Millions of people know Rebecca Black as the 14-year-old girl whose catchy song “Friday” stuck in their heads. What they don’t know about this teenager from Anaheim Hills, California is that she has been performing since she was a toddler and is dedicated to a career in music.
Rebecca began dance classes at 3 years old; she started piano at 7 and has continued with vocal lessons since the age of 9. She attended two years of Musical Theater Camps at the Orange County School for Performing Arts as well as various other programs in both Southern California and New York.
She recorded her first song “Friday” thinking only her family and close friends would see it. Unbeknownst to her and her parents, the video was uploaded to YouTube and went viral within a month. She was shocked by the attention the video received. Artists such as Nick and Joe Jonas tweeted the lyrics and performed “Friday” in concert, as did Justin Bieber. Lady Gaga told a group at Google headquarters, “Rebecca Black is genius.” She was booked on Ryan Seacrest’s radio show and Jay Leno invited her to be a guest on his couch, as well. Even the mega-hit TV show, “Glee,” performed “Friday.” Black was indeed an overnight star.
Rebecca then put out her second single titled “My Moment” and within the first 36 hours after release it had over 6 million views on YouTube. She has since released her third single, “Person of Interest” and even performed her hit song “Friday” on stage with Katy Perry at Katy’s sold-out concert in Los Angeles. She has also won Choice Web Star at the 2011 Teen Choice Awards and was named Variety’s 2011 “Youth Impact Honoree.”
Rebecca rounded out 2011 as the #1 fastest growing search on Google’s Zeitgeist 2011. She also landed the #1 spot on YouTube’s Rewind 2011 for Friday being the most watched video.
At the top of 2012, Rebecca released her newest single, “Sing It,” which debuted on E! News on May 7. While continuing to be one of the biggest female names on YouTube, she is looking forward to what the rest of 2012 has to bring.