Whatever Happened To Rebecca Black?

Back in 2011, a young girl named Rebecca Black became famous for all the wrong reasons. An aspiring pop star, Black's life was changed forever when her mother paid a local recording company $4,000 to produce a song and music video for the 13-year-old Californian. The result is now the stuff of internet infamy.

The video for "Friday" went viral after it was lambasted by Comedy Central's Daniel Tosh. Millions mocked it. Black's song became the most discussed topic in the Twittersphere (despite a major earthquake rocking Japan). The original video was taken down following the intense backlash but uploaded again a few months later. As of this writing, it's been viewed a staggering 113 million times.

Black isn't the same little girl who made a fool of herself with her auto-tuned vanity project all those years ago. Let's take a close look at what she's been doing since her big (heart)break.

After "Friday" went viral, Black was swept up in a wave of hate. Her song was dubbed the "worst song ever," an unofficial accolade that stung the tweenager. "Those hurtful comments really shocked me," Black told the Daily Beast. "At times, it feels like I'm being cyberbullied." 

When "Good Morning America" asked about the worst things people said to her, she answered (via People): "I hope you cut yourself, and I hope you'll get an eating disorder so you'll look pretty." Black shed many tears over the online abuse. "When I first saw all the nasty comments, I did cry," she said. "I don't think I'm the worst singer, but I don't think I'm the best."

The hateful online comments eventually intensified into genuine death threats. Police were reportedly called in to investigate a threatening email and phone call made to Ark Music Factory, the company that created the song with Black. "In essence the threats were related to getting the music off the internet or they were going to kill her," Anaheim Police spokesman Rick Martinez told Reuters. "We're going to investigate and determine, number one, the source of the comments and then based on the investigation determine what intent was and where we go from here. If we believe they were actually intended as threats we will work toward prosecution."

No arrests were made. "They think they can get away with it and that's because they often do get away with it," cyber-security expert Parry Aftab told MTV News. "A death threat is actionable in every state, and when someone like Justin Bieber or Rebecca Black gets them, they tend to brush them off as someone who is on the internet and doesn't matter, but you don't know the difference between someone wearing Pokemon pajamas and living in their mom's basement who is harmless and people who are really nutty enough to kill you."

Black's fortunes took a turn for the better when she was invited to appear on Ryan Seacrest's radio show. The American Idol host knew all about the pain that aspiring pop stars endure, and after the interview, he decided to throw her a huge bone. 

"Ryan hooked Rebecca up with Debra Baum, a manager with DB Entertainment," TMZ reported. Seacrest turned into something of a mentor for Black, even taking it upon himself to set up a Twitter account for her. "He was really sweet," the singer told People. "That was my first follower, I believe."

Black had already made an estimated $20,000 from "Friday," and landing a legit manager should have been a dream come true for her, but it's hard to enjoy your newfound success when millions of people don't think you deserve it. The teenager attended her brother's Little League game in Los Angeles just days after signing the deal with DB, where she was snapped by a photographer looking down in the dumps.

A few months after "Friday" dropped, Black got the chance to appear alongside an artist with some genuine credibility. Katy Perry's "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F)" was the fifth single from her third studio album, and by this stage in her career, Perry was already one of the biggest names in pop music. Getting a cameo in the video was a really big deal for Black, but it turned out to be a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment. The YouTube sensation only pops up for a split second toward the beginning of the video, but Black's friends confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that it was really her.

The following month, Perry surprised fans during her show at L.A.'s Microsoft Theater (known as the Nokia Theater at the time) by bringing Black onto the stage to perform a "Friday" duet.  "Give it up for the infamous Rebecca Black!" Perry shouted as the teen emerged to sing an acoustic version of her cringe-worthy classic. The audience seemed delighted.

