Rebecca Black
| Rebecca Black | |
|---|---|
Black in 2014
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Rebecca Renee Black |
| Born |
June 21, 1997 Irvine, California, United States |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) |
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| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 2010–present |
| Labels |
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Rebecca Renee Black (born June 21, 1997) is an American YouTuber and singer who gained extensive media attention with her 2011 single "Friday". After its music 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". 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.
Black was born in Irvine, California. She is the daughter of John Jeffery Black and Georgina Marquez Kelly, both veterinarians. Her mother is of Mexican descent, and her father, originally from Iowa, is of English, Italian, and Polish descent. 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." In April 2011, Black dropped out in favor of homeschooling, citing both a need to focus on her career and a desire to avoid taunts from her former classmates. Black was also failing English class due to her busy schedule.
In late 2010, a classmate of Black and music-video client of Los Angeles record label ARK Music Factory told her about the company. 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. 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, and garnering mostly negative media coverage. The single was released on March 14, with first-week sales estimated to be around 40,000 by Billboard. 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. The song peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 and the New Zealand Singles Chart at numbers 58 and 33, respectively. In the UK, the song debuted at number 61 on the UK Singles Chart. In response to the YouTube video of "Friday", Black began to receive phone and email death threats, which were investigated by the Anaheim Police Department. 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. She signed to manager Debra Baum's DB Entertainment, reportedly with Ryan Seacrest's help.
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