[1] The song was written to commemorate the approximate number of the 17.4 million people who voted for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union in the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum.

[2] The song was first released on 4 March 2019[3] then re-released with an updated version in December 2019, where it reached number 43 on the UK Singles Charts.

[5] Due to delays in Brexit with a new date being set for 31 January 2020 after a delay of seven months from 31 March 2019, Frisby updated the song in December 2019 by adding a verse that covered the result of the 2019 United Kingdom general election.

[2][6] In 2020, Frisby started a campaign to get "17 Million Fuck Offs" to number 1 in the UK Singles Chart.

During the run-up to the day of Brexit, pro-EU activists started a counter-campaign for people to buy copies of Ludwig van Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" (used as the EU anthem) performed by André Rieu.