Countless popular parody versions of "Friday" appeared on YouTube in the weeks and months after Black's auto-tuned ode to the weekend debuted. The Annoying Orange and Bart Baker's versions both garnered tens of millions of views. However, one of the most talked about covers of "Friday" was one that wasn't directly making fun of Black. Puck (Mark Salling), Artie (Kevin McHale), and Sam (Chord Overstreet) performed a vamped-up version of the song during prom night on S2 of "Glee." So many people reportedly questioned the inclusion of the song that series co-creator Ryan Murphy was forced to address the decision. 

"There's a rule for it that's explained in the show," Murphy told The Hollywood Reporter. "The [glee club] is hired to perform songs for the prom and they were told by the principal to please do popular songs that the kids know. It's songs that supposedly 17-year-olds are performing for other 17-year-olds, I think younger kids have a definite reaction to that song." Murphy added that Black's much-maligned track had a cultural impact, regardless of whether it was good or not. "The show pays tribute to pop culture and, love it or hate it, that song is pop culture."

Despite the overwhelmingly negative response, "Friday" was making top dollar via views and downloads. Black had signed with the aforementioned DB Entertainment, but Ark Music Factory was still using her image and song to promote its business, which prompted Black's mother, Georgina Marquez Kelly, to take legal action. 

According to Rolling Stone, Kelly alleged that "Ark has failed to provide Black with the master recordings of her song and video; has been exploiting her likeness and her song on YouTube, iTunes, Amazon and Ark's website; created an unauthorized 'Friday' ringtone; and has been advertising Black as an exclusive Ark recording artist on its website."

The music mag reached out to Ark founder Patrice Wilson, who said, "She will get the masters and the song. They can have it all." Ark's lawyer, however, sang a different tune, claiming Black and her mother were in the wrong. "They say they own the composition, nothing could be further from the truth," attorney Barry Rothman said. "If they go forward and license it or attempt to copyright it in their name, that would be copyright infringement and we'd act accordingly under the circumstances."

Things didn't work out for Black with DB Entertainment. None of the follow-up tracks released online under the label's banner nabbed much attention, negative or otherwise. It wasn't until she decided to independently write a spiritual sequel to "Friday" that folks began to remember her name. "Saturday" (which featured fellow YouTube musician Dave Days) poked fun at the song that made Black infamous with lyrics such as, "2 p.m. getting out of my bed, trying to get 'Friday' out of my head."

Music journalist Geraint Humphreys told The Independent that Black wasn't just laughing at herself in the new video; she was actually being savvy and exploiting "Friday's" notoriety for financial gain. "It's hard to know exactly how much money people make from viral videos, but if this is getting millions of hits, then someone, somewhere is definitely making some money off it. And I imagine she will be in some way," Humphreys said.

Most critics were a little kinder to her song this time around (Kevin Rutherford called "Saturday" a "passable piece of Radio Disney-esque pop"), but Black faced backlash over the content of the video, which was construed by many as racist. It features Black attending a suburban house party with a guest list that is almost exclusively white. There is one African-American actor involved in the video, and he gets arrested by white police officers at the end.

When she turned 15, Black felt comfortable enough to come face to face with the cyberbullies of her past. As part of a TV show that ultimately never made it on the air, she sat down with an adult woman who had childishly insulted everything from her wardrobe to her physical appearance in hateful comments.

"When I was 15, I was filming a project where people meet their haters in real life," she told the New York Post. "I spent the day with this woman who was twice my age. She took on everything she didn't like about me—the jumpsuit I was wearing, my hair, my face, everything. All I could do was cry. I was so worn down. The woman looked at me and said, 'I honestly never considered the fact that you were a real person.'"

Black learned to take the abuse in stride and even started reading people's awful comments aloud in YouTube videos, just to prove that it was all sticks and stones to her now.  "Well as you can see I'm pretty good with taking hate," she says. "I don't really care if anyone hates me, it's been three and a half years, I'm still here, I'm still singing. You can say whatever you want about me, but I think I'm sticking around."

While she's remained a constant presence on YouTube, Black didn't return to the mainstream spotlight until 2016, when she started turning up at events looking all grown up. OK magazine did a "double take" when it spotted the 19-year-old gracing the red carpet at the American Music Awards. "The brunette star has blossomed into a total glamazon over the past 5 years," the tab said. 

