Having gained huge popularity via the video app TikTok, Charli D’Amelio’s name is everywhere today. But how did the student from Connecticut become so famous?
Charli D’Amelio’s rapid rise to fame came after her TikTok videos went viral and made her the app’s most-followed user. Beyond her upbeat and entertaining videos, D’Amelio has now become a lucrative influencer and media personality, having starred in a Super Bowl commercial and danced with JLO.
Read more below to find out how Charli used her dance talent, creativity and luck to become one of the most famous teens on the internet.
The Perfect TikTok Girl
When the video app TikTok launched in 2016, it hoped to appeal to the hyper-connected Gen-Z with a quick and entertaining mix of dance videos, choreographies and comedy skits.
But it wasn’t until mid 2019 that the app started to gain popularity, which is around the time that Charli D’Amelio, a then 15-year old teenage girl from Connecticut, uploaded her first video on the app.
Within a week, D’Amelio had garnered 5 million followers on TikTok and her dance cover of the song ‘Lottery Renegade’ had gone viral.
Today, she is TikTok’s most-followed user, with over 66 million followers and 2 billion likes on the app.
How she did it?
In an article from the New York Times, Chase Hudson, a fellow 17-year old TikTok star explained that to make it on TikTok, ‘you have to be talented at something, or a weird funny mix, or extremely good looking, or have all three.’
With her entertaining dance routines, girlish looks and funny personality D’Amelio seems to have all three. She perfectly represents and resonates with the quirky and upbeat generation that TikTok appeals to.
This has made her the app’s ideal poster girl and explains why she is the ‘reigning queen of TikTok’ according to the New York Times.
You can check out one of Charli’s most viewed videos on TikTok below.
Success Beyond The App
While D’Amelio has become a TikTok sensation, she has also been able to leverage her fame far beyond the app.
As her parents Marc and Heidi D’Amelio explained in an interview with the Guardian, Charli became an influencer and a media personality when her fame exploded overnight.
Companies began wanting to enter into endorsement deals with her and her older sister, Dixie.
The D’Amelio’s realized that TikTok was a lucrative business opportunity.
This is why Charli signed with the renowned Hollywood agency ‘United Talent Agency’, appeared on ‘The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon’ and was flown to Milan Fashion Week by luxury fashion label Prada.
Solidifying her fame status as a TikTok star, she became the first TikToker to be featured in a Super Bowl commercial and danced with JLO for the Super Bowl challenge on TikTok.
You can watch Charli and JLO dancing the TikTok challenge in the video below:
Having been able to show off her dancing skills on TikTok, it is no surprise that Charli was also asked to dance live on stage with Bebe Rexha and the Jonas Brothers.
Lucky Charli?
When asked about her sudden rise to popularity, D’Amelio is adamant that she can’t explain her fame herself.
She openly expresses she is baffled about her success, with even her TikTok bio reading ‘don’t worry I don’t get the hype either.’
Her family seems to echo this sentiment; her father Marc explains that he puts his daughters success down to luck.
He says: ‘Charli and Dixie happened to fit the mould, they happened to be relatable to a generation.’
Whether lucky or not, it is clear that thanks to TikTok, Charli D’Amelio has become one of the most famous teenagers on the internet today.
And with her fame extending far beyond the video app, it looks like Charli and her astronomic success are here to stay.