Paula Abdul: Forever Your Girl
January 14, 2010 • Category : Celebrities
In 1980, Paula Abdul was a broadcasting student at California State University at Northridge. Always a passionate dancer, she tried out for the Los Angeles Lakers Girls cheerleading squad and was picked out of a field of 700. She became head cheerleader within three weeks.
At a Lakers game, some members of the members of the Jackson familythen known best known for their successful Motown career--noticed Abdul's moves on the court and hired her to choreograph a video for their comeback album, Victory. This big break lead to more work choreographing videos for Janet Jackson and other popular pop artists like Prince, George Michael, Duran Duran and others.
In 1988 using $35,000 of her own money, Paula Abdul recorded demos for her debut album, Forever Your Girl. The first two singles off the dance-pop album were moderate hits, but with the release of "Straight Up" she became a superstar. The No. 1 hit single "Straight Up" won four awards at the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards and Forever Your Girl stayed at No. 1 on the Billboard chart for 10 weeks and sold seven million copies.
While Forever Your Girl was still on the charts, Abdul took home the Emmy award for outstanding achievement in choreography for her work on The Tracey Ullman Show. She also won an Emmy the following year for her choreography on the American Music Awards.
In 1991, Paula Abdul released her second album, Spellbound. The singles produced four hits, "Blowing Kisses in the Wind," "Rush Rush," Vibeology and Will You Marry Me? The video for "Rush Rush," was one of the most popular videos that year. It starred Keanu Reeves in a James Dean-like role and the song stayed at No. 1 for five weeks. Though not as successful as Forever Your Girl, the album still sold 2 million copies.
After Spellbound, Paula Abdul took a break from work. During this time she married actor Emilio Estevez. Sadly, in May 1994, Paula Abdul and Emilio Estevez divorce. Abdul told People magazine at the time that their marriage ended because she wanted children and he didn't.
In the summer of 1995, Abdul released her third studio album, Head Over Heels but the album failed to match the success of its two predecessors. After the Head Over Heels lackluster performance, Paula Abdul retreated from the spotlight for several years but kept busy choreographing sequences for movies, television shows and commercials. During the years 1988-1999 she choreographed sequences for Big, Coming to America, Action Jackson, Jerry Maguire, The Running Man, American Beauty and The Doors. In 1996 Paula Abdul married clothing manufacturer Brad Beckerman but the marriage is over by 1996.
In 2000 Paula Abdul resurfaced in the music industry, co-writing the single "Spinning Around" for singer Kylie Minogue, which debuted at the top of the music charts in Australia and the U.K. and re-launched Minogue's career.
With her knack for showmanship and salesmanship, Paula Abdul became a judge on FOX's American Idol alongside Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson in 2002. She signs on for at least three more seasons as judge on American Idol. Because of the wild success of American Idol, Paula Abdul and the other judges are featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. Throughout her career Paual Abdul has appeared on the magazine covers of Ladies Home Journal, TV Guide, Rolling Stone, People and OK! magazine.
In 2009 Paula Abdul confirmed via Twitter that she will no longer be at the judges table on American Idol. "Ill miss nurturing all the new talent, but most of all being a part of a show that I helped from day one become an international phenomenon," Abdul wrote.
By:
Jessica Vandelay
For more, visit Jessica Vandelay is a freelance writer in New York City.