Cosmopolitan also picked up on Black's new style, praising what she wore to the 2016 Make-A-Wish Fashion Show in Los Angeles. "Needless to say, after five years, Rebecca's whole style and image is more grown up, as she wore a white, cropped shirt and black trousers for the event," the mag said. Us Weekly also attended the charity bash and was equally blown away by Black's evolution. "To complete her style, the songstress wore her collarbone-length dark brown tresses down in soft curls and modeled an elegant smoky eye with a glossy mauve lip," it reported.

In September 2017, Black released her first EP. "RE/BL" is a collection of songs inspired by the singer's trials and tribulations. "Every song has its own meaning, has its own story, has its own message and purpose," she told Refinery 29. "We all go through our own stories, we all deal with our issues...but what makes us all the same is that none of us are living this perfect life that everyone thinks we are."

The lead single "Heart Full of Scars" surpassed 115,000 views within four weeks of being uploaded to YouTube. Black's sound had clearly matured. "I listen to a lot of indie music actually, and I like to bring things like that to my music even more," she told PopCrush. "I also love electronic music, and I love EDM."

It seems highly unlikely that her new material will surpass her colossal debut release in terms of views, but Black wouldn't have it any other way. The singer made it clear that while she has evolved as an artist since "Friday" hysteria gripped the world, she will never shy away from it. "I'll never hate that song and I'll never again be ashamed of that song because I have no idea where I'd be without it," she said.

In 2018, Rebecca Black once again put her head above the parapet when she tried out for the second season of Fox's talent contest "The Four: Battle for Stardom." The singer aced her audition with a rendition of NSYNC's "Bye Bye Bye," with judges including the oft-shady DJ Khaled, the 'happy music hitmaker Meghan Trainor, and the now-disgraced P Diddy all sending her through to the next round. And the latter, in particular, was arguably more excited than the contestant herself.

"Dude! Oh, my God, I'm fangirling so hard," the "All About That Bass" singer declared as Black entered the stage. Unfortunately, Trainor's enthusiasm wasn't entirely reciprocated by the studio audience for round two. The viral sensation lost her vocal battle to one-time boybander and eventual winner James Graham, with the former performing Natalie Imbruglia's "Torn" and the latter Leon Russell's "A Song For You." However, she later told Entertainment Tonight that she had no regrets about competing.

"For so long I was really scared of those kinds of shows and I never thought I would do them," Black revealed. "I went through such a roller coaster after "Friday," and there were just — I really was not ready to do something like that until "The Four" came into my life." She also took to X to express her gratitude at the warm reception she'd received from the viewers at home: "Thank you for hearing me, for seeing me. This is just the beginning."

While many artists would try to distance themselves from a song that made them the butt of the internet's joke, Rebecca Black has never been afraid to embrace "Friday." In fact, a decade on from its release, the star decided to give the weekend anthem a significant spit and polish.

Yes, to celebrate its tenth anniversary, Black teamed up with Big Freedia, 3OH!3, and Dorian Electra for a brand-new, pitch-shifted version complete with a suitably bonkers promo in which she drives around a city (on its road and in its skies) while accompanied by some hand-drawn animations and, in a nod to the original's remarkable success, a gold record.

"I'd had the idea to do this remix of 'Friday' for years leading up to now," Black explained in a statement (via Billboard). "But honestly it was also mildly insane for me to think anyone else would want to be a part of it. As I started talking about it with other artists and producers, I couldn't believe how stoked people were about it." And the music press was generally just as enthusiastic, with Vulture declaring, "Black and her collaborators have just given us more silliness and joy," and Rolling Stone noting how producer Dylan Brady had warped the "sanitized mall pop into something delightfully delirious."

After several one-off singles and the EPs "RE / BL" and "Rebecca Black Was Here," the singer who looked destined to forever be a viral one-hit wonder released her debut album, "Let Her Burn," in 2023. And unlike most of her previous output, Rebecca Black decided to do things completely solo.

"I think there were a few songs that [we were like], 'Oh somebody would be really good on this,' but then it just felt complete when it was done on its own, and it didn't need anything else," Black explained to NME about the record's complete absence of musical guests. "So I don't know if I set out for it to be featureless, but it felt right that it was." Of course, the star did have some help behind the scenes.

Indeed, Black worked with several hitmakers, including Ajay Bhattacharyya, Amy Allen, and Lauren Aqualina for the ten-track affair inspired by artists as diverse as pop superstar Lady Gaga, post-dubstep maestro Burial, and industrial pioneers Nine Inch Nails. And she couldn't have been happier about the whole project coming together, adding, "I spent basically half my life being like, 'What is my album going to sound like' and dreaming of this moment for so long, Hearing it all finished, I think I was surprised by how complete it felt and how right it felt."

Not content with parlaying her child star viral success into a very grown-up hyperpop career, Rebecca Black has also reinvented herself as a DJ. Indeed, the Black began spinning the decks in 2018 and has since performed at everything from legendary London club Boiler Room — where she debuted a mash-up of her signature hit "Friday" with Charli xcx's "360" — to iconic festival Lollapalooza.

In an interview with Refinery29, Black revealed that despite such high-profile gigs, she initially planned to keep her sideline a secret from the public. "... I've mainly used it as a personal creative outlet, and wanted to take my time to learn and get some hours under my belt," she said. "I've always really enjoyed creating environments, and when it came to DJing a house party or club in Los Angeles, it felt so good to not only create the space for everyone else to let go and feel free, but it really helped me become in tune with an audience and learn how to move and change on the fly."

While most audiences have been receptive to this side hustle, partygoers at the American Music Awards appeared to give her the cold shoulder. Indeed, judging by some rather unfortunate photos from the event, the star's 40-minute afterparty at Nowhere at Fontainebleau Las Vegas appeared to completely clear the dancefloor.

Rebecca Black got to live out every teenage girl's dream in 2011 when she was invited to appear in a Katy Perry video — namely the John Hughes-inspired '80s throwback of "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)." But this wouldn't be the last time that the two stars would join forces.

Indeed, 14 years later, Perry, who's recently sent Ozempic rumors into overdrive, decided to return the favor by gracing the El Rey Theatre leg of Black's Salvation tour for a joint performance of the party anthem. And during their celebratory reunion, the former proposed to the latter. Not for her hand in marriage, of course, but instead to ask whether she'd provide support for her own "Lifetimes" tour. Luckily, avoiding any awkward embarrassment, the answer was a resounding 'Yes.'

Black got to showcase her talents for the majority of Perry's North American dates. And she told People that she was left astonished by how much effort goes into her superstar friend's shows: "It takes more than a village. It's multiple cities of people who are working day and night to get these things up. I can't believe she trusts these girls to put her in the sky. It's a lot." It also took the former viral star a while to get accustomed to such huge audiences: "I was so overstimulated the first night and so scared, and by the end it felt so like redeeming to be able to get on and be like, 'This is
just another show.'"

At the beginning of 2020, Rebecca Black was asked about her connection to the LGBTQ community. "You can definitely be on one end of the spectrum or the other ..." she answered on her YouTube page. "With there being a spectrum, there is this huge middle ground where everybody else falls in. I definitely see myself as being on that spectrum."

A few months later, however, Black decided to be a little less vague while guesting on Jack Dodge and Amy Ordman's podcast "Dating Straight." "I made a conscious decision to not, like, 'come out,' but just to ... people started asking and I stopped not responding," she explained (via Teen Vogue). "I think to me the word queer feels really nice. I've dated a lot of different types of people, and I don't really know what the future holds. Some days I feel a little more on the gay side than others."

And Black was even more assertive when the topic came up in an interview with the NME five years later: "If you want to get down to specifics, I am queer, I am bi, I am pan — I am all of those [things]. But I am also gay." The star has performed at various Pride events and compiled a special DJ mix for Apple Music to celebrate Pride 2025.

