Talented artist Katy Perry’s 2011 ballad “The One That Got Away” wins a second life as TikTok’s Song of the Summer 2026.
TikTok named it the Global Song of the Summer, and the track now holds more than 1.8 billion Spotify streams. Users built videos around nostalgia, covers, TV edits, and their own “one that got away” stories. Perry joined in with a playful clip of her own, and she told fans it feels surreal to see the song have a moment so many years later. Her team then released a director’s cut of the video with new narration by Stevie Nicks. The song also returned to the Billboard Global 200, where it peaked at number 23.
The story behind it helps explain the pull. Perry co-wrote the song with Max Martin and others for her album “Teenage Dream,” and it was released as the sixth single. She said in 2017 that it was inspired by singer Josh Groban. The lyrics look back on a young couple and ask what life might have been if things had gone another way. A reference to a famous country love story gives the song its bittersweet tone. Listeners of all ages see their own first love in it.
Too, the revival changed Perry’s year. She also released a six-track EP in April called “Thinking of The One That Got Away” that 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?
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