25 Songs Turning 10 Years Old in 2019

Ah, 2009. When Lady Gaga was still wearing dresses made of meat and releasing super provocative music videos to push the envelope, when soccer moms were jamming along to Kesha brushing her teeth with a bottle of jack, when everyone was upset Adam Lambert lost American Idol, when Miley Cyrus first tried to be seen as something other than Hannah Montana, and it wasn’t considered problematic to sing along to Taylor Swift’s country-pop crossover hits. What a magical time to be alive! Well, get ready to feel old because in case it hadn’t already hit you, 2009 was already a full decade ago which means that all of our favorite tunes from that era are officially 10 years old. And if you’re like me, most of these songs are still in your music library because they never stopped being GOOD (for the most part). Fasten your seatbelts and hold onto your hats as we take a walk down memory lane through 25 songs that were popular in 2009 (well, at least in my brain) and are turning 10 this year.

“When I Look at You” – Miley Cyrus

Wow, the rumors are true. It’s already been 10 years since Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth dreamily stared into each others’ eyes in The Last Song and Miley took an honest stab at adult pop music for the first time and you sang along to every word and pretended to miss a lover that didn’t even exist… ah, youth. And yes, this song is still beautiful.

“It’s Alright, It’s OK” – Ashley Tisdale

How appropriate that Ashley Tisdale’s best song is turning 10 the same year that Tisdale is releasing new music for the first time since 2009?! As long as you’re here, go stream “It’s Alright, It’s OK” to remind yourself how good it still is and then go check out Tisdale’s new songs “Voices in My Head” and “Love Me & Let Me Go” from her upcoming new album Symptoms.

“About You Now” – Miranda Cosgrove

Remember when everyone in pop music thought that Miranda Cosgrove (former Nickelodeon teen star best remembered for iCarly) was going to be the next big thing? No? Well, it was brief. She had a few songs that were good then and still good now (if you’re into cheesy pop, which why wouldn’t you be?)

“Battlefield” – Jordin Sparks

I miss Jordin Sparks! I remember buying a physical copy of her debut album after she won American Idol and—fun fact—“Battlefield” was the first song I ever bought on the iTunes Store. They don’t make pop songs like this anymore. Go stream Jordin Sparks’ music even though she fell from relevance probably right after this song came out.

“Right Round” – Flo Rida feat. Kesha

I have such vivid memories of so many kids being obsessed with this song and their parents informing them with a pep in their step that it was a cover of another popular song from the ‘80s—“You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)” by Dead or Alive. Not to mention it was the world’s introduction to a girl named Kesha, and that was only the beginning.

“Here We Go Again” – Demi Lovato

It’s honestly a bit hard for me to wrap my head around the concept that this song is already 10 years old since I remember the day that it came out and I don’t think there’s been a day since where I haven’t stopped listening to it.

“Naturally” – Selena Gomez & The Scene

Remember when this song’s music video was always on Family Channel in between golden-era Disney shows and you thought it was so creative and imaginative that you watched it on YouTube about four more times later that day? No? Well, you would’ve had to have been a late Canadian millennial to understand any of that. This song is also still very good and should rank among Selena Gomez’s best songs (also, RIP “The Scene.” I wonder whatever happened to those guys.)

“21 Guns” – Green Day

Ugh, 2009 emo music was always the BEST. I still don’t know what’s worth fighting for when it’s not worth dying for, honestly.

“Whataya Want from Me” – Adam Lambert

Do you think everyone who boycotted American Idol after Adam Lambert didn’t win could have predicted that he would have quickly fallen from relevance the year after his debut album came out? Pretty sure this is the only song the average pop listener remembers Lambert for, even though he did have some other good songs from that first album (go check out “If I Had You” too while you’re here). Also, I didn’t dislike Adam Lambert when he was on Idol but I always loved Kris Allen who ended up winning that year merely because I thought he was super cute even if I was light years away from putting that feeling into words. I even bought a physical copy of Kris Allen’s debut album when it came out and not Adam Lambert’s but this is really all a moot point since Kris Allen is even more irrelevant than Adam Lambert now, as are the majority of Idol winners from the ‘00s.

“Love Drunk” – Boys Like Girls

I was honestly surprised to find that this song was still in my iTunes library. I remember the last time I heard it before now would’ve been when it came on shuffle randomly one day a few years ago and in the midst of rolling my eyes at how cheesy the lyrics and production are now, it’s still really damn catchy. Gotta love a one-hit wonder.

“Replay” – Iyaz

I was probably even more surprised to realize this song was also still in my music library since I guarantee I hadn’t listened to it since at least 2010—probably since I remember it being the only song anyone ever listened to for several months in 2009. My iPod is still stuck on replay, TBH.

“Whatcha Say” – Jason Derulo

Wait, no—this song is probably the only song I remember anyone ever listening to for quite a long time in 2009. If I had to pick only one song from that year that I would describe as “sounding like 2009,” it would probably be this one.

“Fireflies” – Owl City

I remember so many people both simultaneously making fun of Owl City while also buying his album when “Fireflies” was popular—because it was THAT song. It was weird but somehow oddly catchy and oddly comforting; a total guilty pleasure. It still holds a special place in my heart.

“Bad Romance” – Lady Gaga

Do you even remember how obsessed everyone was with this song when it came out? People like to recall “Just Dance” or “Poker Face” as moments when everyone became obsessed with Gaga, but “Bad Romance” was definitely the moment where it became clear that she was here to stay—and pop music hasn’t been the same since.

“TiK ToK” – Kesha

Ah, “TiK ToK.” This song somehow feels both younger and older than merely a decade. It introduced us to Ke$ha as a solo artist (who can’t come to the phone right now because she’s dead) and also ushered in a new era of electropop, which hasn’t left the charts since. This song hit number one across the board because it worked as the kind of catchy party song we were into in 2009, but unlike our other favorite pop queens of the era, it didn’t feel like Ke$ha had much else to offer. That all changed when she dropped the dollar-sign from her name in 2014 and embarked on a landmark lawsuit against producer Dr. Luke, who had both signed her and produced the majority of her first two albums, alleging physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. Amidst it all, Kesha re-emerged with her third album Rainbow in 2017 (5+ years since her electropop hits dominated pop charts) which powerfully and eloquently reclaimed her own narrative, singlehandedly creating one of this generation’s most powerful success and comeback stories. “TiK ToK” is still retroactively catchy, but its appeal doesn’t really hold up since it’s hard to enjoy it the same way knowing everything that took place both during and after.

