accompanying soundtrack.

The song went on to sell over 10 million copies in the United States, being certified Diamond, and the official music video reached two billion views on YouTube in December 2021.

[7][8] She taught herself how to play guitar as a 16-year-old by watching a videotape of Shannon Hoon from the group Blind Melon performing on VH1.

She later moved back to Los Angeles, working as a waitress at the Melrose Cafe during the day and recording at night.

[9][12] Perri's song "Jar of Hearts" was featured on So You Think You Can Dance during the show of June 30, 2010 in a performance by Billy Bell and Kathryn McCormick.

Perri released her single "A Thousand Years", which appeared on the soundtrack of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1, on October 18, 2011.

Perri also announced in San Juan, Puerto Rico during her Lovestrong Tour that she had begun to work on her second studio album.

[citation needed] On August 1, 2012, she announced via Facebook that A Very Merry Perri Christmas EP would be released on October 16, 2012.

[23] In 2013, Perri began regularly tweeting and posting pictures on Instagram regarding her second studio album's progress using the hashtag "#albumtwo".

In February, Perri partnered with the non-profit organization To Write Love on Her Arms on a three-stop tour to raise money for the charity and debuted a brand new song from her second studio album, titled "I Believe", at the shows.

[29] In June 2016, it was announced that Perri would feature on the title track of Lindsey Stirling's third studio album, Brave Enough, which came out on August 19, 2016.

[36] Speaking to Philip Logan of ClebMix about the single, Perri discussed waiting a year between writing the song and its actual release, stating, "I needed to put an oxygen mask on myself first before I could then venture back out into the world to try to help others breathe a little easier too.

"[37] Describing the timeline of the album's conception, Perri reveals that writing sessions actually began in 2017 but mentions that she felt there was "something missing."

In the interview, Perri discusses her experience working with British singer-songwriter Luke Sital-Singh, crediting him with the album's artistic direction.

She states, "We ended up writing this song called ‘Blue,’ and as soon as it was finished, my artistic instinct kicked in, and I saw the whole vision for how I wanted the record to be.

[39] In August of 2024, Perri announced that she was in the process of writing a children's book based on her 2011 song, "A Thousand Years".