Pop star Katy Perry sees her 2011 ballad “The One That Got Away” crowned TikTok’s Global Song of the Summer 2026. The song now holds more than 1.8 billion Spotify streams, yet another milestone.
Users built videos around nostalgia, covers, TV edits, and their own “one that got away” stories. Perry joined in with a playful clip, and she told fans it feels surreal to see the song have a moment so many years later. Her team also released a director’s cut of the video with new narration by Stevie Nicks. The song returned to the Billboard Global 200, where it peaked at number 23.
Perry co-wrote the song with Max Martin and others for her album “Teenage Dream,” and it came out as the sixth single. She said in 2017 that singer Josh Groban inspired it. The lyrics look back on a young couple and ask what life might have been. A reference to a famous country love story gives the song its bittersweet tone.
The revival changed Perry’s year too. She released a six-track EP in April called “Thinking of The One That Got Away,” which gathers songs that went viral in early 2026, including an acoustic version of the song that runs 4:19. She performed it live at the Hotel Cafe in Los Angeles in May.
For fans across Africa who grew up on the 2010s pop wave, this return feels familiar. Rewind to 2011 with “The One That Got Away” and tell us who is yours in the comments.
