Katy Perry Picks Death Over Celibacy

By Brian Orloff

01/22/2009 at 04:35 PM EST

She had a hit – and a Grammy nomination – with a song called "I Kissed a Girl." So, who would expect Katy Perry to abstain from all things amorous?

"I am not going to be celibate," Perry, 24, said with a laugh during a conference call with reporters on Thursday. "That was a joke, and any fine journalist would have got that."

Perry was referring to an interview she gave in which she said she had taken a vow of celibacy in 2009 after splitting with rocker boyfriend Travis McCoy.

"Please," she now says, "celibacy for the whole year? I'd rather die."

Still, the singer, who describes herself as a "prankster and a jokester," says she may be less active.

"I guess I am just going to be looking for the right one," she says.

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