Rebecca Black

Rebecca Black

Black in 2014
Background information
Birth name Rebecca Renee Black
Born (1997-06-21) June 21, 1997
Irvine, California, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
Instruments Vocals
Years active 2010–present
Labels
Website www.rebeccablackonline.com

Rebecca Renee Black (born June 21, 1997)[1] is an American YouTuber and singer who gained extensive media attention with her 2011 single "Friday". After the video went viral on YouTube and other social media sites, "Friday" was derided by many music critics and viewers, who dubbed it "the worst song ever".[2][3][4] Rebecca went on to release other songs; her Dave Days collaboration "Saturday" earned more success. She currently uploads videos on her YouTube channel about various topics.[5]

Early life and education

Black was born in Irvine, California.[6] She is the daughter of John Jeffery Black and Georgina Marquez Kelly, both veterinarians.[7][8] Her mother is of Mexican descent, and her father, originally from Iowa,[9] is of English, Italian, and Polish descent.[10][11] Black attended private school from kindergarten to 6th grade, and moved to a public school due to bullying. She joined the school's musical theater program, where she felt she was "meant to be."[9] In April 2011,[9] Black dropped out in favor of homeschooling, citing both a need to focus on her career[12] and a desire to avoid taunts from her former classmates.[13] Black was also failing English class due to her busy schedule.[9]

Career

2010–11: Breakthrough with "Friday" and music

Rebecca Black in 2011

In late 2010, a classmate of Black and music-video client of Los Angeles record label ARK Music Factory told her about the company.[14] Black's mother paid $4,000 for Ark Music to produce the music video while the Blacks retained ownership of both the master and the video.[7][15] The single, "Friday", written entirely by Ark, was released on YouTube and iTunes. The song's video was uploaded to YouTube on February 10, 2011, and received approximately 1,000 views in the first month. The video went viral on March 11, acquiring millions of views on YouTube in a matter of days, becoming the most-talked-about topic on social networking site Twitter,[16] and garnering mostly negative media coverage.[17] The single was released on March 14, with first-week sales estimated to be around 40,000 by Billboard.[18] On March 22, Black appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, during which she performed the song and discussed the negative reaction to it.[19] The song peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 and the New Zealand Singles Chart at numbers 58 and 33, respectively.[20][21] In the UK, the song debuted at number 61 on the UK Singles Chart.[22] In response to the YouTube video of "Friday", Black began to receive phone and email death threats,[23] which were investigated by the Anaheim Police Department.[24] Black teamed up with Funny or Die on April Fool's Day 2011 (when the comedy site was renamed Friday or Die) for a series of videos, including one about the underage teens driving a car in her "Friday" video.[25] She signed to manager Debra Baum's DB Entertainment, reportedly with Ryan Seacrest's help.[26]

Black also stated that she is a fan of Justin Bieber, and expressed interest in performing a duet with him.[27] MTV selected Black to host its first online awards show, the O Music Awards Fan Army Party, in April 2011.[28] As an homage to "Friday", Black appeared in the music video for Katy Perry's "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)",[29] in which Black plays alongside Perry as the hostess of a party Perry attends. A cover of "Friday" was performed on Glee in the second season episode, "Prom Queen". When asked about why the song was covered on Glee, show creator Ryan Murphy replied, "The show pays tribute to pop culture and, love it or hate it, that song is pop culture."[30] Not long after the "Friday" video went viral on YouTube, Black and her mother, Georgina Kelly, got into legal issues with Ark Music over rights to the song. In a letter from Kelly's lawyer to Ark Music on March 29, 2011, it was alleged that Ark Music failed to fulfill the terms of their November 2010 agreement by not giving her the song and video's master recordings, by claiming Black as exclusively signed to the label, and by exploiting the song without permission — for example, selling a "Friday" ringtone. While Ark founder (and "Friday" co-writer) Patrice Wilson stated that Kelly "will get the masters and the song [ . . . ] [t]hey can have it all", and agreed that Black was not exclusive to Ark, his attorney claimed that Ark owns the copyright for the song and the November agreement is invalid.[31] In June 2011, Ark Music Factory started charging $2.99 to watch the music video on YouTube.[32] Later that month, "Friday" was removed as a result of the legal dispute; it was restored to YouTube on September 16, 2011, on Black's official channel.[33]

"Friday" was revealed as YouTube's No. 1 video of 2011, with Black hosting a short video called "YouTube Rewind" in the year-end recap.[34][35] Despite the over 167 million views during its first four months, prior to its temporary removal,[36] "Friday" had amassed more than 3,190,000 "dislikes".[37] After the fallout with Ark Music Factory, Black started an independent record label named RB Records.[38] She released a self-produced single titled "My Moment" on July 18, 2011, the first on her label, with an accompanying music video published to her YouTube channel the same day.[39] In the video, director Morgan Lawley features real life footage of Black from both before and after her fame.[40] In late October 2011, production began on the music video for Black's third single, "Person of Interest".[41] About the song, Black stated "The basis of it is that it's a love song but it's not a love song. It's about almost teenage crushes — when you're not in love yet but you really like a guy — which I'm really excited about because I don't think there are too many out like that. It's very much a dance type song. It will make you get up and dance and sing along in your car."[42] The single and its accompanying music video were released on November 15, 2011.[43] Black released two more singles in 2012: "Sing It" in May,[44] and "In Your Words" in November.[45][46][47] Black was planning to release her debut album in late 2011, which she said would include "a bunch of different kinds of stuff."[48] The album was being recorded at a studio belonging to music producer Charlton Pettus.[49] However, the album was never released. Black was featured in an ABC Primetime Nightline: Celebrity Secrets special entitled Underage and Famous: Inside Child Stars' Lives.[50]

2012–present: YouTuber videos

In 2012, Black signed onto the Maker Studios YouTube network.[51] She was also brought to Australia by Telstra to promote the launch of their 4G service.[52] Zeitgeist, which sorted billions of Google searches to capture the year's 10 fastest-rising global queries, listed Black as "#1 Most Searched - Google". The searches for the teen singer topped even those of pop icons Lady Gaga and Adele.[53] In late 2013, Black released the song "Saturday". For her sequel to "Friday", she collaborated with Dave Days.[54][55] It became Black's second song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 55. While it reached a higher position than "Friday" (number 58), "Saturday" was on the chart only one week, compared to six for "Friday".[56] Aside from her original music, Black has been posting videos regularly on her YouTube channel, which include blogs (sometimes with other people on YouTube), question-and-answer videos, and occasional covers of songs by other artists.[57] This includes her versions of two Miley Cyrus songs from 2013. That July, Black collaborated with fellow YouTube personality Jon D in an acoustic cover of "We Can't Stop", for which lyrical changes were made.[58] Black followed with an acoustic version of "Wrecking Ball" in November.[59]

At VidCon 2015, Black revealed that she had been working on an album which she hoped to release by the end of 2015. According to her, the album won't be anything like her previous songs. She had been working on the album since releasing her song Friday; however, but it took her a while to be free from Ark Music Factory and find producers with whom she was comfortable.[60] However, no album or new original songs were released. Towards the end of 2015, Black performed a cover of "Wild" by Troye Sivan.[61]

Philanthropy

Black pledged to donate profits from the sales of her song "Friday" towards her school, El Rancho Charter School, and shortly after the 2011 Japan earthquake, to emergency relief in that country.[62]

Filmography

Web
Year Title Role Notes
2012–present Rebecca[63] Herself
2014 Fine Brothers Herself YouTubers React session (Season 3)[64]
Films
Year Title Role Notes
2012 Katy Perry: Part of Me Herself Documentary
2013 Legend of a Rabbit Penny Voice (English dub)

Discography

Singles

Title Year Peak chart positions Album
US
[65]		 US
Heat.
[66]		 AUS
Digital
[67]		 CAN
[68]		 IRL
[69]		 NZ
[21]		 SCO
[70]		 UK
[22]
"Friday" 2011 58 1 40 61 46 33 45 60 Non-album singles
"My Moment" — — — — — — — —
"Person of Interest" — — — — — — — —
"Sing It" 2012 — — — — — — — —
"In Your Words" — — — — — — — —
"Saturday"
(with Dave Days)		 2013 55 2 — — — — — —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

Music videos

List of music videos, showing year released and director
Title Year Director Notes
"Friday" 2011 Patrice Wilson and Clarence Jey[71]
"Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)" Marc Klasfeld[72] Guest appearance only; Katy Perry's music video
"My Moment" Morgan Lawley[73]
"Person of Interest" Mazik Self[74]
"Sing It" 2012 Ryan Pesecky[75][76]
"In Your Words"
"Saturday" 2013 Chris Grieder[77]

Awards and nominations

Year Nominated work Event Award Result
2011 "Which Seat Can I Take?" MTV O Music Awards Favorite Animated GIF Nominated
Herself 2011 Teen Choice Awards Choice Web Star Won
J-14 Teen Icon Awards Iconic Web Star Nominated
2012 Hollywood Teen TV Awards Favorite Breakout Star

References

  1. ↑ Black, Rebecca (2011-03-21). "Twitter: Rebecca Black (verified account)". Retrieved 2011-03-24.
  2. ↑ Whitworth, Dan (2011-03-21). "'Worst song ever' gets 29m views after going viral". BBC. Retrieved 2011-04-02.
  3. ↑ Pierce, Tony (2011-03-18). "Rebecca Black, teen singer, admits she cried when her hit song was deemed 'Worst Song Ever'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2011-04-02.
  4. ↑ AFP (2011-03-22). "'Worst song ever' tops 30 million views". ABC News Australia. Retrieved 2011-04-02.
  5. ↑ http://www.youtube.com/rebecca
  6. ↑ "Twitter". 2012-01-18. Retrieved 2011-01-20.
  7. 1 2 Belkin, Lisa (2011-03-25). "An Internet Star's Mom Responds". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
  8. ↑ Hall, Stan (2011-03-25). "As 'Friday' finally fades, a look back at an old little meme". The Oregonian (Advance Publications). Retrieved 2011-03-28.
  9. 1 2 3 4 rebecca (June 28, 2013). DRAW MY LIFE - REBECCA BLACK on YouTube. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
  10. ↑ "Tumblr: stay lovely.". 2011-03-09. Retrieved 2011-03-10.
  11. ↑ "Terra: Rebecca Black tiene origen mexicano.". 2011-03-30. Retrieved 2012-01-10.
  12. ↑ "Rebecca Black ran toward 'stuff' like VMAs, not away from bullies". Los Angeles Times. August 2011.
  13. ↑ "Rebecca Black opts for homeschooling after taunts". New York Post. 2011-08-10
  14. ↑ Lee, Chris (2011-03-17). "Rebecca Black: 'I'm Being Cyberbullied'". The Daily Beast. The Newsweek Daily Beast Company. Retrieved 2011-03-18.
  15. ↑ Chelin, Pamela (2011-04-01). "Exclusive: Rebecca Black Fighting Ark Music Factory Over 'Friday'". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. Retrieved 2011-09-07.
  16. ↑ Gello, Lee-Maree (2011-03-15). "Rebecca Black Friday Song Is Top Twitter Trending Topic YouTube". The Sydney Morning Herald (Fairfax Media). Retrieved 2011-03-24.
  17. ↑ Perpetua, Matthew (2011-03-15). "Why Rebecca Black's Much Mocked Viral Hit Is Actually Good". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
  18. ↑ Peoples, Glen (2011-03-22). "Rebecca Black's First Week Sales High But Not In Millions". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
  19. ↑ Rebecca Black (performer) (2011-03-22). "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno". The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. NBC.
  20. ↑ Trust, Gary (2011-03-23). "Lady Gaga, 'Glee' Songs Dominate Hot 100". Billboard (New York: Prometheus Global Media). Retrieved 2011-02-23.
  21. 1 2 "Rebecca Black – Friday". Charts.org.nz. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2011-03-23.
  22. 1 2 "Official UK Singles - Rebecca". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2011-03-27.
  23. ↑ Wright, David. "Rebecca Black, 'Friday' Singer, Receiving Death Threats". ABC News. Retrieved 2011-04-21.
  24. ↑ "Rebecca Black Death Threats Under Investigation". Uk.eonline.com. 2011-04-19. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
  25. ↑ Angelo, Megan. "'Friday or Die': Rebecca Black takes over Funny or Die". Business Insider. Silicon Alley Insider, Inc. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
  26. ↑ "Rebecca Black Gets Career Boost From Ryan Seacrest". Retrieved 2011-06-15.
  27. ↑ "Rebecca Black to Justin Bieber: 'Would you do a duet with me?'". The Ampersand. Retrieved 2011-04-16.
  28. ↑ Curran, Aimee. "Rebecca Black Says O Music Awards Had 'Great Energy': Online sensation also talks about her 'awkward' newfound fame.". Retrieved 2011-06-15.
  29. ↑ Billboard.com
  30. ↑ Halperin & Goldberg, Shirley & Lesley. "'Glee' Cover of Rebecca Black's 'Friday,' Explained". Retrieved 2011-06-15.
  31. ↑ "Exclusive: Rebecca Black Fighting Ark Music Factory Over 'Friday'". Rolling Stone. April 1, 2011. Retrieved April 1, 2011.
  32. ↑ "Rebecca Black's "Friday" removed from YouTube". BBC. June 20, 2011. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  33. ↑ "Rebecca Black – Friday (Official Video)". YouTube. 2011-09-16. Retrieved 2011-09-18.
  34. ↑ "Rebecca Black tops all other YouTube videos in '11 – Yahoo! News". Old.news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2012-01-05.
  35. ↑ "YouTube Rewind 2011". YouTube. December 20, 2011. Retrieved June 20, 2014.
  36. ↑ "Why Rebecca Black's "Friday" Was Yanked Off YouTube". Us Weekly. June 17, 2011. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  37. ↑ "Rebecca Black Pulls Friday Music Video Off YouTube". WooEB News. 2011-06-17. Retrieved 2012-01-10.
  38. ↑ Wilson, Jess. "Rebecca Black doesn't look like THIS anymore - see Friday hitmaker's dramatic image overhaul". OK!. Retrieved January 16, 2016.
  39. ↑ "My Moment – Official Music Video". YouTube. 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2011-09-18.
  40. ↑ Alan Duke, "Rebecca Black's 'Moment' comes next Monday", CNN Entertainment, 2011-07-11
  41. ↑ "Rebecca Black Coming With New Music Video". andPOP. 2011-10-29. Retrieved 2011-11-01.
  42. ↑ "Rebecca Black to Release Debut Album in November". PopCrush. 2011-10-29. Retrieved 2011-11-01.
  43. ↑ "Rebecca Black". Rebecca Black. 2011-11-04. Retrieved 2011-11-05.
  44. ↑ "Sing It". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2012-04-30.
  45. ↑ "Rebecca Black Returns, Releases "In Your Words"". The Hollywood Gossip. 2012-11-23. Retrieved 2013-03-18.
  46. ↑ "iTunes - Music - In Your Words - Single by Rebecca Black". Itunes.apple.com. 2012-11-23. Retrieved 2013-03-18.
  47. ↑ "New Music: Rebecca Black - 'In Your Words'". Directlyrics.com. 2012-11-23. Retrieved 2013-03-18.
  48. ↑ Kaufman, Amy (2011-08-28). "Rebecca Black ran toward 'stuff' like VMAs, not away from bullies". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2011-09-07.
  49. ↑ Associated Press (2011-04-29). "Rebecca Black recording new tunes". Dawn. Archived from the original on May 5, 2011. Retrieved 2011-09-09.
  50. ↑ Canning, Andrea (2011-08-09). "Rebecca Black, YouTube Sensation Turned Award-Winning Pop Star, Talks About Growing Fame and Harassment". ABC News. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
  51. ↑ "rebecca YouTube Stats by SocialBlade". Retrieved 2012-08-14.
  52. ↑ "The Fun has just begun – 4G". Telstra. Archived from the original on November 30, 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-25.
  53. ↑ "Google Zeitgeist 2011". Google. 2011.
  54. ↑ Rutherford, Kevin (December 7, 2013). "Rebecca Black Finally Makes It to the Weekend With 'Saturday': Watch". Billboard.com. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  55. ↑ "Saturday - Rebecca Black & Dave Days - Official Music Video". YouTube. December 7, 2013. Retrieved June 21, 2014.
  56. ↑ Lipshutz, Jason (March 21, 2014). "10 Viral Video Hits That Charted On The Hot 100". Billboard.com. Retrieved June 22, 2014.
  57. ↑ "YouTube channel video list". Retrieved 2012-08-13.
  58. ↑ James Montgomery (July 8, 2013). "Miley Cyrus' 'We Can't Stop' Gets Cleaned Up By Rebecca Black". MTV News. Viacom. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  59. ↑ "Wrecking Ball - Miley Cyrus - (Cover) by Rebecca Black". YouTube. Google. November 8, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  60. ↑ http://www.ew.com/article/2015/07/23/rebecca-black
  61. ↑ Video on YouTube
  62. ↑ "Rebecca Black to donate Friday proceeds to Japan". Marie Claire. 2011-03-25. Retrieved 2012-05-28.
  63. ↑ "YouTube star Rebecca Black is back again". NME. Retrieved July 31, 2013.
  64. ↑ "Spoiler Alert: The Fine Brothers Are Rising Stars Online". Streaming Media. 2013. Retrieved May 8, 2013.
  65. ↑ Peak positions for singles in the US:
  66. ↑ Peaks on Heatseekers Songs:
  67. ↑ "The ARIA Report: Week Commencing 28 March 2011" (PDF). Pandora Archive. Retrieved 2011-07-18.
  68. ↑ "Nielsen Canadian Charts Update" (PDF). Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 2011-03-24.
  69. ↑ "GfK Chart-Track". Irish Recorded Music Association. GfK. Retrieved 2011-04-01.
  70. ↑ "27 March 2011 - 02 April 2011". officialcharts.com. Retrieved 2011-03-27.
  71. ↑ Smith, Russell (March 16, 2011). "How to be an instant Internet superstar – for a fee". The Globe and Mail (Toronto). Retrieved March 17, 2011.
  72. ↑ Vena, Jocelyn (June 20, 2011). "Katy Perry's 'Last Friday Night' Video: Frame By Frame". MTV. Retrieved June 22, 2011.
  73. ↑ Duke, Alan (July 11, 2011). "Rebecca Black's 'Moment' comes next Monday". CNN Entertainment. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
  74. ↑ "Mazik-Self-Aviary". Boulevard Industries. Archived from the original on March 18, 2013. Retrieved 2012-10-11.
  75. ↑ "Rebecca Black - Sing It". Ryan Pesecky. June 20, 2011. Retrieved June 22, 2011.
  76. ↑ "Rebecca Black - In Your Words". Ryan Pesecky. June 20, 2011. Retrieved June 22, 2011.
  77. ↑ Video on YouTube
  78. ↑ "O Music Award for Favorite Animated GIF". Tj.mtv.com. 2011-04-26. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
  79. ↑ Mendoza, Nadia (2011-08-08). "A baby Gaga in the making? US actress Lucy Hale makes a fashion statement with heelless shoes at Teen Choice Awards". Daily Mail (Associated Newspapers). Retrieved 2011-08-08.

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