Lia Marie Johnson

Johnson was born in Wahiawa, Hawaii. She has four sisters and a brother. Her family eventually settled in California.[3] In 2012, in a combined episode of Teens React and Elders React about the 2012 United States presidential election, Johnson stated that she is a Democrat.[4]

Johnson's YouTube account was created in 2007, with videos uploaded by her mother which featured her performances at talent shows,[5] and church recitals.[6] After two years, Johnson began to control the output of the channel, creating content that has come to include personal commentary, sketch comedy, and musical performances.[5]

In 2010, Johnson began to work with the Fine Brothers as a recurring guest on their Kids React series.[3] This exposure increased the traffic to her own channel and became an early source of her online fame. In the aftermath of the initial series episodes, she was surprised by the phenomenon of strangers knowing her and approaching her as fans, and remarked "I think Kids React was my very first viral video, 'cus everyone knew my name after that."[5]

In 2011, Johnson was added to the recurring cast of the spin-off series Teens React, and in 2014 was moved again to the newly established YouTubers React, which featured herself and various well known YouTube personalities. In 2014, Johnson appeared at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards,[7] and starred in Terry the Tomboy, a spin-off film based on the eponymous character she portrays on the Nickelodeon sketch comedy series, AwesomenessTV.[8]

In 2015 she covered the single "Latch" by Disclosure, singing with Alejandro Luis Manzano of Boyce Avenue, and released it on YouTube. The song was originally performed by singer Sam Smith. Johnson has also been featured on the covers of Adweek and BYou Magazine.[6][8] On January 9, 2015, Johnson released her first single, "Moment Like You", along with a music video which can be found on her YouTube channel.[9] She appeared in the music video for Post Malone's single "Go Flex", which was released on April 28, 2016.

On September 28, she explained to her fans that she had signed to Capitol Records, and was continuing to work on the music album she had been recording for the previous two years.[10] The following month she released her first single produced by Howard Benson through Capitol Records titled "DNA"[11] which surpassed 29 million Spotify streams.[12] On February 17, 2017 Johnson released her second single "Cold Heart Killer". The music video for the song was released on March 10, 2017. A year later, Johnson debuted her third single “Champagne” on May 17, 2018.

Starting mid November of 2019, Lia teased a new project on her Instagram page, with one promotional photo being posted everyday.[13] Seven days later, Lia announced her fourth single titled, "Moonflower," on November 23, 2019. Johnson released her fifth single, “Like a God”, on March 12, 2020.

Johnson's Instagram presence has been publicly concerning as she has been accused of live streaming under the influence of alcohol several times.[14][15] Concerns have also been raised regarding the relationship between Johnson and her producer Steven Wetherbee, who has been accused of inappropriately touching Johnson without her consent. In January 2020, Wetherbee appeared on Johnson's Instagram live stream, groping an intoxicated Lia off-camera, before Wetherbee became alarmed of her audience observing this live. Johnson later stated that the police had visited her.[16] Wetherbee was then seen to have taken her phone, ending her stream.[17][18] In response to the situation, Lia's fanbase has responded with #SaveLiaMarieJohnson in an attempt to push actions against Steven Wetherbee.[19][20]

Johnson's boyfriend, Ryan Bowers, passed away in July 2020. She released several singles with him in the months prior to his death. [21]

In late 2020, she stated on her Instagram Live that she had been sober for months after going to rehab. She also mentioned her sobriety in a comment on the platform.[22][23]

• Internet celebrity
• List of YouTubers
• Social impact of YouTube

• Lia Marie Johnson at IMDb
• Lia Marie Johnson's channel on YouTube
• Lia Marie Johnson on Twitter