Rebecca Black has announced that she’s releasing a remix of her viral track “Friday” to celebrate its tenth anniversary.
The remix is out on the song’s initial release date, Wednesday February 10 (sadly, it doesn’t fall on a Friday), and is said to include a number of collaborators who are yet to be revealed by Black. She also pointed out that the single is now certified gold in the US.
“This week FRIDAY turns 10 AND has gone GOLD,” she said on Twitter. “Been cooking up a very special remix featuring some iconic people……….. it drops on the 10 year anniversary TOMORROW NIGHT @ MIDNIGHT.”
The “Friday” remix will be Black’s second release for the year, following on from her January single, “Girlfriend”. The singer also released a number of singles last year, “Self Sabotage”, “Closer”, and “Alone Together”.
The original release of “Friday” in 2011 was critically ridiculed, described as “the worst song ever” by Yahoo Music, and eventually removed from YouTube (it’s since been re-uploaded). Overnight, Black was subjected to the wrath of a cruel internet mob.
Speaking to Dazed in 2016, the singer said she never expected the song to be heard by anyone except her small circle. “All of a sudden it kind of blew up, and I had to go with it. Of course being that I was so young, it was hard – I can’t lie and say it was easy.” After the song’s release, Black was homeschooled for a while before returning to high school at the age of 15. “It was weird walking into a class and realising everyone knows you but you don’t know anybody,” she revealed.
Three months after the release of “Friday”, Black starred in the video for Katy Perry’s “Last Friday Night”, and has since gone on to carve a successful music career. “My dream has always been to perform and do music,” she told Dazed, “so I just had to see (‘Friday’) as a glitch in the road and I had to, one way or another, get through it, because I wouldn’t let that stop me from being where I wanted to be.”
Last year, the singer reflected on the experience on Twitter. “Nine years ago today, a music video for a song called ‘Friday’ was uploaded to the internet,” Black 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 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!”
Refresh your memory by watching the original video below.