“3” – Britney Spears

This is probably Britney’s worst single yet it was still the era where the mainstream still cared about Britney Spears so we downloaded it and sang along merely because it was Britney.

“Evacuate the Dancefloor” – Cascada

No joke—a clip of this song’s music video popped up on my Twitter feed a few months ago and I honestly did not remember which song it was. I had to wait until the chorus and even then, my memory was still a bit foggy and I don’t know HOW that’s possible considering I was very much obsessed with “Evacuate the Dancefloor” in 2009. Doesn’t really hold up as much as you’d like it to but Cascada’s earlier hit “Everytime We Touch” is still an absolute BOP so go listen to that again instead.

“Bulletproof” – La Roux

Another prime example of something everyone was obsessed with for a hot minute until something equally club-friendly came along. La Roux did manage to bring synth-pop back into the mainstream for that hot minute, though.

“Halo” – Beyoncé

Remember when “Single Ladies” came out in the later half of 2008 and everyone lost their minds so by the time “Halo” came out as a single in 2009 everyone and their mother was fully obsessed with Beyoncé again? Jeez, that obsession still hasn’t stopped.

“Already Gone” – Kelly Clarkson

It’s a shame that this song would be better remembered for its stir of controversy rather than its excellent production and Clarkson’s flawless vocals. In a nutshell, Kelly Clarkson teamed up with Ryan Tedder to write “Already Gone” for her fourth studio album All I Ever Wanted. Tedder, record producer, songwriter, and lead singer of OneRepublic, had already co-written the song “Halo” for Beyoncé. Clarkson later claimed that there were distinct similarities in the productions of both “Halo” and “Already Gone,” most notably in the melancholy piano, loud drums, and handclaps in their backing tracks. Fearing that people would think she’d stolen the song from Beyoncé, Clarkson confronted Tedder and tried to have the song removed from All I Ever Wanted, but it was too late to make any changes. She also tried to prevent RCA from releasing it as a single out of respect for Beyoncé, and later claimed they released it without her consent. Tedder was reportedly “absolutely livid” with Clarkson’s allegations, claiming that the songs were “entirely different” and later stating, “If I was going around and selling the same track to the biggest artists in the world, how long would my career last? It’s ludicrous. [...] I’m not an idiot. I’m not the kinda guy who’s gonna bust my ass for ten years to try and pull a fast one on Beyoncé or Kelly.” Clarkson and Tedder continued feuding into 2010, with Tedder saying he was no longer angry over the situation and Clarkson saying she wanted to work with new, low-profile producers for next album, and admitted to being blackmailed into working with certain big pop producers over the years by her label (*cough* Dr. Luke *cough*). An unreleased electropop song by Clarkson called “Wash, Rinse, Repeat” surfaced on the Internet a few months later which everyone generally agreed was about Tedder, to which he stated he liked the song and said, “I think Kelly speaks her mind regardless of anything. She’s great with lyrics, and I love that she is her own person. She's no puppet.” (Me thinks someone was backpedaling!) It’s a shame “Already Gone” became controversial, because it’s still a great song and is better than “Halo.” I said what I said.

“You Belong With Me” – Taylor Swift

Remember before it was cool to hate Taylor Swift for no reason at all and it was socially acceptable to know all the words to her country-pop crossover hits? Those were the DAYS.

“The Climb” – Miley Cyrus

Miley tried SO HARD to show us that she had so much more to offer as an adult singer and actress (even if this was a song from Hannah Montana: The Movie) but everyone still refused to let her age out of her Disney image—y’know, until she started twerking and licking sledgehammers. Only then did we see her as the adult she’d been trying to tell us she was back in 2009.

“Life After You” – Daughtry

Raise your hand if you miss 2000s alternative pop rock a.k.a. Daughtry’s first two albums!

“You Found Me” – The Fray

I also miss the era when everyone became obsessed with whatever depressing-yet-beautiful alternative rock song they played on Grey’s Anatomy that week (in case you needed an excuse start crying, this song was used when George O’Malley died).

“Empire State of Mind” – Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys

Remember when you used to listen to Jay-Z and Alicia Keys sing about that concrete jungle where dreams are made of while absentmindedly staring out a car window, pretending that you’d actually been to that place before and experienced the magical things they were talking about? No? Just me? OK.

Album Review: Avril Lavigne - 'Head Above Water'

She spent four years out of the spotlight and it’s been almost six years since her last album, but Avril Lavigne is finally back.

While some music fans like myself may have just blindly assumed that Lavigne was taking her sweet time in between albums—especially since she’d been saying new material was coming since 2016—she revealed late last year that she had suffered a particularly debilitating few years since being diagnosed with Lyme disease. Coming off her last tour in 2014, she repeatedly suffered from extreme exhaustion and other symptoms, but her doctors explained it as merely dehydration and overworking herself. As things got worse, she finally went to see a Lyme specialist and it was only then when everything came into focus. While she had revealed her diagnosis to People magazine in April 2015, she had been quietly suffering from the illness for the better part of the last four years. It left Lavigne practically bedridden for two of those years, and at one point she was convinced she was dying. “When you go through something like that, you realize how fulfilling simple things are — things I could do anymore, like being able to get up in the morning and go to the kitchen and grab a cup of coffee,” she told People last week. “It taught me patience; it taught me being more present. That was a beautiful lesson.”

After too many years away from music (marking her first real break from the limelight since she skyrocketed to fame as the Pop Punk Princess in the early 2000s, becoming one of the highest-selling artists of the decade as well as the third highest-selling Canadian artist of all-time, behind only Celine Dion and Shania Twain), Lavigne made her long-awaited return with the release of her song “Head Above Water” last September, the lead single from her upcoming sixth studio album. The song’s lyrics deal heavily with her battle with Lyme disease and describes how she felt when she had essentially believed she was dying. “Music really lifted me up and made me feel better,” she says. “I was able to take a hard time in my life and make the best out of a circumstance that was I was going through … At first I didn’t know I was making an album — I just naturally turned to songwriting in a time of healing.” It also renewed her faith in her higher power. “I’m a very spiritual person, and I definitely did turn to God during that experience.”

