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Many Fridays have passed since Rebecca Black's viral so bad it's good hit got everyone talking in 2011. Rather than fade into obscurity, the singer has found her way and flourished. After its release, Friday went viral thanks to some attention from comedian Daniel Tosh. Some artists worked forever to get in the spotlight. Others have their mom pay a shitty producer four grand to make a music video for their not especially talented daughter. As the video for the song racked up views, Black experienced a wave of hate. Her song was dubbed the worst song ever, an unofficial accolade that stung the singer, who was still only 13. Black told the Daily Beast, "Those hurtful comments really shocked me. At times, it
feels like I'm being cyberbullied." When Good Morning America asked about the worst things people said to her, she answered, "I hope you cut yourself and I hope you get an eating disorder so you'll look pretty." Black shed many tears over the online abuse. It's hard to watch. I became unbelievably depressed. The hateful comments eventually intensified into death threats. Police were reportedly called in to investigate a threatening email and phone call made to Ark Music Factory, the company that produced Friday. Anaheim police spokesman Rick Martinez told Reuters, "We're going to investigate and determine number one, the source of the comments. If we
believe they were actually intended as threats, we will work toward prosecution." Ultimately, no arrests were made. But as cyber security expert Perry AFAB told MTV News, it can be very hard to tell the difference between people anonymously letting off steam online and a genuine threat. All this over a song by a teenager about a day of the week. Black's fortune started looking up when she was invited to appear on Ryan Serest 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 lifeline. TMC reported that Serest connected Black with manager Deborah Bomb of DB Entertainment. Eventually, the host became something of a mentor for the young singer. He even helped set up her
Twitter account. Black told people, "He was really sweet. 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 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 later, and a photographer snagged photos of her looking dejected. A few months after Friday dropped, Black got the chance to appear alongside an artist who could lend her some credibility. Katy Perry's Last Friday Night was the fifth single from her third studio album. By that 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, but Black's friends confirmed to the Hollywood Reporter that it was really her. The following month, Perry surprised fans during her show at LA's Microsoft Theater by bringing Black on the stage to perform a Friday duet. Perry called Black infamous while introducing her, and the audience seemed delighted to see her. Countless popular parody versions of Friday appeared on YouTube in the weeks and months after Black's autotuned O to The Weekend
debuted. But one of the most talked about covers of Friday was one that wasn't directly making fun of Black. If anything, it was a tribute. On the prom episode in the second season of Glee, the characters Puck, Arty, and Sam performed a vamped up version of the song. So many people reportedly questioned the inclusion of the song that series co-creator Ryan Murphy was forced to address the decision. He told the Hollywood Reporter, "There's a rule for it that's explained in the show. 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. He said the show pays tribute to pop culture and love it or hate it, that song is pop culture. Despite the negative response, Friday made top dollar via video views and downloads. Black had signed with the affforementioned 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 in a suit that Ark failed to provide promised master recordings and was exploiting the young singer's likeness. The magazine reached out to
Ark founder Patrice Wilson, who said she will get the masters in the song. They can have it all. Ark's lawyer, Barry Rothman, sang a different tune, though, claiming Black and her mother were in the wrong. He said, "They say they own the composition. Nothing could be further from the truth. 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. The Friday video was briefly taken off YouTube in June 2011, but was back by that September, seemingly as the legal dispute was settled behind closed doors. Things didn't work out between Black and DB Entertainment. None of the follow-up tracks released under their banner
napped 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. 2013's Saturday, which features fellow YouTube musician Dave Days, poked fun at the song that made Black infamous. Music journalist Grant Humphre told The Independent that Black wasn't just laughing at herself in the new video. She was being savvy and using Friday's notoriety for financial gain. Humphre theorized, "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." Most critics were a little kinder to her follow-up song, but black still faced backlash over the content of the video. Some construed it as racist. It features the young singer attending a suburban house party with a guest list that is almost exclusively white. There is one black actor in the video and he gets arrested by white police officers at the end. After she turned 15, Black felt comfortable enough to come face to face with her cyber bullies. As part of a TV show that never made it on the air, she sat down with a woman who had insulted everything from her wardrobe to her
physical appearance. Black told the New York Post, "When I was 15, I was filming a project where people meet their haters in real life. 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." 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. She said in a now private video, "Well, as you can see, I'm pretty good with taking hate. I don't really care if anyone
hates me. It's been 3 and 1/2 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 2015 when she started turning up at events like that year's American Music Awards, looking all grown up. I think I'm more than ready to finally get out there and show people like what's to come and what to expect. Cosmopolitan picked up on Black's new style, praising what she wore to the 2016 Makea-Wish fashion show in Los Angeles. the publication noted. 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. US Weekly also attended the charity bash and was equally blown away by Black's evolution, writing, "To complete her style, the songstress wore her collarbone length dark brown dresses down in soft curls and modeled an elegant smoky eye with a glossy mauve lip." In September 2017, Black released her first EP. Rebel is a collection of songs inspired by her trials and tribulations. Black told Refinery 29, "Every song has its own meaning, has its own story, has its own message and purpose. 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." Black Sound had clearly matured. She told Pop Crush, "I listen to a lot of indie music, actually, and I like to bring things like that to my music even more. I also love electronic music, and I love EDM. Her new material simply couldn't surpass her colossal debut in terms of views. But Black wouldn't have had it any other way." The singer made it clear that while she had evolved as an artist since Friday Hysteria gripped the world, she would never shy away from it. She said, "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." In 2018, Rebecca Black once again put herself in the spotlight 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 Insyncs Bye-bye. Judges DJ Khaled, Megan Trainer, and the now disgraced P. Diddy all sent her through to the next round when was apparently a fan of Blacks 2. Oh my god, I'm fangirling so hard. Unfortunately, Trainer's enthusiasm wasn't entirely reciprocated by the studio audience for round two. The viral sensation lost her vocal battle to eventual winner James Graham. However, Black later told Entertainment Tonight
