Katy Perry talks about "The One That Got Away" going viral 15 years after its release and her upcoming new single "Watch It Burn," which is coming later this month. NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 08: Katy Perry speaks onstage during "Katy Perry: The Lifetimes Tour" Premiere during the 2026 Tribeca Festival at BMCC Theater on June 08, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tribeca Festival)

Getty Images for Tribeca Festival

For several years now, the prevailing narrative around Katy Perry has been that one of the biggest pop stars in the world had somehow lost her magic. She was, for more than a decade, essentially unstoppable. Between 2008 and 2013, Perry racked up nine No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, dominated top 40 radio, and produced singles that weren’t just commercially successful, but culture-shaping moments.

Then, slowly, things began to change. Her past several albums did not reach the same heights as her biggest releases, and the story around Perry shifted from world-conquering hitmaker to a star on the downswing – one whose latest singles and albums all underperformed, and things weren’t looking up.

Then, as can happen in the entertainment world, everything changed in a moment.

“The nature of the internet is really interesting,” Perry said during an interview at the Tribeca Film Festival premiere of her concert film, Katy Perry: The Lifetimes Tour - Live From Paris. “You can try to be viral all you want and set yourself on fire, but literally the smallest, silliest nothing becomes viral, and it’s like, okay, well, the wave is coming, so ride it.”

The wave, in this case, is attached to “The One That Got Away.” The single was first released in September 2011 from Perry’s blockbuster album Teenage Dream, and recently, it has gone viral on TikTok more than a decade after it first became a smash. All the renewed attention has translated into real consumption, and this spring, the track either debuted on or returned to charts all around the world. All of a sudden, and seemingly out of nowhere, a decade-old tune became Perry’s biggest win in years.

“The One That Got Away” finally reached Billboard’s worldwide tallies, which didn’t exist during its initial promotional run. The song has thus far peaked at No. 31 on the Billboard Global 200 and No. 25 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. The former ranking lists the most-consumed tracks in the world, while the latter does the same, but with all consumption from American listeners removed. Both tallies take into account streams and sales, and the revived single now stands the highest-rising hit of Perry’s career.

Perry’s comeback is especially striking considering what was happening with her career shortly before the resurgence of “The One That Got Away.” 143, released in 2024, became Perry’s first album to fail to produce a top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. “Woman’s World” peaked at No. 63, while several follow-ups failed to chart at all. In 2025, Perry returned the one-off tune “Bandaids,” but even that missed the Billboard Hot 100 – a disappointment that, only a decade prior, would have been essentially unimaginable for one of the world’s most reliable pop stars.

Now, a 15-year-old song has done what some of Perry’s newest releases could not. It has returned her to lofty positions on several Billboard rankings and introduced younger listeners to one of the most successful pop albums of the twenty-first century. Teenage Dream has enjoyed a resurgence and has climbed as well, thanks to the popularity of one of its singles.

“It’s amazing,” Perry said of the resurgence. “I mean, I’m grateful I get to wake up every day. Period. Grateful that this is my job. I just have a big, intentional gratitude always, surrounding me at all times. This is a cherry on top.”

“The One That Got Away” has always held a special place within Perry’s catalog. The song was released as the sixth official single from Teenage Dream, and by the time it was pushed, the Grammy nominee had already made history with the album. The set’s first five singles — “California Gurls” with Snoop Dogg, “Teenage Dream,” “Firework,” “E.T.” with Ye (formerly Kanye West) and “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)” — all reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

That winning streak made Teenage Dream only the second album in history, following Michael Jackson’s Bad, to send five songs all the way to No. 1 on the most competitive songs tally in the U.S. “The One That Got Away” nearly helped Perry go one step further and break Jackson’s record, but it ultimately peaked at No. 3. There was a time when that position was disappointing, even though a top three placement would count as a career-defining success for almost any other artist.

Perry quickly saw what was happening with “The One That Got Away” and worked hard to, as she says, “lean in.” She released a director’s cut of the music video, which originally premiered more than a decade ago. She also recently dropped her first greatest hits album, The Ones That Got the Plays, which clearly borrows its title from the single and which managed short runs on charts in a number of nations, peaking at No. 117 on the Billboard 200.

Perry seems to see the virality of “The One That Got Away” not so much as a reminder of her past success, but as an opportunity to jumpstart her flagging career. “If I get to introduce new audiences to my music, even it being, you know, years old, imagine if they’ll stay for the second song, which is the new song coming soon,” she said.

Perry’s next single, “Watch It Burn,” was announced recently and is expected to arrive at the end June. Weeks later, the singer’s concert film, Katy Perry: The Lifetimes Tour - Live From Paris, is expected to become available, though an exact release plan has not yet been announced. By that time, “The One That Got Away” will likely have slipped on the charts, and perhaps disappeared entirely – though Perry may be busy with the next chapter, one made possible by an unexpected viral surge.

ForbesKaty Perry Climbs To New Career Peaks On Several Charts At Once