Upon its release, the song received praise from music critics. Heather Phares of
AllMusic gave the song a favorable review, calling it a "brassy empowerment jam which sells Cyrus as an independent woman." Nick Catucci of
Entertainment Weekly praised the song, describing it as folding "starry
Adele-style sass and a French Montana verse into expertly inlaid dubstep wub-wubs." Mikael Wood from the
Los Angeles Times praised Cyrus' vocals and compared the song to
Amy Winehouse, writing "Her vocals are equally strong in the surprisingly Amy Winehouse-like 'FU'." Caroline Sullivan from
The Guardian deemed it one of the album's best songs, writing "FU's mix of raw heartbreak, sub-bass and scathing rhyming from French Montana is devastating." Kitty Empire from
The Observer reviewed the song positively, writing "Cyrus liberates her inner
Christina Aguilera in the company of rapper French Montana, blending old-time jazzy balladry,
I Put a Spell on You, romantic righteousness and dubstep sub-bass." Writing for
MTV, John Walker reviewed the song positively, calling it an "innovative surprisingly cabaret-friendly track" and compared it to the works of
Amanda Palmer. John Murphy of
MusicOMH compared the song to works by
Lady Gaga and called it "rather excellent." Kyle Fowle from
Slant Magazine heavily praised the track while comparing it to the works of Amy Winehouse and
Skrillex, writing, "Cyrus plays the femme fatale with an exaggerated Southern drawl, ready to rip into male suitors and their tired pick-up lines." Catriona Wightman of
Digital Spy speculated it to be inspired by Cyrus' former fiancé
Liam Hemsworth and deemed it the best song of the album. Jason Lipshutz of
Billboard gave the song a mixed review, calling it a "campy piano flare-up", but criticizing French Montana's appearance, calling it "as inexplicable as the song itself." Marah Eakin of
The A.V. Club described it as "EDM-aping". She further stated that the song "seems perfect for the album, rather than just thrown in to stay with the times." Channing Freeman from Sputnikmusic praised Cyrus' vocals, writing, "the chorus is so good, with a pulsing beat that allows Miley plenty of room to show off her voice (which is and always has been lovely)" although criticized the lyrics. Commercially, the song debuted at number three on the
US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles Chart and at number 22 on
Billboard Pop Digital Songs chart. When the song was used in the
2013 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, it reached number one on Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles Chart. In Canada, the song debuted at number 85 on the
Canadian Hot 100. The song also charted at number 54 on the US
Digital Song Sales chart and number 9 on the
Circle Chart's
South Korea Foreign chart. It was later certified Gold by the
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for equivalent sales of 500,000 units in the United States. ==Live performances==