It was instantly polarizing when it arrived in 2011, and 15 years later it’s still going strong.
Rebecca Black’s single “Friday” has been RIAA-certified Platinum in the U.S., signifying sales of 1 million units. Initially derided as “the worst song ever” and “hilariously dreadful,” “Friday” is now seen as an iconic and nostalgic moment in pop culture.
Much of the negative reaction to “Friday” came from the fact that Rebecca’s mom paid a company $4,000 to create a song and video for the then-13-year-old Rebecca to sing. That, plus the fact that the lyrics were often hilariously goofy and the song was heavily Auto-Tuned, made it ripe for criticism and parody. Still, a week after its release, it had already been viewed more than 30 million times on YouTube. To date, it’s garnered over 180 million views.
Meanwhile, Rebecca managed to survive all the hate that the internet could muster in 2011. She came out as queer in 2020, released her debut album in 2023 and is now recognized as a “pop-disrupting Mexican-American singer, songwriter, DJ and cult-followed queer icon,” according to a press release. She even opened for Katy Perry on Katy’s Lifetimes Tour last year.
Rebecca’s upcoming sophomore album, Age of the Exhibitionist, is due Sept. 4. She’ll kick off a North American headlining trek — called Exhibitionism on Tour: Rebecca Black as: Miss Delicious — on Sept. 23. Tickets are on sale now.
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