With everything she’s been through, including her divorce from her second husband Chad Kroeger (of Nickelback) in 2015, Lavigne’s forthcoming new album was already expected to be an emotional rollercoaster. But Head Above Water is neither a break-up album nor a make-up one (she insists she and Kroeger parted amicably, and she thanks him in the credits for “beginning this album with [her] and seeing it through to the end”). While it may seem easy to assume that in this era Avril Lavigne is her most personal and emotional, this isn’t the first time she’s tossed in some emotional bangers to accompany her pop-punk persona. The Guardian writes, “She sold millions as a teenager, but now the Canadian is nude on her album cover to prove she is a serious singer-songwriter.” It’s not true, and this is far from the first time Avril Lavigne has proven she is a serious singer-songwriter (not to mention that it’s not like she posed nude on the album cover to prove anything, get outta here with that misogyny). It started right from the beginning with her second studio album Under My Skin (2004), an alternative rock and post-grunge effort. In fact, on her fourth studio album Goodbye Lullaby (2011)—following the large pop success of The Best Damn Thing and its highly successful pop singles in 2007—Lavigne was at her most personal and emotional, producing an album of almost entirely acoustic and stripped down ballads that tug at your heartstrings, delivering possibly the best work of her career. But that album received mixed reviews from critics, with many appreciating its introspective nature but criticizing its subdued sound and lyrical content. Two years later in 2013, Lavigne re-emerged with Avril Lavigne, her self-titled fifth studio album, her first and only release under a new deal with Epic Records. The tone was the polar opposite of Goodbye Lullaby, incorporating pop, punk, and rock elements to make an almost entirely upbeat album that was clearly designed to match the sales of her earlier work. If Goodbye Lullaby was introspective and mature, Avril Lavigne was purposely immature and trying too hard to quite literally not let Lavigne grow up for the sake of selling pop music—the songs are good, but it’s hard to listen to “Here’s to Never Growing Up” or “Bitchin’ Summer” without getting a sense of been there, done that.

And now, nearly six years later, we finally have Head Above Water, Lavigne’s much-anticipated sixth studio effort. It’s a wonder if Lavigne could have continued to see large success on any scale if she had again re-emerged with her somewhat “signature” pop-punk songs with immature lyrics for her new album, but that was far from the case. As far as comeback singles go, “Head Above Water” is everything we could have asked for from Avril Lavigne, and even reaffirmed her status as one of Canada’s highest-selling artists of all-time as well as the era-defining star 2000s children remember her best as. In other words, Lavigne might have taken time off, but her legacy didn’t. She followed up with the album’s second single in December, “Tell Me It’s Over,” which will surely go down as one of Lavigne’s best songs. Excellent production with soul vibes reminiscent of Demi Lovato’s Tell Me You Love Me, “Tell Me It’s Over” confirmed that Lavigne wasn’t playing no games with this new album, because she’s got nothing left to lose. Structurally, Head Above Water is very satisfying as an Avril Lavigne album. The first half has some emotional, sometimes melancholy tracks clearly dealing with her personal struggles (a particular highlight is “It Was in Me,” a song about growing up and learning that what we search for to make us feel fulfilled is always within ourselves). But after that, it’s as if the album has popped an antidepressant and we’re reading for some new, upbeat bangers from Lavigne. Another song that will surely go down as one of her best is “Dumb Blonde” (thankfully, the album does not include the atrocious Nicki Minaj version released as a single last week), during which she reminds us to not underestimate her—she’s a babe, she’s a boss, and she’ll be our icon. The production of “Dumb Blonde” is also reminiscent of some of her earlier albums, which is a nice touch for those of us who have been listening to Lavigne for her entire career (if I may borrow a comment from YouTube, “this sounds like the credits of a 2006 movie.” But, if this were 2006, “Dumb Blonde” probably would’ve been produced by Dr. Luke, so I’m grateful it’s not 2006!) It’s refreshing and it’s empowering.

For those of us who have grown up listening to Avril Lavigne, Head Above Water feels like the natural next step for Lavigne in her progressive evolution as an artist. Whatever mood she’s in, she has never sounded so confident or vocally stronger. And it’s a reminder that this has always been the Avril Lavigne we’ve known and loved, who can deliver both upbeat jams and emotionally powerful ballads. “Souvenir” sounds like a sequel to any number of songs on her last album, her half-yodel on “Love Me Insane” is a hook in itself, and “Bigger Wow” is destined to become a summer jam. If anything, Lavigne reminds us on Head Above Water that she’s much more compelling and far less generic as an adult singing with genuine emotion (it is in fact a reminder, because this far from the first time she’s expressed a more mature, introspective side). Turmoil has always given Avril Lavigne some of her best work, and I’m ready to soak up every ounce of this beautiful album she has finally given us. I only hope it won’t be another six years before we hear from her again.

Jeffrey’s favorites from Head Above Water: “Head Above Water,” “Birdie,” “I Fell in Love With the Devil,” “Tell Me It’s Over,” “Dumb Blonde,” “It Was in Me,” “Souvenir,” “Goddess,” and “Bigger Wow”

Always There For You: Why 'Friends' is Still Popular 25 Years Later

On September 22, 1994, NBC aired the pilot of a new television sitcom called Friends. It began just as simply as the title suggests, with five twentysomething friends lounging at a coffeehouse, discussing mundane details about their personal lives. These people don’t even have names for the first few minutes. Then, out of nowhere, Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston) bursts through the doors of Central Perk in a sopping wet wedding dress looking for her childhood friend, Monica Geller (Courteney Cox). She introduced herself to the gang, and the gang to all of us. The story began, and has ceased to end in our cultural imagination.