that she had no regrets about competing. The four turned out to be just what she needed. I didn't even realize it until like I started crying on stage was how healing that was for me. Black also took to X to express her gratitude at the warm reception she got from the viewers at home, writing, "Thank you for hearing me, for seeing me. This is just the beginning." Plenty of musicians would try to distance themselves from a song that made them the butt of the internet's joke, but Rebecca Black has never been afraid to embrace Friday. A decade after its release, the star decided to give the pre-week anthem an upgrade. Black teamed
up with Big Freda 303 and Dorian Electra for a brand new pitch shifted version complete with a suitably bonkers video in which he drives around a city while accompanied by some handdrawn animations and in a nod to the original's remarkable success, a gold record. Black said in a statement to Billboard, "I'd had the idea to do this remix of Friday for years leading up to now, 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. The music press was generally just as enthusiastic with Vulture declaring, "Black and her collaborators have just given us more
silliness and joy." Rolling Stone noted how producer Dylan Brady had warped the sanitized mop pop into something delightfully delirious. After several one-off singles and a couple EPs, Black released her debut album, Let Her Burn, in 2023. And unlike most of her previous output, Rebecca Black decided to do things completely solo. She explained the lack of guest to enemy saying, "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. 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. Black
worked with several hitmaking producers for the 10 track affair, inspired by artists as diverse as pop superstar Lady Gaga, post Dubstep Maestro Burial, and industrial pioneers 9-in Nails. Black 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 viral success into a pop career, Rebecca Black has also reinvented herself as a DJ. Indeed, Black began spinning the decks in 2018 and has since performed at everything
from a DC event for the legendary London club Boiler Room where she debuted a mashup of Friday with Charlie XX's 360 to the iconic festival La Palooa. In an interview with Refinery 29, Black revealed that despite such high-profile gigs, she initially planned to keep her sideline a secret from the public. She said, "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. 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, judging by some rather unfortunate photos from the event, the stars 40-minute afterparty at nowhere at Fontinlau Las Vegas appeared to completely clear the dance floor. 14 years after their brief collaboration on last Friday night, TGIF, Black and Katy Perry reconnected. Perry graced the L-Ray theater leg of Black Salvation Tour for a joint performance of Perry's Party Anthem, and Perry didn't stop there. She also asked Black to offer support on her upcoming Lifetimes tour. Black answered with an enthusiastic yes. Black got to showcase her talents for the majority of Perry's North American dates. She told people that she was left astonished by how much
effort goes into her superstar friend shows, saying, "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. She shared, "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." In a now private 2020 YouTube Q&A, Black was asked about her connection to the LGBTQ community. She replied, "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, though, Black was more direct while guesting on the podcast Dating Straight. To me, the word queer feels really nice. Some days I feel a little bit more on the gay side than others. Black was even more assertive when the topic came up in an interview with NME 5 years later. She said, "I am queer. I am by. I am pan. I am all of those, but I am also gay. Black has performed at various Pride events and compiled a special DJ mix for Apple Music to celebrate Pride 2025. It seems a little hard to believe given that she's been in the public eye for so long, but Rebecca Black is still in her 20s as of the making of this video. In fact, she landed on the prestigious
Forbes 30 under 30 list for 2026. The publication noted that the 28-year-old leveraged early social media virality to reintroduce herself as a forward-thinking imaginative pop artist for the modern era. It may be a while before Black hits the magazine's famed rich list. Though, according to Celebrity Network, the singer has a respectable, if hardly retirement ready, $500,000 to her name. No doubt thanks to DJ gigs and performances on the festival circuit. A big chunk of Black's iTunes and YouTube money from Friday actually made its way to relief funds for the devastating earthquake that struck the coast of Japan in 2011. Black said at the time, "I've always wanted to do something about all natural disasters,
and I realized now is my big opportunity where I can really help." In 2025, while she was accompanying Katy Perry on her Lifetimes tour, people asked Black how she dealt with the pressures of road life, Black directly answered that bedroom activity with her girlfriend was the remedy. But Black was a little koi about actually naming who her girlfriend was in that interview. Two years earlier though, Black confirmed to People that she was dating Veronica Wyman, a VP pop duo Dagger. Black said, "She's my best friend in every sense of the word. I've never been more supported by anybody I've ever been with." Black was equally affusive while discussing her partner in a chat with LGBTQ Nation later that same
year, saying, "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." Black was everyone's favorite punching bag back in 2011, but the cultural stance on her viral song has softened considerably over the years. The track has become a gay bar staple, for example, and can't get much cooler than Tyler the Creator adopting it for a dance break during his performance with the collective Odd Future. In 2021, Enemy 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. That same year, The Atlantic claim the anthem was way ahead of its time, and the reviews for her 2023 debut let her burn were more positive than for many of her peers. So, how does Black feel now that the tides have well and truly turned? She told Fashion magazine in 2025. I think the way taste and time work together creates this fluid relationship. There's an everflowing 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. Even as recently as 2023, she was still trying to come to terms with her stratospheric rise to online infamy. She admitted to DIY Mag that year, "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, Black appears to have found a sense of worth. While discussing her second album, Salvation, in a 2025 interview with Euphoria, the star talked of being long overdue for some awards attention. She said, "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." Black has kept herself visible, too, appearing as a contestant on Jeopardy YouTube edition in March 2026. YouTube and I have her history. You know, she can't get rid of me.
