Sara Bareilles and Katy Perry aren't rivals, despite rumors to the contrary. Earlier this year, music critics argued that Perry's "Roar" sounded like a ripoff of Bareilles' previously released hit "Brave." While the controversy died down quickly, the feud was fun in theory, Bareilles joked on the Thursday, Dec. 19, episode of E!'s Chelsea Lately.
"Honestly, it's so funny when that all came up. I mean, I was getting phone calls and there was just this barrage of chatter online," Bareilles recalled. "I've known Katy a really long time—we both came up here in L.A. together and played a hotel café together. We shared a hotel room at Sundance when we were on one of these hotel café trips. So she's been a friend of mine for a really long time."
At one point, Bareilles recalled, Perry "reached out and she was like, 'There's all this crazy noise about this and I just want you to know that I think your song is great and I wish you the best.'"
"I thought it was misguided energy," the singer-songwriter continued. "People were trying to create conflict and rivalry and anger, but there really wasn't any. It's not really my bag to be competitive. And honestly, at the end of the day, it was just really good for me because she's this mega amazing star and…"
"Now you're going to win a Grammy," host Chelsea Handler interrupted.
In addition to going head-to-head with Perry in the Best Pop Solo Performance category, Bareilles is up for Album of the Year in 2014.
"I can't stress to you enough how much I did not know that [I would be nominated]. Maybe I should try to play it slightly cooler," Bareilles admitted. "I wasn't watching, I wasn't paying attention—I absolutely did not believe it. I was in Vegas [because] I was singing 'Brave' at a NASCAR event and I was getting ready in the bathroom and my manager called and he said, 'Album of the Year.' I said, 'You are sh--ting me!' and I ran around my hotel. It's so awesome. I could not be more grateful and I'm so proud. It's just awesome."