When Friends—developed by David Crane and Marta Kauffman originally under the titles Insomnia Café, Six of One, and Friends Like Us, before eventually going with simply Friends (prompting a name change in an ABC sitcom that had debuted just months before called These Friends of Mine, which was soon retitled Ellen)—was officially put on the NBC schedule in the fall of 1994, the network showed their confidence in the series and its cast of virtually unknown actors by giving them a prime spot in their coveted Thursday night lineup which would later be known as Must-See TV. Warren Littlefield, then president of NBC Entertainment, was looking for a new series that would “represent Generation X and explore a new kind of tribal bonding,” but that’s not exactly how the creators described it; David Crane would argue that Friends would not be a series targeted at one set generation, and wanted to produce a series that everyone of all ages would enjoy watching. In the long run, Friends would become just that. NBC’s famed Thursday night lineup that once included Family Ties (1982–1989), Cheers (1982–1993), and The Cosby Show (1984–1992) was now populated by three series set in New York City: Mad About You, covering the married angle; Seinfeld, exploring the eccentric/neurotic side; and Friends, which delivered the post-college, twentysomething experience. The advantageous spot on the fall lineup led Friends to pull in an admirable 22 million viewers in its first episode alone—aided without a doubt by its lead-in and follower on that night’s schedule, but also by promising reviews from critics. Variety found the actors to be “resourceful” with “sharp sitcom skills” but found that funnier writing would be needed going forward. Other critics said similar things but ultimately noted that the series’ ensemble cast would be the key to its success, lauding their comedic timing and chemistry with each other. Some critics would even later claim that Friends was television’s first real ensemble comedy—even though Seinfeld had a somewhat similar premise and was a self-described show “about nothing,” the key difference between the two was that Seinfeld was never afraid to make quirky, potentially offensive, or neurotic jokes even if the audience didn’t get them. Especially in the early years, David Crane and Marta Kauffman would obsessively monitor the studio audience’s reaction to every joke and rewrite as needed. Friends cared immensely about its audience, its premise, and never straying too far away from its comfort zone.

One of the first official cast photos from the first season, 1994 (Source: NBC/Warner Bros.)

For all of their talent and chemistry, the cast of Friends was just that—virtually unknown. Crane and Kauffman had worked with David Schwimmer in the past and wrote Ross Geller specifically for him, and while he was hesitant to leave his theatre roots behind, he was the first character to be cast. Courteney Cox—who, at that time, was best known for a recurring role on Family Ties as well as the girl who gets pulled onstage in Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark” music video—had immediately expressed interest in Monica, but the producers thought she’d be better for Rachel. After her audition, though, it was clear that Cox was destined for Monica Geller. Lisa Kudrow, who had first decided she wanted to pursue a career as a microbiologist before turning her attention to acting, was best known for her recurring role as snooty waitress Ursula on NBC’s Mad About You, who was initially a no-name, one-episode bit role that ended up being a hit with audiences. The producers of Friends, including esteemed television director James Burrows, knew there was no question Kudrow was Phoebe Buffay. It wouldn’t be unheard of for a series regular actress to pop up in a recurring role on another series, but Mad About You and Friends were on the same network, the same night, and both set in Manhattan. It just wouldn’t work to have the waitress from Riff’s zipping downtown every night to live her double life as a West Village massage therapist. And so, Phoebe and Ursula were written as estranged twin sisters, and Ursula appeared on Friends several times throughout its run (Helen Hunt and Leila Kenzle also made cameos as Jamie and Fran from Mad About You in Ursula’s first episode of Friends during season one, during which they confuse Phoebe for Ursula at Central Perk). Matt LeBlanc auditioned for Joey and is said to have put his own spin on the character, portraying him as simple-minded with a big heart. Crane and Kauffman weren’t convinced at first, but the network was sold right away. LeBlanc’s biggest credit until that point was as Vinnie Verducci on Married…with Children, and he later appeared as the character in two short-lived spin-offs: Top of the Heap (1991) and Vinnie & Bobby (1992). When Matthew Perry was cast as Chandler, he had also been cast in a starring role on a Fox comedy called LAX 2194, about airport baggage handlers in the year 2194 in which he starred as the head baggage handler who had to sort through aliens’ luggage. It goes without saying that everyone knew that show didn’t have a big future, and once it fell through, he was free to be Chandler Bing. Jennifer Aniston, who was the last to be cast, had struggled to make a true breakthrough for several years and came to be known among the television networks as the “failed sitcom queen.” Her best known role at that point was as Jennifer Grey’s character in the television adaptation of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, which was quickly cancelled. While she had read for Friends, the producers were unsure if she was their Rachel. In the meantime, Aniston booked another starring role on a CBS sitcom called Muddling Through, which was shot in the 1993–1994 television season to air in the summer with the possibility of more episodes. By the time Crane and Kauffman decided they’d wanted Aniston for Rachel, and with Friends rumored to be TV’s next big thing around all the networks, CBS raised the stakes by picking up Muddling Through which would make Aniston unavailable for Friends. She begged the execs at CBS every day to let her go because she was dying to do Friends, but they assured her that it was their series that would make her a star, “not that friendship show.” Everyone at NBC knew that Aniston was Rachel, so they played hardball and offered her a contract CBS simply could not compete with. In September 1994, CBS aired the final episode of Muddling Through and cancelled it soon thereafter. Two weeks later, Friends debuted on NBC.

In her book I’ll Be There For You: The One About Friends, journalist and pop culture expert Kelsey Miller observes that Friends very quickly brought a sense of youth and togetherness to people’s lives and television sets, despite its often unrealistic premise. “These people use the term comfort food when talking about Friends,” she writes. “They refer to its lightness, its detachment from reality. They watch it because they can’t relate. It’s ridiculous! Six adults with perfect hair who hang out in a coffeehouse in the middle of the day? Who’s paying for those giant lattes? Friends, for them, is pure escapism.” But for others, the series became a representation of a society and culture probably much wiser than Friends itself—the series was enormously popular in the UK by the late ‘90s (which was partly the inspiration for Ross and Emily’s wedding in London in season four), and its popularity quickly grew in other countries and continents and often helped people learn English. For many, Friends was America—how they spoke, laughed, and acted. Friends is also said to have genuinely impacted the discourse of the English language, with a 2004 study at the University of Toronto finding that the characters used the emphasized word “so” to modify adjectives more often than any other intensifier. Although the preference had already made its way into the American vernacular, usage on the series may have accelerated the change.

