Rebecca Black felt "crushed" when other celebrities made fun of her at the start of her career.

The 27-year-old singer became suddenly known around the world in 2011 with her track 'Friday' - which her mother had paid the now-defunct ARK Music Factory $4,000 to write and also film an accompanying music video - but struggled with the negative reaction from those in the industry that she looked up to, until Lady Gaga hailed her as a "genius" in an interview.

Speaking on the YouTube series 'Mythical Kitchen', she said: "[Gaga's comment] was so special and it's only meant more to me, I think, as I've kind of gone throughout my career and have tried to navigate this entire process.

"I was a huge Lady Gaga fan, I was a huge Katy Perry fan, I had Justin Bieber cutouts in my bedroom.

"It was such crazy experience to go from, like, living in my bedroom and all of these people being so far away to, all of a sudden like, them mentioning your name somewhere or just acknowledging that you exist.

"And a lot of those experiences were people who were obviously, like, poking fun and laughing. That can be like, slightly crushing as a kid to see all of your idols...you know... it was a bizarre one, two of 'Wait, this person knows I exist, that doesn't make any sense' to kind of immediately being the butt of a joke."

The 'Sick to My Stomach' singer also noted that these days, she is appreciative of artist fandoms because they have learned to stick up for each other.

She said: "I just was so appreciative, especially right now with the culture that we're in, of having all of these armies of people that you're kind of responsible for in pop culture. A lot of them are battling each other. To me, not to say that any one artist is 100 per cent responsible for their fans' behaviour, but you do kind of lead the way of guiding the messaging.

"Ever since then, so many Gaga fans and Katy fans have been so kind to me and I've always appreciated that as someone who is just a girl who is trying to figure it out."