Katy Perry resurfaces

Katy Perry has a 2011 single climbing back into feeds in 2026, and it is not a remix, reissue, or reunion track. “The One That Got Away” has started appearing on Billboard’s global charts again more than 14 years after release, which means the song is being streamed at scale right now, not just remembered fondly. (forbes.com) The song came out on September 30, 2011, as the sixth and final single from *Teenage Dream*, the album that turned Katy Perry into a radio machine in 2010 and 2011. On the Billboard Hot 100, “The One That Got Away” peaked at No. 3, making it the only *Teenage Dream* single that did not hit No. 1 in the United States. (wikipedia.org) That near-miss matters because *Teenage Dream* was already in record territory by then. Billboard reported in August 2011 that the album became the first in Mainstream Top 40 chart history to produce five No. 1 songs, and later coverage noted the album tied Michael Jackson’s five-No. 1 Hot 100 mark from *Bad*. (billboard.com, billboard.com) “The One That Got Away” also never disappeared from the catalog the way a true forgotten song does. By 2021, reporting on new Recording Industry Association of America certifications said the track had reached five-times platinum in the United States, which means at least 5 million certified units under the modern sales-and-streaming formula. (digital.abcaudio.com) The original video has kept the song visible too. Katy Perry’s official “The One That Got Away” video, directed by Floria Sigismondi and featuring Diego Luna, premiered in November 2011 and still sits on YouTube as a permanent discovery engine for new listeners who were in elementary school, or not born yet, when *Teenage Dream* first ruled radio. (wikipedia.org, youtube.com) What changed in 2026 is not the song itself but the way people find songs. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry said in its 2025 global report that paid streaming now accounts for the majority of recorded music revenue worldwide, which keeps old hits one tap away from new listeners instead of buried in an out-of-print compact disc aisle. (ifpi.org) Short-form platforms have made that effect stronger by turning a 15-second hook into a new first impression. Luminate said its 2024 year-end report tracks music consumption alongside social media and gaming because discovery no longer starts only with radio programmers or album campaigns; it often starts with a clip that sends people back to the full track. (luminatedata.com) “The One That Got Away” is built almost perfectly for that kind of second life. The chorus lands fast, the lyrics lock onto concrete images like a Mustang, matching tattoos, Radiohead, and Johnny Cash, and the story is simple enough that a listener can understand the heartbreak before the clip ends. (wikipedia.org) That is why an old pop single can look new again in 2026 without changing a note. A song released during the *Teenage Dream* era can reenter global chart conversation now because streaming keeps the catalog open, social video keeps resurfacing the hook, and a track that stopped at No. 3 in 2011 can still find a bigger audience years later. (forbes.com, ifpi.org)