“Friends has managed to transcend age, nationality, cultural barriers, and even its own dated, unrelatable flaws,” says Miller. “Because, underneath all that, it is a show about something truly universal: friendship. It’s a show about the transitional period of early adulthood, when you and your peers are untethered from family, unattached to partners, and equal parts excited and uncertain about the future. The only thing you have is each other.” This can, perhaps, explain the series’ immense popularity among the Millennial generation—after all, Friends was initially about Generation X; a generation typically marked by characteristics of aimlessness and lack of goals. They were the first real generation to be raised by divorced and working parents (hence the term “latchkey generation,” since these children were generally unsupervised before their parents returned from work), which is said to contribute to said factors. All of the characters on Friends were supposedly reflective of twentysomething life in Generation X. But since the series’ popularity has continued to transcend both space and time let alone generational gaps, the uncertainty of careers and goals are even more prevalent among Millennials than they were with Generation X—which perhaps explains the enduring resonance of Friends among young people.

The gang at their hangout, Central Perk, during the first season, 1995 (Photo: NBC/Warner Bros.)

The series’ near-instant popularity, especially while apart of the Must-See TV lineup on NBC, fit perfectly with the newfound approach to celebrity and tabloid media, which only boosted Friends’ exposure in the mainstream. “Friends had come of age during a period of rapid growth in celebrity entertainment journalism,” Miller writes. “Outlets like Premiere and Entertainment Weekly reported industry news for a mainstream readership, and now behind-the-scenes drama was as watchable as a show itself … It was the beginning of the ‘Stars Are Just Like Us’ era, when consumers were less interested in seeing actors at their most glamorous and untouchable, and more eager to see them taking out the garbage … From the beginning, Friends had played well with the press, embracing this blurry line between celebrity and character.”  Elaine Lui (best known to her readers as Lainey), entertainment journalist and gossip media expert, believes that one of Friends’ crucial selling points was that we believed they were friends, both onscreen and off. “You’re feeding the illusion that what we’re watching every Thursday night is actually how they are in real life. That’s compelling.” And for the first few years, the producers and network used it to their advantage. The six main cast members appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1995 after the conclusion of the first season (during which she cheekily asked them when they are getting a black friend; the first of many jabs to come at Friends’ infamous lack of diversity), and the crowd went nuts. Soon after, they appeared in Rolling Stone, and by the time the second season arrived, the producers and NBC knew they not only had a new hit on their hands, but potential at a future cultural touchstone. Aniston’s hairstyle, dubbed “The Rachel,” became a global style trend. The culmination was also the large amount of celebrity guest stars, with everyone from Marlo Thomas, Tom Selleck, to Brooke Shields, as well as the infamous “The One After the Super Bowl” episode (which famously included movie star appearances by Julia Roberts and Jean-Claude Van Damme), which received polarizing reviews at the time for being too much—the Chicago Tribune dubbed the episode “The One Where the Show Crosses the Line from Promiscuity into Prostitution.” The network, producers, and stars of Friends had to agree—it was too much. And for the remainder of the series, it became everyone’s mission to find a happy medium between using the series’ immense popularity and cultural relevance for financial gain and mainstream exposure, and providing loyal viewers with the laughs and stability they relied on every week for a decade. And despite any creative low points, Friends achieved that and more—it was ambitious at times but never crossed the line, and remained endearingly devoted to its premise and its characters. The cast famously stood as one behind the scenes, boldly telling the network and producers it was all of them or none of them. They all knew they were the collective stars of the series and didn’t want one cast member to rise above the others. They knew what they had and what they needed to preserve it, and it’s undeniable that it led to Friends’ endearing success.

Miller also pinpoints the events of September 11, 2001 as the moment when Friends was solidified as the ever-present and highly beloved television comedy we now know it to be in our popular culture. She writes that it wasn’t easy for anyone involved to figure out how to go on after the 9/11 attacks—considering Friends was both one of the most popular programs on television and took place in lower Manhattan—making it almost virtually impossible to not acknowledge it. But everyone soon realized that it wasn’t Friends’ job to acknowledge it, at least in that way. They learned very quickly that, following such a tragic and traumatic event that not only changed the course of history in the United States but also the rest of the world, people suddenly returned to things that had been a constant as a form of comfort in such a traumatic and uncertain time. By 2001, digital news and media had begun to plot its takeover, but print and television news ratings boomed following 9/11—as did primetime television programs that people had once relied on for a good dose of laughs. Miller reports that Friends viewership and overall investment had begun to dwindle by the end of season seven in 2001, and there were questions of how much longer the series would last. But by the time Friends returned for season eight that fall, following 9/11, ratings were through the roof again, just as they’d been in the early years. The eighth season even saw a dose of Emmy nominations to go along with the high numbers. It was at this point that Friends was solidified as the television equivalent of comfort food; a way of truly ignoring reality for a half-hour for the sake of our sanity. Lisa Kudrow said it best. “We’re not curing cancer. It’s not a big deal. But you know what? It is a big deal when you can offer people a break from such a devastating reality.”

Ross' ex-wife Carol (Jane Sibbett) and her partner Susan (Jessica Hecht) at their wedding in season two: the first lesbian wedding on broadcast television, 1996 (Photo: Warner Bros.)

