Rebecca Black facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Rebecca Black
Black in 2023
Background information
Birth name	Rebecca Renee Black
Born	(1997-06-21) June 21, 1997 (age 27) Irvine, California, U.S.
Genres	Pop
Occupation(s)	Singer songwriter YouTuber
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	2010–present
Labels	ARK Music Factory RB
YouTube information
Years active	2011–present
Subscribers	1.53 million
Total views	377.59 million
Subscriber and view counts updated as of 05 January 2025.

Rebecca Renee Black (born June 21, 1997) is an American singer, songwriter, and YouTuber. She became very well known when her 2011 song "Friday" and its music video became super popular online. This is called "going viral".

The song "Friday" got a lot of different reactions. Some people really liked it, and it even reached number 58 on the Billboard Hot 100 music chart. But many others, including music critics, thought it was one of the "worst songs ever made." In 2013, Rebecca released another song called "Saturday" with Dave Days. This song also did well and was received a bit better. Her first full album, Let Her Burn, came out in February 2023 and got mostly good reviews.

Early Life

Rebecca Black was born in Irvine, California. Her parents, John Jeffery Black and Georgina Marquez Kelly, are both veterinarians. Her mother is from Mexico, and her father is from Iowa with English, Italian, and Polish family roots.

Rebecca went to a private school until 6th grade. She then moved to a public school because she was being bullied. At the public school, she joined the musical theater program and felt like she truly belonged there. In April 2011, Rebecca started learning from home (homeschooling). She did this to focus on her music career and to avoid the teasing from her old classmates. She also mentioned that her busy schedule made it hard to keep up with her English class.

Career

Becoming Famous with "Friday" (2010–2011)

Black in 2011

In late 2010, one of Rebecca's classmates told her about a record company called ARK Music Factory. Rebecca's mom paid about $4,000 for ARK Music to make the music video for "Friday". The Black family kept the rights to the song and video.

The song "Friday" was written by ARK and released on YouTube and iTunes. The video was put on YouTube on February 10, 2011. For the first month, it only had about 1,000 views. But on March 11, it suddenly became super popular, getting millions of views in just a few days! It was the most talked-about topic on social media like Twitter. Most of the comments and news stories about it were negative.

The song was officially released on March 14. Billboard estimated that about 40,000 copies were sold in the first week. On March 22, Rebecca appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. She sang "Friday" and talked about all the negative comments she received. The song reached number 58 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the U.S. and number 33 in New Zealand. In the UK, it started at number 61 on the music chart.

Because of the YouTube video, Rebecca started getting mean phone calls and emails, some of which were even threats. The police in Anaheim investigated these. Rebecca also worked with the comedy website Funny or Die for some fun videos. She later signed with a manager, Debra Baum, reportedly with help from Ryan Seacrest.

Rebecca said she was a fan of Justin Bieber and wanted to sing with him. MTV chose her to host their first online awards show in April 2011. Rebecca also appeared in Katy Perry's music video for "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)". She played the hostess of a party. The TV show Glee even covered "Friday" in an episode. The show's creator, Ryan Murphy, said they covered it because, whether you like it or not, the song was a big part of pop culture.

After "Friday" went viral, Rebecca and her mother had some legal problems with ARK Music. They disagreed about who owned the rights to the song and video. ARK Music later started charging money to watch the video on YouTube. In June 2011, "Friday" was taken down from YouTube because of this disagreement. It was put back on YouTube on September 16, 2011, on Rebecca's own official channel. "Friday" was named YouTube's number one video of 2011. Rebecca even hosted a short video called "YouTube Rewind" to recap the year. After the issues with ARK Music Factory, Rebecca started her own music company called RB Records.

Early Songs and Covers (2011–2015)

On July 18, 2011, Rebecca released a new song she produced herself called "My Moment". The music video for it was also put on her YouTube channel that day. The video showed real clips of Rebecca from before and after "Friday" became famous.

In late 2011, Rebecca started making the music video for her third song, "Person of Interest". She said this song was about teenage crushes, "when you're not in love yet but you really like a guy." She added that it was a dance song that would make you "get up and dance and sing along in your car." The song and video came out on November 15, 2011. Rebecca released two more songs in 2012: "Sing It" in May and "In Your Words" in November.

Rebecca had planned to release her first full album in late 2011, saying it would have "a bunch of different kinds of stuff." She was recording it with music producer Charlton Pettus. However, that album was never released. Rebecca was also featured in an ABC special about young famous people.

In 2012, Rebecca joined the Maker Studios YouTube network. She also went to Australia to help Telstra launch their 4G phone service. Google's "Zeitgeist" report, which looks at the most searched topics, listed Rebecca Black as the number one most searched global query in 2012. She was searched for more than even pop stars like Lady Gaga and Adele.

