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30 facts about Russell Horning - The Backpack Kid
Backpack Kid took the Internet - and now the world - by storm.
With his simple yet addictive dance moves, it's not uncommon for everyone to follow and sometimes even learn his dance moves!
So who is the child under the backpack?
Check out 30 facts about Backpack Kid!
Although he is known as "Backpack Kid", his real name is Russell Horning.
Russell 19 years old.
He has a younger sister named Jill.
Russell became famous after Rihanna promoted him on Instagram in 2016. He gained 55,000 new followers in two days.
The big break for Russell came from dancing with Katy Perry in her SNL performance "Swish Swish".
Katy Perry sees his Instagram profile as the recommended page.
Not only did he dance on stage with Katy Perry but later appeared in the music video later that year for the same song, "Swish Swish".
Backpack Kid also appeared in the music video for Ayo & Teo's "Rolex".
After his performance with Katy Perry, the dance move he performed on the show became his signature move.
Despite his straight face while performing, Russell said that he was extremely nervous about dancing on T.V.
Although “The Russell” gained popularity after being on SNL, he performed it for the first time at a summer camp in June 2014.
Russell's favorite emoticon is a tearful smiley face.
Many athletes have performed "The Russell" in football matches.
In October 2017, the Philadelphia Eagles Mack Hollins performed “The Russell” after he scored his first ever touch ball of his career.
Backpack Kid's backpack is empty - in which he carries a full bottle of water, a charger, a neural spinner and headphones to keep it weighted while dancing.
Russell started dancing in his backpack after seeing his friend in a cool backpack.
Now, Russell aims to use only one brand of backpack for dancing - Sprayground.
Russell admitted that he couldn't dance.
As of 2018, Backpack Kid is 5.7 ”(141cm) tall and weighs 121 lbs (55kg).
Russell deliberately kept a straight face because he thinks that makes his video more funny.
Although Russell was mostly self-taught, he took a dance class for a month but left because of too much drama and the class wasn't helpful.
Before going viral, Russell had 300 followers and his video had 30 views.
Backpack Kid even has its own website where you can buy the official T-shirt & Hoodies.
His favorite cartoon character is SpongeBob SquarePants.
As of 2019, Russell has more than 2.2 million Instagram followers.
Russell's original Instagram username was the Mighty Cat Lover.
When he first started dancing, Russell wasn't interested in hip-hop.
Now Russell is hip-hop music, he hopes to have more music videos for that category.
What's in the future of Backpack Kid?
When he didn't dance, Russell tried to keep a normal lifestyle to keep himself from getting sick.