It would be hard to discuss Friends’ enduring legacy and resonance without also acknowledging its dated, problematic elements—which also happens to surround much of the contemporary discourse surrounding the criticism and ever-growing popularity of the series. Miller acknowledges the series’ vast tendency for gay jokes, especially among the guys (but also the girls, too; the tone in which Monica would criticize Chandler’s feminine qualities was always a bit harsh), but claims that Friends can’t be considered overtly homophobic given “The One with the Lesbian Wedding” in season two, in which Ross’ ex-wife Carol (Jane Sibbett) and her partner Susan (Jessica Hecht) get married—though it was likely a civil union or commitment ceremony in technical terms; same-sex marriage was light years away from legalization in the United States in 1996. Despite its other pitfalls, the lesbian wedding episode was remarkably well done for the mid ‘90s (particularly the bit where Ross walks Carol down the aisle after her parents refuse to attend). Still, I wouldn’t give Friends the label of not homophobic—it was far from it. It might not have been overtly homophobic, but jokes surrounding masculinity were a mainstay on Friends (and are still common on more contemporary comedies, such as Modern Family). Ross’ masculine panic surrounding his son having a Barbie is a particular highlight, especially when everyone around him doesn’t really seem to see the big deal. The episode ends with Monica exposing her brother’s habit to dress up in their mother’s clothing and have tea parties when he was a child, giving the episode’s themes an ironic touch—which was always Friends’ specialty. But we still can’t forget many of the series’ dated and problematic elements (and thanks to its continuing popularity and the Internet, we won’t have to). What sticks out in my mind the most is Chandler’s dad. “Of all the so-called dated storylines on Friends, this one most clearly marks it as a product of its era,” writes Miller, “that era being one in which transgender was not a word most people knew. Transphobia was not a touchy social issue because most people hadn’t even heard of it. Today, the trans community remains one of the most at-risk populations in the world, but in 2001, it was virtually invisible. The fact that Friends made such a big, flashy, nonstop joke of it was hardly controversial at the time. It was nothing like the lesbian wedding, which had been handled with enormous caution.” Within the storyline, when Monica finds out Chandler didn’t invite his father to their wedding, she insists on flying out to Las Vegas to invite him in person—where the man in question had been said to star in a gay burlesque show. But that’s just the thing, Chandler’s dad was no longer a man—when we meet the character, “he” was portrayed by Kathleen Turner, whose famous husky voice was apparently enough to sell the idea that the character was once a man. The producers had initially wanted to get Liza Minnelli to play Chandler’s infamous father, as the original idea (which probably would have aged better than what they ended up going with) was to make Chandler’s dad “the best female impersonator ever,” and then cast the actual iconic performer in the role. But neither Minnelli nor the others they approached felt comfortable playing an impersonator playing them. So they instead decided to look for a big-name actress to fill the role of Charles Bing—a.k.a. Helena Handbasket.

Kathleen Turner as Chandler's father, a transgender woman known in her Las Vegas burlesque show as Helena Handbasket, 2001 (Photo: Warner Bros.)

“How they approached me with it was, ‘Would you like to be the first woman playing a man playing a woman?’” Kathleen Turner told Gay Times in 2018. “I said yes, because there weren’t many drag/trans people on television at the time.” She added, “I don’t think it’s aged well…but no one ever took it seriously as a social comment.” They really didn’t, and it wasn’t intended that way. But still, it’s hard to not wince watching the episodes with Turner as Charles/Helena with everyone making a mockery of his/her identity. From everyone’s insistence on using he/him pronouns when the character is clearly a woman, to Chandler’s mother Nora (Morgan Fairchild) still calling him/her Charles, to the icing on the cake—when Monica asks Rachel to keep an eye on Chandler’s dad at the wedding rehearsal dinner, saying “he’s the man in the black dress.” But just as Turner said, it was never intended as a social comment. If anything, it was probably supposed to be an extension of the gay visibility the producers had first attempted with Carol and Susan. Somehow, at the time and even now, it was better than nothing. “‘Better than nothing’ came up a lot in the interviews I conducted for this book,” Miller says. “I spoke with a number of people about the representational issues, lack of diversity, and all those elements that make the show dated (as we politely put it). To be honest, I expected more outrage. The Internet is packed to the gills with hot-take opinion pieces, as well as thoroughly researched academic papers about how problematic Friends is—how quickly it went for the cheap jokes, how rarely it featured minority characters, and on the rare occasions that it did, how poorly those characters were treated. But when I spoke to people one-on-one, there was very little vitriol … No one cited lack of diversity or homophobia as the primary reason they were turned off by it … The general consensus was that TV in that time was not a sophisticated or inclusive landscape, and in some ways Friends was better than its peers. By season seven, Carol and Susan had pretty much disappeared from the show, but the fact that they’d been there at all was something. Okay, the Hanukkah episode was a little bit silly and Santa-fied, but you know what? Better than nothing.” Against all odds, Friends continues to transcend any and all flaws and continue to endure and resonate among legions of audiences worldwide since, at its core, it’s about one thing we can all relate to at one time or another, regardless of age, background, ethnicity, or sexuality: friendship.

The series’ legacy continues to the present day and cannot be understated. In 2007, Time magazine included it among its list of the 100 Best TV Shows of All-Time and wrote, “It wasn’t just the sharp writing or the comic rapport that made Friends great. Its Gen-X characters were the children of divorce, suicide, and cross-dressing, trying to grow up without any clear models of how to do it. They built ersatz families and had kids by adoption, surrogacy, out of wedlock or with their gay ex-wives. The show never pretended to be about anything weightier than ‘we were on a break.’ But the well-hidden secret of this show was that it called itself Friends, and was really about family.” While the series might have technically concluded in 2004 after ten seasons, it didn’t really feel like it ever ended—international syndication of Friends continues to boom, leading it to feel like it was on virtually non-stop on every North American cable outlet for the last two decades (which it practically has been). The series also saw yet another new boom in popularity after Netflix acquired the streaming rights to all ten seasons in 2015, introducing Friends to yet another generation of young people who continue to rejoice in the relatable half-hour break from reality. In fact, the series is so popular on Netflix that when the streaming service announced their decision to phase out Friends from their platform late last year, the backlash and outcry from diehard fans on social media was such a force that the service decided to spend an extravagant amount of money to renew their streaming rights agreement with Warner Bros. to keep Friends on Netflix. As of this writing, Friends generates approximately $1 billion each year in syndication revenue for Warner Bros.

The only public reunion of the actors since the conclusion of Friends in 2004, at an NBC tribute special to director James Burrows in 2016 (Photo: Getty Images)

