Gabrielle Jeannette Hanna is an American Internet personality, singer-songwriter, author, and actress. She started her career on the short form video service Vine, under the name The Gabbie Show, then started a YouTube channel with the same name a year later; both were nominated for awards. She won a Streamy Award for storyteller in 2018. Hanna released a poetry book titled Adultolescence in September 2017 and another, Dandelion, is due to be released in October 2020. She ventured into the music industry with her debut single "Out Loud", and has released multiple singles and two EPs as of 2020. Her debut extended play, 2WayMirror, was released on May 31, 2019, and her second EP, Bad Karma was released on May 15, 2020.
Early life
Hanna was born in New Castle, Pennsylvania. She has six siblings and is of Lebanese, French, and Polish descent. In 2013, Hanna graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in psychology and communications. After college, she worked for a marketing company that sold products out of a Sam's Club; she became the top salesperson in the U.S. for the company and moved to Cleveland, Ohio, to help start a new branch of the company. However, she departed after realizing that they relied on a pyramid scheme. Hanna subsequently moved to Los Angeles, California, to pursue an acting career and focus on her role as a social media influencer.
Career
2013–2016: Vine and YouTube success
Hanna began uploading skits to Vine in late 2013 and later gained recognition for her activity on the Vine app where she accumulated around five million followers. In 2014, she set up a YouTube channel under the name The Gabbie Show, which was changed to Gabbie Hanna in 2017. In 2015, Hanna and partner Matt Steffanina won the fourth season of the dance competition web-series Dance Showdown. After college, Hanna moved to Los Angeles, California, to work with internet media company BuzzFeed, but eventually left to focus on her YouTube and Vine platforms. She later created a second YouTube channel, The Gabbie Vlogs, which has gained over 1.5 million subscribers and nearly 200 million views as of 2020. After Vine shut down in 2016, Hanna focused on YouTube. Meanwhile, she was nominated for two Teen Choice Awards — Choice Web Star: Female and Choice Viner. In late 2016, Hanna joined the lip sync tour Drop the Mic alongside other YouTubers.
2017–2018: Acting, music, and ''Adultolescence''
In 2017, Hanna released a book of poetry, Adultolescence. Around the same time, she premiered her debut single "Out Loud" along with its music video and announced plans to release an album. A few months later, Creative Artists Agency signed Hanna and she joined MTV's social media team. In June 2017, Hanna joined the main cast of web series Escape the Night as the vaudevillian and appeared in seven episodes. She co-hosted the revival of Total Request Live in October 2017. In November 2017, she released a non-album single "Satellite" with an accompanying lyrics video. However, the song was removed from all platforms years later. In January 2018, Hanna was nominated for YouTuber of the Year at the 10th Shorty Awards and for the Social Star Award at the 2018 iHeartRadio Music Awards. Hanna released her third single "Honestly" and its encore "Honestly " in August 2018. "Honestly" gained minor success in the United States, where it peaked at number 21 on BillboardBubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart. She released the single "Monster" and its encore "Monster " in October. At the 8th Annual Streamy Awards, Hanna won an award for Storyteller and was nominated for First Person and Audience Choice: Creator of the Year. On a 2018 interview on Genius'Verified, she sang her song "Monster" a cappella but due to technical errors, the microphone was unable to filter her voice properly. Fans spliced in clips, including vines and voice distortions, at the point of technical error to create a meme. Hanna has since released merchandise showcasing her singing face during the meme.
2019–present: ''2WayMirror'' and ''Bad Karma''
On February 2, 2019, Hanna released "Medicate", the first single from her debut extended play titled 2WayMirror. On May 31, 2019, 2WayMirror was released, alongside the music video for "Butterflies", the second single from the EP. The project's high sales allowed Hanna to peak at number 5 on Billboard's Top Emerging Artists chart. On June 7, 2019, Hanna released the music video for "Perfect Day ", and on August 17, 2019, Hanna released the music video for "Pillowcase". Hanna reprised her role in the fourth season of Escape the Night and portrayed a Hollywood Star. She was nominated for Choice Comedy Web Star at the 2019 Teen Choice Awards. Hanna headlined at the inaugural Patreon Assembly on November 2, 2019. On November 16, 2019, Hanna released the music video for her song "Broken Girls". Ten days later, Hanna released the debut episode of her podcast, Box of Thoughts, co-hosted by Irene Walton. On April 11, 2020, Hanna announced the preorder of her second EP, Bad Karma. The first single from the EP, "Dandelion", was released on April 17, 2020, and the second single, "Glass House", was released on May 1, 2020. The EP was released on May 15, 2020.
Personal life
Residence
On July 3, 2019, Hanna announced she purchased a new house for US $2.2 million. It was revealed months later that the house was previously owned by actor Rhys Darby.
