Who is Paula Julie Abdul? The entertainment and acting world knows Paula Abdul as an American recording artist, dancer, choreographer, actress and television personality.In the 1980s, Abdul rose from cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers to highly sought-after choreographer at the height of the music video era before scoring a string of pop music-R&B hits in the late-1980s and early-1990s. Her six number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 tie her for fifth among the female solo performers who have reached #1 there.[3] She won a Grammy for "Best Music Video - Short Form" for "Opposites Attract" and twice won the "Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography".
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Early life
Abdul's father, a Syrian Jew, was born in Aleppo, Syria, raised in Brazil, and subsequently emigrated to the United States;[7] Abdul's mother, a Canadian Jew, is originally from Minnedosa, Manitoba, with ancestors from Russia and Ukraine,[8][9] and Abdul derives Canadian citizenship through her. She was June 19, 1962 she has a sister named Wendy, who is 7 years her senior. In 1980, she graduated from Van Nuys High School and was voted girl with the funniest laugh.An avid dancer, Abdul was inspired towards a show business career by Gene Kelly in the classic film Singin' in the Rain as well as Debbie Allen, Fred Astaire, and Bob Fosse.[10]
Abdul began taking dance lessons at an early age in ballet, Jazz, and Tap. She attended Van Nuys High School, where she was a cheerleader and an honor student. At 15, she received a scholarship to a dance camp near Palm Springs, and in 1978 appeared in a low-budget Independent musical film, Junior High School.
Abdul studied broadcasting at the California State University at Northridge. During her freshman year, she was selected from a pool of 700 candidates for the cheerleading squad of the Los Angeles Lakers NBA basketball team—the famed Laker Girls. Within three months, she became head choreographer. Six months later, she left the university to focus on her choreography and dancing career.
Career
1982-1986: Dance and choreography era
In film, Abdul choreographed sequences for the giant keyboard scene involving Tom Hanks’s character in Big. Further credits include Coming to America, Action Jackson, Jerry Maguire, The Running Man, American Beauty (1999 film), Can't Buy Me Love (film), and Oliver Stone's, The Doors.[15] Television credits include The Tracey Ullman Show, American Music Awards, the Academy Awards, and several commercials, such as The King's touchdown celebration, as seen in a string of popular Burger King television commercials that aired during the 2005–2006 NFL season.[15]
1987-1994: Forever Your Girl and Spellbound
In 1987, Abdul used her savings to make a singing demo. Although her voice was relatively untrained, her exceptional dancing proved marketable to the visually-oriented, MTV-driven, pop music industry. She was a tireless worker, and relied on input from her vocal coach and producers to improve her sound.
In 1988, Abdul released her pop debut album, Forever Your Girl. The album took 62 weeks to hit #1 on the Billboard 200 album sales chart—the longest an album has been on the market before hitting #1—and spent 10 weeks there.[citation needed] The album eventually became multi-platinum in the spring and summer of 1989, and it spawned five American Top Three singles, four of them #1s (three in 1989 and one in 1990): "Straight Up," "Forever Your Girl," "Cold Hearted," and "Opposites Attract." A remix album, Shut Up and Dance, was also released and reached #7 on Billboard's album chart, becoming one of the most successful remix albums to date. The Grammy award-winning video for "Opposites Attract" featured an animated cat named MC Skat Kat.At the 33rd Grammy Awards, Abdul won her first Grammy for Best Music Video for Opposites Attract,[16] She was also nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance For her song Straight Up but it lost to Bonnie Raitt's Nick Of Time.[16]
In the early 1990s, Yvette Marine, backing vocalist on Forever Your Girl, claimed that she sang "co-lead vocals" on the album and sued Paula and Virgin Records for compensation. After one month of court proceedings, Abdul and Virgin won the case.[17]
Abdul's follow-up album, 1991's Spellbound, contained another string of hits, and sold 7 million copies worldwide.[citation needed] The first single from Spellbound was the ballad, "Rush, Rush," which topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for five consecutive weeks, and was noted for its music video and Rebel Without a Cause motif featuring Keanu Reeves in the James Dean role. "Promise of a New Day," the second release from the album, also hit No. 1, and was followed by the Top 10 hit "Blowing Kisses in the Wind" and two Top 20 hits: "Vibeology" and "Will You Marry Me?."[18] The album, Spellbound, retained much of the dance-oriented formula heard on her debut album. The track "U" was written for Paula by Prince.