The cast moved on and, as could only be expected, all have been successful in the years since Friends. David Schwimmer turned his attention to directing, did some movies, guest spots, and voice work, and returned to theatre and Broadway. Courteney Cox was offered the role of Susan Mayer on ABC’s Desperate Housewives, but turned it down due to her pregnancy. She too did some independent films and voice work before starring in a sitcom of her own on ABC, Cougar Town, which ran for six seasons and on which several of her Friends co-stars appeared in guest spots. Lisa Kudrow, who had already established a growing film career while on Friends, went on to co-create and co-produce the HBO comedy series The Comeback, shot from the perspective of a new reality show about a B-list sitcom star making her television comeback. The series was cancelled after one season in 2005 but Kudrow’s performance was particularly lauded, leading not only to Emmy nominations but to its eventual status as a cult hit with audiences as well as its eventual return for a second season on HBO in 2014. Amid several supporting roles in successful films, Kudrow also produced and starred on Showtime’s Web Therapy (2011–2015), which also saw appearances from several Friends co-stars. Matt LeBlanc continued his role as Joey Tribbiani on a Friends spin-off on NBC, Joey, which ran for two seasons until 2006. Thereafter, he began a hiatus from acting until he began portraying a fictionalized version of himself on Showtime’s Episodes (2011–2017), for which he received four nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. He currently stars in the lead role on the CBS sitcom Man With a Plan. Matthew Perry also appeared in supporting roles in several successful films as well as several attempts a television sitcom comeback, with short-lived series such as Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (2006–2007), Mr. Sunshine (2011), and Go On (2012–2013), none of which seeing more than a single season. His most successful television comeback would be on the CBS remake of The Odd Couple (2015–2017), which ran for three seasons, as well as a recurring role on the CBS legal drama The Good Wife. One might refer to Jennifer Aniston as the most successful Friends cast member, who has since become a bonafide film star who has done little television since the end of the series. Aniston, like Kudrow or Schwimmer, began establishing a film career while on Friends in the late ‘90s but didn’t see as much success. It’s considered a difficult transition to make from the small screen to the big screen, especially when you’ve become as popular as Aniston was on Friends. Several critics note her performance in the 2002 independent film The Good Girl as the moment when Aniston proved she could in fact break free of her girl-next-door image as Rachel, and critics also acknowledge that she has since spent the better part of a decade since then pursuing roles that were very unlike Rachel (Horrible Bosses, We’re the Millers, or Cake), while also still appearing in a variety of 2000s romantic comedy films that we perhaps best remember Aniston for in our public conscious today (Along Came Polly, The Break-Up, He’s Just Not That Into You, or The Switch, to name only a few).

Of all the questions asked since the end of Friends and its rise in syndicated reruns and on streaming services, “when is a reunion happening?” seems to be the most popular, and is practically unavoidable for any of the stars in any interview. Rumors of a Friends feature film first began to escalate following the success of the Sex and the City movie in 2008, but Warner Bros. quickly debunked that theory. If anything, the buzz around a reunion has only grown in recent years, especially since network television has been giving revivals to popular sitcoms from the ‘80s and ‘90s, including Will & Grace, Roseanne, and Murphy Brown. “I mean, something should be done,” Lisa Kudrow said on Conan in 2018. “I don’t know what. They’re rebooting everything. How does that work with Friends, though? That was about people in their twenties, thirties. The show isn’t about people in their forties, fifties. And if we have the same problems, that’s just sad.” Some series have been worthy of their reboots, especially in the current stormy political times—Will & Grace returned in 2017 for a new perspective on women and gay men in the Trump era. Roseanne returned in 2018 and was remarkably relevant in our contemporary culture—polarizing as it was, Roseanne’s themes of class, economic status, and politically divided families were just as needed in 2018 as they were in 1988. Friends has no such hook. The series itself may seem timeless, but only because it was a representation of people and their lives at a certain age. “It’s about them then,” says Miller. “From a storytelling perspective, it would be close to impossible to reunite these characters—for the exact same reasons it’s so hard to reunite the actors. They have new jobs and families and they live in different cities. It would take some big life event to bring the characters back together, and now that the weddings and babies have been had, all that’s left are funerals—and no one wants to see that.” For more than a decade, the answer has been a consistent and firm no. “Someone asks me every day,” Marta Kauffman said in 2015. “I don’t get upset. I understand that people want to relive that. But you can’t relive that. We can’t go back to that time in our lives.” She also said, “Let’s be honest, reunions generally suck.” David Crane explained, “We ended right. It felt right… I think all the people who say, ‘Oh, I want to see them again!’ You really don’t. And I think they would turn on us on a dime.” Crane’s advice to those who never stop pining for a reunion or revival? The story has been told, from beginning to end. If you want to revisit it, it’s all right there for you, in reruns and on Netflix. “Watch those! We did it!” Still, the general consensus among the actors and the public is you never know. “Anything is a possibility,” says Jennifer Aniston, but Matt LeBlanc put it best in 2017. “That show was about a finite period in people’s lives. And once that time’s over, that time’s over. I went through that period in my own life. And when I revisit people from that time, it’s not the same. It’s just not. You can never go back, you can only move forward.” Some things belong to the past and aren’t meant to come alive again in the future. Friends belongs to a different era that we can still happily relive in reruns. It will continue to live on in our collective memory as a time in everyone’s lives—no matter what race, background, ethnicity, or sexuality—that most people can always relate to: your job’s a joke, you’re broke, but your friends are your family, and they’re always there for you. And for those of us who need that kind of reassurance in real-life from time to time, Friends is always there for us.

Album Review: Ariana Grande - 'Thank U, Next'

Ariana Grande hasn’t always been the global superstar and household name she is in 2019, at least not in the ways of mainstream media and radio exposure that most pop icons of the current generation have earned their names in our popular culture. But somewhere between her music debut in 2013—barely out of a Nickelodeon contract with nothing but a largely teen fanbase and an exceptionally sophisticated R&B-pop debut studio album—and the release of her highly anticipated fifth studio album Thank U, Next (just seven months after her fourth, Sweetener), Grande has pulled off a rare evolution as pop princess turned global star and now one of the most visible figures in pop culture.

There’s no question that prior to the release of her highly-buzzed singles “No Tears Left to Cry” and “God is a Woman” last year that Grande was something of a cult favorite among pop music listeners—that is, girls and gays. There’s no denying that the singles from her third album Dangerous Woman (“Dangerous Woman” or “Into You,” for example) didn’t see as much mainstream exposure as the singles from Sweetener. Maybe we can chalk this up to the age-old evolution of a pop singer seeing more and more success as her career grows. Or maybe a lack of musical output from the list of other mainstream pop artists whom contemporary pop radio usually pays attention to (e.g. Rihanna, Selena Gomez, or even Katy Perry). Or maybe it even had something to do with the genuine evolution of Grande’s music as incorporating real-life themes and events into her songs (“No Tears Left to Cry” is associated with helping to put the tragic events of the Manchester bombing at one of her concerts in 2017 behind us, and she even has an entire track on Sweetener dedicated to the victims called “Get Well Soon”). Whatever the case, Grande had progressed to something of a mainstream pop star by 2018 rather than the pop princess with a largely gay following who wasn’t taken as seriously as a mainstream star circa 2014.