In late 2013, Rebecca released "Saturday" as a follow-up to "Friday." She worked with Dave Days on this song. It became her second song to appear on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, reaching number 55. While it charted higher than "Friday," "Saturday" was only on the chart for one week, compared to six weeks for "Friday."

Besides her own music, Rebecca regularly posted videos on her YouTube channel. These included vlogs (video blogs), Q&A (question and answer) videos, and sometimes covers of songs by other artists. For example, she covered two Miley Cyrus songs in 2013. In July, she sang an acoustic version of "We Can't Stop" with fellow YouTuber Jon D, changing some of the lyrics. In November, she released an acoustic version of "Wrecking Ball".

At VidCon 2015, Rebecca shared that she was working on a new album and hoped to release it by the end of 2015. She said the album would be very different from her earlier songs. She had been working on it since "Friday" but it took time to be free from ARK Music Factory and find new producers she liked. However, no album or new songs were released then. Towards the end of 2015, Rebecca covered "Wild" by Troye Sivan. In January 2016, she created a web series called "Life After Friday" for go90. In the show, Rebecca graduates high school, tells her parents she won't go to college, and moves to Los Angeles for adventures.

RE / BL and More (2016–2020)

On August 26, 2016, Rebecca released a new song called "The Great Divide." This was her first new music in almost three years. This song reached number 23 on the "US Dance" chart. Rebecca released two more songs the next year: "Foolish" on April 21, 2017, and "Heart Full of Scars" on September 1, 2017. She then released an EP (a shorter album) called RE / BL on September 15, 2017. This EP included "The Great Divide," "Foolish," and "Heart Full of Scars."

In June 2018, Rebecca talked on BBC Radio 5 Live about cyberbullying. She explained how online attacks affected her and how mean comments can "stick with you forever." Rebecca released the last song from her RE / BL EP, called "Satellite," on June 4, 2018.

On June 7, 2018, Rebecca appeared as a contestant on The Four: Battle for Stardom, a TV music competition show on Fox. The show was hosted by Fergie and judged by Sean Combs, Meghan Trainor, and DJ Khaled. Rebecca sang "Bye Bye Bye" by NSYNC for her audition and got approval from all three judges to move to the next round. In the next round, she chose James Graham as her opponent. James sang "A Song for You," and Rebecca sang "Torn" by Ednaswap. The audience voted, and James Graham won, so Rebecca was eliminated. After the show, she tweeted thanks to her fans for their support, saying, "This is just the beginning."

On National French Fry Day in 2018, YouTube personality Miranda Sings worked with Dunkin' Donuts to release a fun version of "Friday" called "Donut Fry Day featuring Rebecca Black." This was part of a marketing plan for Donut Fries. Rebecca continued to release new songs in 2019 and 2020, including "Anyway," "Do You?," "Sweetheart," and "Self Sabotage." In September 2020, she was featured on the song "Edgelord" by Dorian Electra.

Rebecca Black Was Here and Let Her Burn (2021–Present)

Black performing at the Bowery Ballroom on her 2022 Rebecca Black Was Here tour

On January 29, 2021, Rebecca Black released the song "Girlfriend." Soon after, on February 10, 2021, she released a special "hyperpop" remix of "Friday" to celebrate the song's tenth anniversary. This remix was produced by Dylan Brady of 100 gecs and featured 3OH!3, Big Freedia, and Dorian Electra. After releasing the songs "Personal" and "Worth It for the Feeling," Rebecca announced her second EP, Rebecca Black Was Here, which came out on June 16, 2021.

On November 10, 2022, Rebecca announced her first full studio album, Let Her Burn, which was set to be released in early 2023. Four days later, she released the first song from the album, "Crumbs," along with a music video. Critics liked the song, with BrooklynVegan calling it a "hypnotic electropop track." The second song, "Look at You," was released on December 7 and also received good reviews. On January 6, 2023, Rebecca announced that the album would be released on February 9, 2023. The third and final song from the album, "Sick to My Stomach," came out on January 18, 2023. BroadwayWorld noted that the different songs showed "Rebecca Black's versatility as an artist." Let Her Burn was released on February 9, 2023, and was described as "getting solid marks from critics and fans alike."

Rebecca started a tour with shows in the UK, North America, and Canada to support her new album. On June 1, 2023, it was announced that Rebecca would also perform as one of the opening acts for Blackpink at British Summer Time in Hyde Park, London. In December 2024, Rebecca announced a 2025 tour to support her next EP, Salvation.

Discography

Black performing at Elsewhere in Brooklyn on her 2023 Let Her Burn tour.

Studio Albums

Extended Plays

Singles

Music Videos

Filmography

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Rebecca Black para niños