Rebecca Black

Background

Rebecca Renee Black was born in Irvine, California on June 21, 1997. John Jeffery Black and Georgina Marquez Kelly, both veterinarians, are her parents. Her ancestors are English, Mexican, Polish, and Italian. She went to a private school until sixth grade when she was bullied and had to transfer to a public school, where she joined the musical theater program. Due to constant taunting from her classmates, she later dropped out of school and began homeschooling. She was then able to focus more on her career.

Black’s career began with the publication of her first single, ‘Friday,’ on February 10, 2011. Her mother encouraged her to create the film and even gave ARK $4000 to help her. In its first month on YouTube, the film had over a thousand views. However, it later went viral, garnering a large number of views and subscribers. In early 2011, MTV chose her to host its first online awards ceremony, O Music Awards Fan Army Party. She followed up with hits including ‘My Moment,’ ‘Person of Interest,’ ‘Sing it,’ and ‘In Your Words.’ Telstra invited her to Australia in 2012 and appointed her as an ambassador to promote their 4G service. In the same year, she joined Maker Studios’ YouTube Network. ‘Saturday,’ her follow-up to ‘Friday,’ was released in late 2013. “Katy Perry: Part of Me,” a 3D autobiographical documentary about Katy Perry released in 2012, featured her as herself. In the 2013 animated feature “Legend of a Rabbit,” she voiced the character of “Penny.” She was later cast as herself in the “Fine Brothers in a Web Series” in 2014. She had stated that she would release an album by 2015, which she claimed she had been working on since the release of ‘Friday.’ After ‘Saturday,’ she did not release an album or even a single. With the launch of ‘The Great Divide,’ she made a comeback in 2016, followed by ‘Foolish,’ in 2017.

After the release of ‘Friday,’ Black received death threats via email and phone calls. Fortunately, she had the support of Simone Cowell and Lady Gaga. During an episode of the “Dating Straight” podcast on April 3, 2020, Black came out as queer.