There’s also no question that the promotional period for Sweetener was somewhat hijacked by both Grande’s breakup with rapper Mac Miller and her new relationship and subsequent engagement to Saturday Night Live star Pete Davidson. As the narrative typically tends to flip for female stars, her romantic relationship was often the subject of more public interest rather than her new musical material. She also suddenly became the scapegoat for Miller’s public relapse into addiction that seemed to arise following their separation—in response to a tweet blaming her for Miller receiving a DUI following their breakup since he was heartbroken, Grande replied, “I am not a babysitter or a mother and no woman should feel that they need to be. I have cared for him and tried to support his sobriety & prayed for his balance for years (and always will of course) but shaming / blaming women for a man's inability to keep his shit together is a very major problem.” Thereafter, her relationship with Davidson becomes the inevitable subject of media interest, as does their public and loving appearances at mainstream events such as the MTV Video Music Awards. Sweetener was released in August 2018 and received generally positive reviews, and would later receive a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album, marking Grande’s third nomination for the award.

Grande performs onstage at Billboard Women In Music 2018 on December 6, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Billboard)

In September, Miller was tragically found dead of a drug overdose at age 26. Just as she had been when Miller had appeared to have relapsed following their split, Grande again becomes somewhat of a scapegoat for his overdose and death on social media—which just goes to prove that internalized misogyny is still alive and well in our culture and media. By October, Grande and Davidson had called off what can only be described as a premature engagement and gone their separate ways, and in November, she released a surprise new single titled “Thank U, Next”—which was propelled to immediate success. The song would become Grande’s first single to debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States (and the first by a female artist to debut at the top of the chart since Adele’s “Hello” in 2015), and the song’s popularity would only be boosted by its high-profile, romantic comedy-themed music video featuring appearances by Kris Jenner, Jennifer Coolidge, Troye Sivan, and Jonathan Bennett. Grande, who had initially announced a break from music in October following Miller’s death, quickly flipped the narrative again and announced that she had returned to the studio and was wrapping up work on a new studio album, also titled Thank U, Next and from which the title track would serve as the lead single.

While “Thank U, Next” would have appeared somewhat glib if it had been merely a standalone single and promotional release—a bit of an “extra” way of trying to reclaim her narrative with an apparent diss track—but the song is far from that. As far as lead singles go, and as far as her unnecessary amount of time spent in headlines for things that are not her fault in the least, “Thank U, Next” is a respectful attempt at gratitude for the singer’s failed relationships and what they taught her, as well as a nod to the future and all that’s on the horizon. Indeed, Grande did in fact successfully reclaim her own narrative by setting the record straight with a catchy pop song that achieved as much instant popularity as a comeback single by Adele (I mean, c’mon, that’s certainly an accomplishment). She later released a promotional single from her upcoming fifth studio release, “Imagine,” which displayed her ability to make use of the whistle register in a way we haven’t heard since Mariah in the early ‘90s (she even hit the notes when she performed the track live on The Tonight Show a few days later). 2019 brought us the album’s official second single, “7 Rings,” a trap song that also instantly shot to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 (making Grande the third female artist to have two or more singles debut at number one on the chart, joining Mariah Carey and Britney Spears) and churns up its own stir of controversy. 2 Chainz, Soulja Boy, and Princess Nokia all allege accusations of plagiarism against Grande, and some critics allege instances of cultural appropriation in the song’s music video (she even gets attacked on the Internet once more for a new tattoo with Japanese symbols commemorating the song which appear to be misspelled, in fact reading as the Japanese symbols for a small barbecue grill). She tries to smooth things over by enlisting 2 Chainz for a remix of the song, and attempts to amend her tattoo. And, most recently, Grande is under fire yet again for withdrawing from performing at this weekend’s 61st Grammy Awards and when the ceremony’s producer Ken Ehrlich alleged in an interview that she pulled out because she couldn’t pull something together in time, Grande clapped back on Twitter once again. “I've kept my mouth shut but now you’re lying about me,” she writes. “I can pull together a performance over night and you know that, Ken. It was when my creativity & self expression was stifled by you, that I decided not to attend. I hope the show is exactly what you want it to be and more. I offered 3 different songs. It's about collaboration. It’s about feeling supported. It’s about art and honesty. Not politics. Not doing favors or playing games. It’s just a game y’all… and I’m sorry but that’s not what music is to me.”

While a pop singer releasing two albums less than a year apart is by no means unheard of, seven months between studio albums still feels a bit rushed and stifling (Grande had barely finished promotion for Sweetener’s third single “Breathin” by the time “Thank U, Next” hit the charts). However, in terms of a pop star who has now reached a level of mainstream attention associated with a global superstar who clearly felt a new rush of musical inspiration following a series of personal struggles as well as a need to set the record straight and reclaim her own narrative in an industry and popular culture that devalues women—Thank U, Next gets the job done pretty well. Is it Ariana’s most exciting album? No. Does it reach the same levels of pop excellence as “Into You,” “God is a Woman,” or “Breathin”? Certainly not. But in terms of cohesiveness and production, Thank U, Next is definitely more sonically consistent than Sweetener, and sounds much less experimental in comparison since Grande appears to be flipping the bird to what people and pop music cycles think of her by embracing the kind of R&B-trap music she wants to make right now. If anything, the album is proving to us that Ariana Grande no longer cares what people think—much of the album’s lyrics are quite unsympathetic—and subtly rejects her reputation for unnecessary tabloid drama (“least this song is a smash”). As long as people are going to talk, you might as well join the conversation and get some Billboard Hot 100 toppers while you’re at it. Grande even brings to mind, on a smaller scale, Blackout era Britney Spears on tracks like “Fake Smile,” candidly clapping back at people who feel the need to attack her for no apparent reason just as Britney did on songs like “Piece of Me.” She’s even throwing caution to the wind and having fun with silly, lovesick lyrics on “Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored.” Time can only tell if Thank U, Next will go down as one of if not Grande’s best album, since she appears to be embracing herself as she is and making the music she wants to make, when she wants to make it. She comes across as entirely herself. And for a woman to be fully herself is revolutionary.

Jeffrey’s favorites from Thank U, Next: “Imagine,” “Needy,” “Bloodline,” “Fake Smile,” “Bad Idea,” “Thank U, Next,” and “Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored”