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Rebecca Black

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Rebecca Black

Rebecca Black (born June 21, 1997) is an American pop singer who gained worldwide notoriety with her 2011 single "Friday". Her mother reportedly paid $4000 to have the single and an accompanying music video put out as a vanity release through the record label ARK Music Factory. The song was co-written and produced by Clarence Jey and Patrice Wilson of ARK Music Factory. 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".[1][2][3] The music video, uploaded to YouTube, has received more than 147 million views (as of May 23, 2011) causing Black to gain international attention as a "viral star". The official video of "Friday" on YouTube has over 2.8 million dislikes as of May 22, 2011. The song was released as a single and made the Billboard Hot 100 and other charts.[4][5]

Early life

Rebecca Black was born on June 21, 1997,[6][7] in Anaheim, California.[7] She is the daughter of John Jeffery Black and Georgina Marquez Kelly, both veterinarians,[8][9] and is of Spanish, Italian, Polish, and English descent.[10] An honor student,[7] Black studied dance, auditioned for school shows, attended music summer camps, and began singing publicly in 2008 after joining the patriotic group Celebration USA.[7]

Music career

In late 2010, a classmate of Black and music-video client of ARK Music Factory, a Los Angeles label, told her about the company.[11] Black's mother paid $4,000 for Ark Music to produce her daughter's music video while the Blacks retained ownership of the master.[9] 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.[7] The video went viral on March 11, 2011, acquiring millions of views on YouTube in a matter of days, becoming the most-talked-about topic on social networking site Twitter,[12] and garnering mostly negative media coverage.[13] As of May 10, 2011, the video had received more than 2.7 million dislikes on YouTube compared to more than 370 thousand likes.[14] As of March 22, 2011, first-week sales of her digital single were estimated to be around 40,000 by Billboard.[15] Black appeared on the March 22, 2011 episode of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, during which she performed the single and discussed the negative reaction to it.[16] The song has peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 and the New Zealand Singles Chart at number 58 and 33, respectively.[17][18] In the UK, the song debuted at number sixty-one on the UK Singles Chart.[19]

By March 25, 2011, Black hired a publicist and a manager. Her manager John McEntee, president of TEI Entertainment, Anaheim, California confirmed that he has been contacted by songwriters and record labels with ideas for more songs and an album.[20] In an interview with The Sun, Black said that she is recording a new song for possible release as a single. She is currently working without a record deal. She also said that she is preparing materials for her debut album at Flying Pig Productions studio in Los Angeles containing songs with themes similar to that of "Friday", as she wants it to be "appropriate and clean."[21] Black teamed up with Funny or Die on April Fools Day (the site was renamed Friday or Die) for a series of videos, including one which addresses the controversy about the driving kids in her music video, stating "We so excited about safety."[22] She has also stated that she is a fan of Justin Bieber, and expressed interest in performing a duet with him.[23] The television series Glee covered "Friday" because, according to series co-creator Ryan Murphy, "The show pays tribute to pop culture and, love it or hate it, that song is pop culture."[24]

In response to the YouTube video of "Friday", Black began to receive death threats in late February 2011, specifically by phone and email.[25] While there were a number of negative, and many violent, comments on the YouTube video itself, none of the comments were specific to Black or direct in their threat of violence. These threats are being investigated by the Anaheim Police Department.[26] As of May 17, 2011, commenting on the video has been disabled. She has also written another song titled "Prom Night". It is unknown when the song was recorded or released.

Discography

Singles

Title Year Peak chart positions
AUS
Digital
[27] 		CAN
[28] 		IRL
[29] 		NZ
[18] 		UK
[19] 		US
[30]
"Friday" 2011 40 61 46 33 60 58

Awards and nominations

MTV O Music Awards

The MTV O Music Awards are one of the major annual awards established by MTV to honor the art, creativity, personality and technology of music into the digital space.

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2011 50 Cent, Rebecca Black, Bert Favorite Animated GIF Nominated

References

  1. ^ Whitworth, Dan (March 21, 2011). "'Worst song ever' gets 29m views after going viral". BBC. Retrieved April 2, 2011.
  2. ^ Pierce, Tony (March 18, 2011). "Rebecca Black, teen singer, admits she cried when her hit song was deemed 'Worst Song Ever'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 2, 2011.
  3. ^ AFP (March 22, 2011). "'Worst song ever' tops 30 million views". ABC News Australia. Retrieved April 2, 2011.
  4. ^ "Rebecca Black 'Friday' Beats Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber On YouTube". gigwise.com. April 12, 2011. Retrieved April 12, 2011.
  5. ^ Wei, William (April 1, 2011). "op Viral Videos of the Week: Rebecca Black 'Friday'". San Francisco Chronicle. Hearst Corporation. Retrieved April 4, 2011.
  6. ^ Black, Rebecca (March 21, 2011). "Twitter: Rebecca Black (verified account)". Retrieved March 24, 2011.
  7. ^ a b c d e Larsen, Peter (March 17, 2011). "O.C.'s Rebecca Black Talks About Friday". The Orange County Register. Freedom Communications. Retrieved March 26, 2011.
  8. ^ Hall, Stan (March 25, 2011). "As 'Friday' finally fades, a look back at an old little meme". The Oregonian. Advance Publications. Retrieved March 28, 2011.
  9. ^ a b Belkin, Lisa (March 25, 2011). "An Internet Star's Mom Responds". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved March 28, 2011.
  10. ^ Black, Rebecca. "Tweet". Official Twitter. Twitter.com.
  11. ^ Lee, Chris (March 17, 2011). "Rebecca Black: 'I'm Being Cyberbullied'". The Daily Beast. The Newsweek Daily Beast Company. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
  12. ^ Gello, Lee-Maree (March 15, 2011). "Rebecca Black Friday Song Is Top Twitter Trending Topic Youtube". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved March 24, 2011.
  13. ^ Perpetua, Matthew (March 15, 2011). "Why Rebecca Black's Much Mocked Viral Hit Is Actually Good". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. Retrieved March 28, 2011.
  14. ^ "Rebecca Black - Friday (OFFICIAL VIDEO)". YouTube. February 10, 2011. Retrieved May 10, 2011.
  15. ^ Peoples, Glen (March 22, 2011). "Rebecca Black's First Week Sales High But Not In Millions". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved March 28, 2011.
  16. ^ Rebecca Black (performer) (March 22, 2011). "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno". The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. NBC. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  17. ^ Trust, Gary (March 23, 2011). "Lady Gaga, 'Glee' Songs Dominate Hot 100". Billboard. New York: Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
  18. ^ a b "Rebecca Black – Friday". Charts.org.nz. Hung Medien. Retrieved March 23, 2011. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  19. ^ a b "Official UK Singles Top 100 – 2 April 2011". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 27, 2011.
  20. ^ Mitchell, Gail; Peoples, Glenn (March 25, 2011). "Rebecca Black Looks To Move Beyond 'Friday'". Billboard. New York: Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved March 27, 2011.
  21. ^ "Rebecca Black following 'Friday' with 'LOL' single and album". New Musical Express. Time Inc. March 26, 2011. Retrieved March 28, 2011.
  22. ^ Angelo, Megan. "'Friday or Die': Rebecca Black takes over Funny or Die". Business Insider. Silicon Alley Insider, Inc. Retrieved April 3, 2011.
  23. ^ "Rebecca Black to Justin Bieber: 'Would you do a duet with me?'". The Ampersand. Retrieved 16th April 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  24. ^ Halperin, Shirley. "'Glee' Cover of Rebecca Black's 'Friday,' Explained". Billboard.com. Retrieved May 9, 2011.
  25. ^ Wright, David. "Rebecca Black, 'Friday' Singer, Receiving Death Threats". ABC News. Retrieved April 21, 2011.
  26. ^ Rebecca Black Death Threats Under Investigation
  27. ^ "Top Digital Track Chart". Australian Record Industry Association. Retrieved March 28, 2011.
  28. ^ "Nielsen Canadian Charts Update" (PDF). Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved March 24, 2011.
  29. ^ "GfK Chart-Track". Irish Recorded Music Association. GfK. Retrieved April 1, 2011.
  30. ^ "Top 100 Music Hits, 71–80". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved March 31, 2011.

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