'Friday' Singer Rebecca Black Isn't a Millionaire, but Her Net Worth Proves She's Halfway There

While most of us were popping pimples and figuring out puberty, at the age of 13, Rebecca Black had already launched her music career and amassed thousands of views on YouTube. In 2011, the singer released her viral hit “Friday,” and a decade later, we still can’t get the song out of our heads. 

After releasing the song, the teenager received an outpour of backlash and bullying that Rebecca says has caused long-standing emotional damage. Despite critics of the catchy tune, since initially posting the video, Rebecca’s first single has earned more than 146 million views to date, but fans are dying to know how much success the single actually created for the singer. 

In 2011, Rebecca Black’s mother, Georgina Marquez Kelly, paid $4,000 to launch her daughter’s viral music career, and according to Celebrity Net Worth, the singer is currently worth about $500,000 — proving Rebecca’s mom got a full return on her investment. A report by Slate alleged that the artist made a total of $40,000 from her song, “Friday,” which originally made its online debut via YouTube. 

While the song was written and produced by ARK Music Factory, a recording house based in Los Angeles, Rebecca’s mom said that she previously signed an agreement that her initial investment not only covered filming expenses but also gave Rebecca rights to her masters. This was a contract that was later disputed by ARK and their attorneys. 

ARK’s attorney said at the time, “The agreement was not court-approved. 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.”

Due to their legal dispute, later, ARK was forced to remove the song from their YouTube page, which Rebecca later uploaded to her own account. 

A decade after the viral song was first released on YouTube, Rebecca Black released a remix to “Friday” featuring Big Freedia, Dorian Electra, and 3OH!3, along with a brand new video. According to Rebecca, her comeback to the music industry was years in the making. The 23-year-old said in a statement, "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.” 

She told USA Today, "My relationship with 'Friday' has taken quite the journey over the past 10 years, which makes sense as I've looked back. The way that I feel about that song has really changed. I've done a lot of work to heal from the more painful parts of what that experience was for me. I get so many comments, and it's so surprising to me how many people have such a genuine, nostalgic love for it."