Madison Beer isn’t interested in romanticizing 2016 as the nostalgia trend goes viral.
The now 26-year-old singer recently spoke about the viral trend on social media, calling 2026 the new 2016. She said this era doesn’t have the same carefree meaning for her as it does for others.
In a recent interview with Interview Magazine, Beer made it clear that she feels much better about her life today than she did almost a decade ago.
“I definitely feel a lot better about my life now than I did then,” she said.
The trend has gained momentum online, with celebrities and influencers revisiting memories from 2016, including Charlie Puth resurfacing music from that year and Hailey Bieber sharing old photos.
While many view the period as a simpler time before hyper-curated social media, Beer said her own experience was much more complicated.
“There are nostalgic moments – the music, the Snapchat filters, the Mannequin Challenge – it’s all funny,” she explained. “But as someone who didn’t have the best of times during my teenage years, I definitely prefer to stay in the now.”
When asked if there was anything she would have liked to keep from that era, Beer joked that some of her old clothes might have been worth keeping, given the return of mid-2010s fashion trends.
She also reflected on what she would change if she could go back, pointing not to her career but to her family life. Beer said she wishes she had spent more time with her younger brother, who she admits irritated her as a teenager but is now one of her best friends.
Beer rose to fame at the age of 13 after Justin Bieber shared her YouTube cover of Etta James’ “At Last,” propelling her into the public eye almost overnight. Looking back, she has been candid about the challenges of growing up in the industry.
In an April 2025 interview with Elle, Beer said she doesn’t believe her early career trajectory would play out the same way today, noting that she often felt unprotected as a minor navigation star.
“It forced me to grow up very quickly, and it confused me in a lot of ways,” she said at the time. “Hopefully I have recovered a bit by now.”
