When we talk about TikTok’s summer songs, we refer to the platform’s most popular tracks “according to their engagement level during the summer measurement period.” In other words, the songs most used by users. With Katy Perry, Mac Miller, and Lenny Kravitz in the top three, nostalgia has emerged as the real winner.
The mega-viral hit ‘The One That Got Away’ began to gain traction as early as May, and a few days ago TikTok crowned it the platform’s number one summer song globally. It had appeared in more than 42 million videos, amassing the astonishing 55 billion views. Since its resurgence, the track has kept climbing.
‘The One That Got Away’ was the sixth single from ‘Teenage Dream’ and the only one of them not to reach No. 1 on the Hot 100. Fifteen years later, it still hasn’t, but at least Katy Perry can be said to have gotten that off her chest, with the song currently sitting at No. 4 in Spotify’s Global Top 50, after the drop of ‘Beauty and a Beat’.
“I’ve never had so many listeners and I’m very grateful for it,” the artist has said, who currently ranks No. 13 on Spotify’s global artist chart with 90 million monthly listeners.
Mac Miller and Ty Dolla $ign hold the No. 2 spot on the TikTok list thanks to the song ‘Cinderella’, released in 2016 as part of the album ‘The Divine Feminine’. On the other hand, Lenny Kravitz completes the nostalgia circle with the viral ‘It Ain’t Over ’Til It’s Over’, originally released in 1991.
If there’s one thing these tracks have in common, it’s also the type of videos they’ve appeared in, with all of them serving as the soundtrack to millions of clips recalling past relationships and breakups. “I’ve been waiting my whole life for this moment,” is the key line from Mac Miller’s track.
However, the rest of the list is made up of “current” songs. ‘Earrings’ by Malcolm Todd, now in Spotify’s Global Top 3, has been the fourth most-used song this summer on TikTok, despite being released in 2024. Following this are ‘Ghetto Love Story’ by BabyChiefDoit, ‘End of August’ by Noah Kahan, ‘Spend Dat’ by Yung Miami, and ‘Self Aware’ by Temper City, an Israeli group that is currently in the Global Top 8 of the platform.
The list ends with two songs that will be familiar to people who don’t use TikTok daily: ‘Dai Dai’ by Shakira and Burna Boy, and ‘DANCE…’ by Slayyyter. The track that has also been the official song of the 2026 World Cup, going viral through choreo recreations and tributes to different national teams, is also the No. 1 summer song on TikTok in Spain.
The Summer Songs of 2026 on TikTok:
1. Katy Perry – The One That Got Away
2. Mac Miller – Cinderella
3. Lenny Kravitz – It Ain’t Over ’Til It’s Over
4. Malcolm Todd – Earrings
5. BabyChiefDoit – Ghetto Love Story
6. Noah Kahan – End of August
7. Yung Miami – Spend Dat
8. Temper City – Self Aware
9. Shakira & Burna Boy – Dai Dai
10. Slayyyter – DANCE…
