Katy Perry superfan from Alberta basks in newfound fame, puts Medicine Hat on the map

Braiden Palumbo takes a selfie with popstar Katy Perry onstage during the Vancouver leg of her Lifetimes Tour as shown in this handout photo. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout)

A Katy Perry superfan is basking in newfound fame after a video of him meeting the pop star garnered nearly a million views online.

Perry, who is in Canada performing several shows on her Lifetimes Tour, invited concertgoer Braiden Palumbo on stage during a stop in Vancouver.

Palumbo travelled all the way from Redcliff, Alta., to attend the show. Now, his neighbours are recognizing him from the cute interaction, which somewhat schooled Perry on small-town Prairie life.

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“People come into the gas bar all the time and they don’t even buy anything, they just want to take a picture with me,” he said on Tuesday. “Growing up in a small town, only the people in the small town know who you are.”

In the video, Palumbo tells Perry he is from Medicine Hat, which is a small city in southeastern Alberta that’s very close to his hometown. The animated pop star looks bewildered and plays to the cheering crowd, saying she needs “to study better geography.”

“Your hats are filled with medicine? Well you know for us Americans you are our medicine hats, we love it,” she says jokingly.

From there, Perry was in for another lesson when the 20-year-old reveals he works at a Co-op gas bar.

“I’m sorry but you guys are way advanced, what is a Co-op gas bar?” she asks.

When the fan explains it is just a gas station, Perry goes on to say “it sounds really fancy.”

Perry, who also made news this week after dining out with former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sparking romance rumours, is known for interacting with fans during her extravagant performances.

Palumbo said he is grateful to have had that shared moment with Perry, and to put a small town on the map.

“I am a huge Katy Perry fan for as long as I can remember,” Palumbo said.

When Perry began calling people on stage, Palumbo didn’t think he would be one of them. That was, until she started walking towards audience members who were further back in the section he was in.

“I knew that that was my moment to shine,” he recalls. He said all he could think of doing to get her attention was raise his arms and scream will full force.

“I was just screaming, ‘Pick me, Pick me!’ You need to notice me,” he recalls.

The video was originally shared by @vancouver.alex on TikTok and has garnered over 750,000 views since being posted four days ago, leaving fans desperately questioning if Perry will visit Medicine Hat in future tours.

Palumbo has also since changed his profile picture on Instagram to a selfie of him with Perry.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 30, 2025.

Fatima Raza, The Canadian Press