Rebecca Black

Over a ten-year period, Rebecca Black progressed from a Californian singer-songwriter recognized for a novelty breakout into a forward-thinking pop creator. Instant prominence arrived in 2011 while she was still a young teen, courtesy of the widely circulated smash “Friday,” which ranked among the decade’s most lasting singles. Additional Billboard-charting tracks followed as she worked to move beyond one-hit-wonder status. In her later teenage years she surfaced again with grown-up, introspective electro-pop on cuts such as 2016’s “The Great Divide” and 2019’s “Anyway,” a direction that continued on the 2021 EP Rebecca Black Was Here. By 2023 the reinvention was complete with the arrival of her first official full-length, the hyperpop-focused Let Her Burn.

Born in Irvine, California, to veterinarian parents, Black developed an early fascination with musical theater while still in school. At age 13 in 2010 she laid down “Friday” and its video through Ark Music Factory, the L.A.-based label and production house whose roster included aspiring pop vocalists. Uploaded online in February 2011, the clip—which highlighted weekend gatherings with friends—quickly spread across the Internet and later appeared on Billboard’s Hot 100 while claiming top-video honors for that year on a major platform. Appearances on The Tonight Show, Funny or Die, and a Katy Perry video followed, and the track received a cover on an episode of the musical sitcom Glee.

After ending her association with Ark Music Factory, Black started her own independent label and kept issuing singles, among them the streaming success “My Moment,” “Sing It,” and 2013’s “Saturday,” a follow-up to her breakthrough that also reached the Hot 100. She maintained a steady presence on her video channel with regular covers of artists including Miley Cyrus and Drake.

Black resurfaced in 2016 with a more seasoned vocal approach and refined electro-pop on “The Great Divide,” which accumulated millions of streams; a Crash Cove remix later climbed to the Top 40 of Billboard’s dance chart in 2017. The same year saw the guitar-pop EP RE/BL. Subsequent releases included 2017 collaborations with Alex Goot and Kurt Schneider on “The Middle” and with Matt Bloyd on “Rewrite the Stars,” plus several solo pieces in 2019 highlighted by the heartfelt “Anyway.”

A feature on Dorian Electra’s “Edgelord” arrived in 2020, the year Jam in the Van also released her four-track live session recorded in Los Angeles. Early 2021 brought the self-released solo single “Girlfriend,” while a hyperpop remix of “Friday” marking its tenth anniversary enlisted 3OH!3, Dorian Electra, New Orleans bounce queen Big Freedia, and producer Dylan Brady of 100 gecs. That same vitality informed the 2021 EP Rebecca Black Was Here and set the stage for 2023, when Black issued her official debut album Let Her Burn, a set of hyperpop tracks featuring production by Stint (Carly Rae Jepsen, Zara Larsson), Micah Jasper, and others.