"Friday Night" is a song written by

Eric Paslay Eric Thomas Paslay (born January 29, 1983) is an American country music singer and songwriter. He has released one album for EMI Nashville, which contains the hit singles "Friday Night", "Song About a Girl", and " She Don't Love You". In additio ...

, Rose Falcon and

Rob Crosby Rob Crosby (born Robert Crosby Hoar; April 25, 1954) is an American country music artist. Between 1990 and 1996, Rob charted eight singles on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts. He has also recorded six studio albums, w ...

. It was originally recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

trio

Lady Antebellum Lady A (formerly known as Lady Antebellum) is an American country music group formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2006. The group is composed of Hillary Scott (lead and background vocals), Charles Kelley (lead and background vocals, guitar) ...

on their 2011 album ''

Own the Night ''Own the Night'' is the third studio album by American country music trio Lady Antebellum. It was released on September 13, 2011 through Capitol Nashville. This is the follow up album to their previous Grammy Award winning album Need You Now. Th ...

''. It was later recorded by Paslay in 2013 as his third single for EMI Nashville, and as a song on his self-titled debut album in 2014.

Lady Antebellum version

"Friday Night" was included on the track listing of Lady Antebellum's 2011 studio album ''

''. ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

'' described the song as 80s-rock rave-up that sounds exactly like

Eddie Money Edward Joseph Mahoney (March 21, 1949 – September 13, 2019), known professionally as Eddie Money, was an American singer and songwriter who, in the 1970s and 1980s, had eleven Top 40 songs, including " Baby Hold On", " Two Tickets to Pa ...

". In a review of the album, ''

American Songwriter ''American Songwriter'' is a bimonthly magazine covering songwriting. Established in 1984, it features interviews, songwriting tips, news, reviews and lyric contest. The magazine is based in Nashville, Tennessee. History The ''American Songwri ...

'' was critical of "Friday Night", calling it "a poorly drawn caricature of rock & roll".

Eric Paslay version

The song was later recorded by Paslay and released on April 22, 2013, as his third single for EMI Nashville. It is included on his self-titled debut album, which was released on February 4, 2014.

Critical reception

Billy Dukes of ''

Taste of Country Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wi ...

'' gave the song three and a half stars out of five, writing that "it’s wide-open, catchy and easy to fall in love with, even if it’s not exactly crammed full of tangible memories." Matt Bjorke of ''Roughstock'' also gave the song three and a half stars out of five, calling it "a melodic, arena-ready sing-a-long type of song" and saying that "Paslay's take on the song is much, much more grounded in Country Music's roots han Lady A's recordingwith banjos and fiddles audibly in the mix."

Music video

The music video was directed by Mason Dixon and premiered in August 2013.

Chart performance

"Friday Night" debuted at number 57 on the U.S. '' Billboard'' Country Airplay chart for the week of May 11, 2013. It also debuted at number 49 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs chart for the week of July 27, 2013. It has sold 504,000 copies in the US as of April 2014.

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2011 songs 2013 singles Eric Paslay songs EMI Records singles Lady A songs Song recordings produced by Marshall Altman Songs written by Eric Paslay Songs written by Rob Crosby Songs about nights