Paula Abdul
Biography
Paula
Julie Abdul was born on June 19th, 1962 in San Fernando, California.
The youngest of two daughters born to Harry and Lorraine Abdul
she was inspired at an early age by the film 'Singing In The
Rain', and as a young girl her ultimate ambition was to be
a successful dancer like her idol Gene Kelly. From the age
of nine she took dance lessons and impressed her teachers
with her natural ability to dance and entertain.
Following
graduation Paula appeared on the small screen when she was
just sixteen years old in the 1978 movie-musical 'Junior High
School'. However, her true dream was to be a dancer. In the
early 1980s Paula attended an audition to cheer for the LA
Lakers. She defeated hundreds of other hopefuls to cheer for
the legendary basketball team where her unique and dynamic
dance style earned her the converted position of choreographer.
She quickly became recognized as one of the most talented
up and coming choreographers in Hollywood and is credited
with the choreography of the films 'Private School' (1983)
and 'Coming To America' (1988). She also choreographed routines
for the highly popular TV series 'The Tracy Ullman Show'.
It
was whilst choreographing the LA Lakers that she was spotted
by The Jackson Five. Janet Jackson hired her to choreograph
her video 'Nasty'. Paula’s reputation had spread like
wildfire throughout the showbiz world, and she was now being
hired by superstars of the 1980s like George Michael, Debbie
Gibson, Duran Duran, INXS and ZZ Top.
By
this time Paula had accumulated a respectable amount of money
and decided it was time to make the step up from background
choreography to the limelight of stardom. She used her money
and connections to record a demo tape which persuaded Virgin
America to record an album. In May 1988 she recorded and released
a single called "Knocked Out" which peaked at number
41 on the Hot 100. A month later on June 13th Virgin America
released "Forever Your Girl", Paula's debut album.
Her follow up single "The Way That You Love Me"
peaked at just number 88.
Despite
the initial disapointment in sales, a third single "Straight
Up" was released in February 1989 and proved to be Paula's
breakthrough to fame and fortune. "Straight Up"
went to number one. Boyd by this success, "Forever Your
Girl" single was released, and also went to number one.
Paula had her third number one hit in September with the single
"Cold Hearted." "The Way That You Love"
peaked at number 3 in December 1989. In February 1990 Paula
had her forth number one with "Opposites Attract"
(along with MC Skat Kat). To this day Paula remains one of
the few female artists to have four number ones from her debut
album.
The
'Forever Your Girl' album sold over ten million copies worldwide,
going multi-platinum and making Paula Abdul a house hold name
throughout the world. In May 1990, 'Shut Up and Dance', a
collection of dance remixes from 'Forever Your Girl' was released
as a follow up to its initial success.
Paula’s
second album 'Spellbound' was released in 1991, and it appeared
that her success would continue where Forever Your Girl left
off. The first single from 'Spellbound', 'Rush Rush' went
to number one in May 1991 and stayed there for an incredible
five weeks. Her second single 'Promise of a New Day' also
went to number one in September. Her third single 'Blowing
Kisses in the Wind' peaked at number six in February 1992,
marking the down point in Paula’s commercial success.
However, she continued to make the headlines with her highly
publicised marriage to Hollywood Brat Packer, Emilo Estevez.
In
1992 Paula confessed to suffering from the eating disorder
bulimia and checked herself into a clinic. She divorced Emilo
Estevez in May 1994, citing irreconcilable differences, although
they remain friends to this day. Her reputation was damaged
when backing vocalist Yvette Marine claimed she, and not Paula,
had sung the main vocals on several tracks from the 'Forever
Your Girl' album. Paula and Virgin eventually won the case.
By
1995 Paula had successfully overcome her demons and prepared
to return to the spotlight. In the summer of ‘95 she
released her third album 'Head Over Heels', a bold departure
from her first two albums, with a mixture of pop, soul and
a little hip-hop. However, a new generation of musicians had
overtaken her, and Head Over Heels peaked at just 18 on the
Billboard 100. The three singles that were released from Head
Over Heels,'Crazy Cool', 'My Love Is For Real' and 'Ain’t
Never Gonna You Up' failed to reach the top twenty.
In
October 1996 Paula engaged and married Brad Beckerman, heir
to the clothing giant, Starter, in a whirlwind romance after
they were set up on a blind date by a mutual friend. Sadly,
this was to prove to be yet another false start in Paula’s
love life and they divorced just seventeen months later citing
irreconcilable differences.
In
January 1997 Paula ventured into TV, making her adult acting
debut with ABC’s Sunday Night Movie "Touched By
Evil", the true story of woman recovering from a brutal
rape. Paula went on to make appearances on 'Spin City' and
'The Wayan Bros.' sitcoms. She has also appeared on NBC’s
'Mr. Rock & Roll: The Allen Freed Story', the cable TV
movie 'The Waiting Game', NBC's 'Saturday Night Live', and
ABC’s 'Sabrina The Teenage Witch'.
Even
though she was spending much of her time acting, Paula had
not given up on dancing and music. In 1998 she released an
aerobic video 'Cardio Dance', a follow up to her critically
acclaimed 'Get Up and Dance' video released in 1995.
Paula's
long awaited Greatest Hits album was released on March 14,
2000. Also in 2000, Paula co-wrote Kylie Minogue's UK chart-topping
single, "Spinning Around." Two years later, she
resurfaced as a judge on American Idol, the US version of
the phenomenally successful UK series Pop Idol.
Paula Abdul Filmography
Robots (2005) (voice)
.... Watch
... aka Robots: The IMAX Experience (USA: IMAX version)
Mr. Rock 'n' Roll: The Alan Freed Story (1999) (TV) .... Denise
Walton
... aka Mr. Rock and Roll (USA)
... aka The Big Beat Heat
The Waiting Game (1998) (TV) .... Amy Fuentes
Touched by Evil (1997) (TV) .... Ellen Collier
Can't Buy Me Love (1987) (uncredited) .... Dancer
... aka Boy Rents Girl
Junior High School (1978) .... Sheri |
