Friday

Rebecca Black grew up in Anaheim Hills, California, where she studied dance, auditioned for school shows, attended music summer camps, and began singing publicly in 2008 after joining the patriotic group Celebration USA. In the fall of 2010, the eighth grader's mother, Georgina Kelly, paid Ark Music $2,000 for a package that included a choice of two pre-written songs so that she could gain real-world experience in the music business. Black later explained to Chris Lee of The Daily Beast that she chose the more innocent "Friday" as, "The other song was about adult love – I haven't experienced that yet. 'Friday' is about hanging out with friends, having fun. I felt like it was my personality in that song."

As part of the package, Ark Music shot a video in January 2011 at Black's father's house, with friends and family as extras. The clip became a viral hit, starting on Friday, March 11, 2011, when the video's view count on YouTube jumped from around 3,000 views to 18 million a week later. Reviewers and bloggers queued up to pen derogatory comments centered on the video's amusingly amateurish production values, the song's innocent and simple lyrical content and Black's auto-tuned vocals. Yahoo asked straight up, "Is YouTube sensation Rebecca Black's 'Friday' the worst song ever?" "Those hurtful comments really shocked me," the 13-year-old singer told Chris Lee. "At times, it feels like I'm being cyberbullied."

Despite the universal derision heaped upon the song, it has to be said the songwriters Clarence Jey and Patrice Wilson have a fair songwriting pedigree. Jey's resume includes music composed for television, such as the 2008 Emmy-winning show Growing Up Creepie.