If you needed any further proof that Rebecca Black, the child star who achieved viral fame for a song regularly cited as the worst of all time, was now a legitimate music act, then look toward Forbes 30 Under 30. In 2026, the Californian made the regular list celebrating the most promising talents in their respective fields, with the business publication noting how she'd "leveraged early social media virality to reintroduce herself as a forward-thinking, imaginative pop artist for the modern era."

So, is there any chance in the future that Black could make the magazine's most famous countdown, the Rich List? Well, it might take some time. According to Celebrity Net Worth, the singer has a respectable if hardly retirement-ready $500,000 to her name, no doubt thanks to her DJing sideline and performances on the festival circuit.

Black may well have had more in the bank if she hadn't donated most of the iTunes and YouTube money she made from "Friday" to relief funds thousands of miles away. "I felt really bad about [it]," she told Entertainment Weekly in 2011, referring to the earthquake and tsunami off the Japanese coast that killed almost 20,000 people. "I've always wanted to do something about all natural disasters, and I realized now is my big opportunity where I can really help."

Rebecca Black certainly isn't shy when discussing her bedroom activities. When asked in 2025 by People how she was dealing with the pressures of supporting the oft-sketchy Katy Perry on her "Lifetimes" tour, the star replied, "I have said it once, and I'll say it again. It is the gay sex that I am so blessed to have that I can look forward to."

However, Black was a little more coy when it came to revealing who she was having all this gay sex with, answering simply, "My girlfriend," when pressed on the matter. Although the star didn't disclose her other half's identity on this occasion, she has previously been a bit more forthcoming.

Two years earlier, Black confirmed to the People that she was dating Veronika Wyman of alt-pop duo DAGR. "She's my best friend in every sense of the word," she gushed shortly after celebrating their first anniversary together. "I've never been more supported by anybody I've ever been with." And she was equally effusive while discussing her partner in a chat with LGBTQ Nation later that same year: "I think what we have in common is that she's deeply emotional and really sensitive, but not in a way that's chaotic. We're just really here to listen to each other."

While Rebecca Black became the internet's number one punching bag in 2011, the response to her viral hit "Friday" and the teen who recorded it has grown far more favorable over the years. The track has become a gay bar staple, for example, while you can't get much cooler than the ever-controversial Tyler, The Creator, adopting it for a dance break during his performances with the collective Odd Future.

In 2021, the NME wrote a glowing endorsement headlined "Why Rebecca Black has been cool all along (and "Friday" is a high-camp masterpiece)," going on to describe the star as "way, way cooler than most of your faves who made dubious decisions early in their careers." That same year, The Atlantic claimed that the weekend anthem was way ahead of its time. While the reviews for her 2023 debut "Let Her Burn" were more positive than for many of her Big Pop Girl peers. 

So how does Black feel now that the tides have well and truly turned? "I think the way taste and time work together creates this fluid relationship," she told Fashion magazine in 2025. "There's an ever-flowing conversation to be had about what relevance taste even has to the goodness of something ... A purposeful lack of taste is also cool."

Rebecca Black understandably developed self-esteem issues in the wake of her accidental viral success. In fact, even as recently as 2023, she was still trying to come to terms with her stratospheric rise to online infamy. 

"I think I've struggled in the past with feeling confident because I've become so comfortable in my own self-deprecation," Black admitted to DIY Mag while promoting her debut album "Let Her Burn." "That is probably one of my biggest goals for myself: to not only internally be able to say that I deserve to be here, but to say that on the outside too."

Thankfully, over the following two years, Black appeared to find a stronger sense of worth. In fact, while discussing her second album "Salvation" in a 2025 interview with Euphoria, the star talked of being long overdue for some awards attention. Referring to her new performance style, the newly-confident star declared, "I mean, God motherf***ing dammit, I like not to toot my own horn, but some of the stuff you haven't even seen deserves an [MTV] VMA and if I don't get to live this on a VMA stage, I will fight myself down until I do in the future."