Katy Perry's recent musical endeavors have faced significant challenges, with her new single "Watch It Burn" failing to make an impact on major streaming charts and a scheduled festival performance being canceled hours before its start.
The pop-rock track "Watch It Burn," intended to mark a return to Perry's musical roots, did not enter the top 200 of Spotify's global or U.S. streaming charts following its release. Its highest charted position to date has been No. 127 in Brazil. This performance is reportedly worse than her previous single, "Bandaids," which debuted at No. 101 on the global Spotify chart before dropping off.
Despite promotional efforts including a music video and performances at festivals like Rock in Rio Lisboa and O Son do Camiño, the song has struggled to connect with audiences. Perry described the song in an interview as a result of her "wrestling with my darkness" after a "tough year," expressing a newfound permission to feel and express anger.
Perry, once a dominant figure in pop music, has experienced difficulties with recent releases. Her last two studio albums, "Smile" (2020) and "143" (2024), did not perform well on the charts. Several of her recent singles, including "Bandaids" and "Lifetimes," failed to appear on the Billboard Hot 100. Her 2024 single "Woman's World" peaked briefly at No. 63 on the Hot 100 but received mixed reactions from fans and critics.
Festival Cancellation
Separately, Perry was forced to cancel her headlining set at the Werchter Boutique festival in Belgium on Saturday due to impending inclement weather and crowd safety concerns. The cancellation was mandated by the government. Perry shared on Instagram that she had "no choice" but to pull out of the performance, expressing her disappointment and prioritizing the safety of attendees.
"Sadly my set @WerchterBoutique tonight can't happen due to a government mandated cancellation because of the incoming inclement weather and crowd safety concerns," she wrote. "I am just as unhappy as you are. This is beyond my control and the safety of attendees is the main priority."
Fans were informed of the cancellation shortly before her scheduled performance. The festival organizers cited severe thunderstorms as the reason for the government-mandated cancellation to ensure a safe departure for all visitors.
Despite the recent struggles of new material, some of Perry's older songs have seen a resurgence in streams, driven by viral success on social media platforms like TikTok. Her 2011 single "The One That Got Away" has accumulated over 1.6 billion streams on Spotify, and "Last Friday Night" is also experiencing renewed popularity on the platform.