Rebecca Black: Where Is the ‘Friday’ Singer Today?

Rebecca Black is making headlines again. On the tenth anniversary of her much-maligned earworm “Friday,” Black released a remix of the song with Big Freedia and 3OH3!. Black told USA Today that the last decade has had its ups and downs for her, but that she’s determined to cling to the good. “My relationship with ‘Friday’ has taken quite the journey over the past 10 years, which makes sense as I’ve looked back,” Black said.

Black, who is still making music and is a YouTuber, has spoken in the past about the bullying that came after the release of “Friday” and how it contributed to some significant depression. “The way that I feel about that song has really changed,” she continued. “I’ve done a lot of work to heal from the more painful parts of what that experience was for me. I get so many comments, and it’s so surprising to me how many people have such a genuine, nostalgic love for it.

Black wanted the video to be nostalgic, while also showing her growth as an artist (and to remind people that the record went gold). “I have really done a lot of work to find my voice as an artist and find what I have to say now that I’m 23 and not 13,” she said. “This whole project really allowed me to just kind of take those reins back in a way that I hadn’t and to just have fun with it, honestly.”

“I hope that this (music video) shows that you can turn out OK,” she continued. “I don’t constantly have this weight that I’m carrying around with me everywhere. I’m just treating it as something that’s been a really fun project and something that, while it isn’t the thing that is going to define me forever, it’s definitely a part of my story. So why not take that and have fun with it?”

On the 9th anniversary of the song in 2020, Black got candid on her Instagram account about what she went through after “Friday” came out. “9 years ago today a music video for a song called “friday” was uploaded to the internet,” she wrote. “Above all things, i just wish i could go back and talk to my 13 year old self who was terribly ashamed of herself and afraid of the world. to my 15 year old self who felt like she had nobody to talk to about the depression she faced. to my 17 year old self who would get to school only to get food thrown at her and her friends. to my 19 year old self who had almost every producer/songwriter tell me they’d never work with me. hell, to myself a few days ago who felt disgusting when she looked in the mirror! i’m trying to remind myself more and more that every day is a new opportunity to shift your reality and lift your spirit. you are not defined by any one choice or thing. time heals and nothing is finite. it’s a process that’s never too late to begin. and so, here we go! this might be a weird thing to post but the honesty feels good if nothing else.”