Rebecca Black Biography

Rebecca Black is an American YouTuber and singer who received major online attention with the release of her single Friday and its music video.

Early Life

Rebecca Renee Black was born on June 21, 1997, in  Irvine, California. She attended both private and public schools but opted for homeschooling because of bullying.

Friday Popularity

At 13 years old, her mother paid ARK Music Factory 4000 dollars to make Rebecca a song and a music video. The single Friday was written by the label and released on YouTube and iTunes. The music went viral after 1 month since its release and became a hot topic on social media. However, the attention was negative but managed to enter the Billboard chart. Rebecca performed the song on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and talked about the negative reactions from people. The feedback was so bad that Black received e-mail and death threats. She made a special appearance on Katy Perry’s Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.) which was a tribute to Rebecca’s song. The song was also covered on the popular musical TV show Glee.

Post-Friday

After a legal dispute with Ark Music Factory, they parted ways and Black founded her own independent record label. She continued to release singles like My Moment, Sing It, and Friday’s sequel Saturday. The songs managed to enter Billboard Hot 100. Taking advantage of her online presence, Black became active on YouTube by posting the occasional videos as well as covers of Miley Cyrus and Drake. The Great Divide was a single issued in 2016 and was a departure from her usual style for a more sophisticated and mature electropop direction. Foolish followed as another single on April 21, 2017. Rebecca had been working on her upcoming EP since the release of Friday, and it may be released this summer.

Photo credit: Rebecca Black