Abdul promoted the album through the "Under My Spell Tour," which was named by an MTV contest for fans. This tour was nearly cancelled due to an accident during rehearsals. The tour began on schedule and ran from October 1991 to the summer of 1992. In 1991, Abdul embraced advertising and starred in a popular Diet Coke commercial in which she danced with a digital image of her idol, a young Gene Kelly.
1995-2001: Head over Heels and a music hiatus
By 1995, Paula Abdul had recovered from her battle with the eating disorder bulimia nervosa and prepared to return to the spotlight with her new album Head over Heels. The first single off the album, "My Love Is for Real" featured a fusion of R&B and traditional Middle Eastern instruments, and was performed with Yemeni-Israeli singer Ofra Haza. Its accompanying Lawrence of Arabia-inspired music video was played in theaters across the world as a preface to the film Clueless. The single was a hit in the clubs (peaking at #1 on Billboard's Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart), and made it to #28 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart.The second single, "Crazy Cool," peaked at #13 on the dance charts. "Ain't Never Gonna Give You Up" was the album's third and final single. To date, Head over Heels has sold 3 million copies worldwide.
In January 1997, Abdul starred in the ABC television movie Touched by Evil,[19] playing a businesswoman who discovers that her boyfriend is a serial rapist.[20] Also that year, Abdul co-wrote the song "Spinning Around" with songwriter and producer Kara DioGuardi, who became a fellow judge on American Idol in 2009. "Spinning Around" was a dance-pop track intended to be the lead single on Abdul's follow-up album to Head over Heels. But the album never materialized, and "Spinning Around" was instead given to Kylie Minogue. The song was highly successful, reaching #1 in numerous countries.
While Abdul took a break from the music industry, she remained busy behind the scenes. Abdul served as the choreographer for several film and theater productions, including the 1998 musical Reefer Madness and the cheerleading scenes in the 1999 film American Beauty (she had previously also choreographed the 1991 film The Doors). Abdul also co-produced a 2001 pilot episode of Skirts, a dramatic series that would have aired on MTV about a high-school cheerleading squad; Abdul was also set to appear as the head coach. The pilot never aired.[21]
In 2000, Abdul’s Paula Abdul: Greatest Hits CD was released by Virgin Records (with whom Abdul was already no longer affiliated). It included all her hit singles and other noteworthy tracks. The song "Bend Time Back 'Round" had previously been heard only on the 1992 soundtrack for the hit television series Beverly Hills, 90210.
2002-2009: American Idol
While serving as a judge on "American Idol," Abdul accepted a second assignment as reporter for Entertainment Tonight.
In March 2006, Fox announced that Abdul had signed to stay on American Idol as a judge for at least three more years. Later that year, fellow American Idol judge Simon Cowell invited her to be a guest judge at some of the early auditions for the third series of his similar UK talent show The X Factor. Abdul was present at the initial audition of the eventual winner, Leona Lewis.
The week of May 14 to May 18, 2007 (the week before the season 6 finale), Abdul broke her nose when she tried to "avoid tripping over her pet chihuahua." She was present at the May 22 performance and the May 23 finale.
Abdul's American Idol wardrobe often includes a number of necklaces, rings, bracelets, and earrings that she designs, and she often gives show contestants custom-designed jewelry. In 2007, Paula Abdul Jewelry launched its nationwide consumer debut on QVC, with the tagline "fashion jewelry designed with heart and soul."[23] Paula's first QVC appearance resulted in 15 sellouts of her first jewelry collection involving more than 34,000 pieces.[24] In an interview with the Los Angeles Times on July 18, 2009, Paula's manager David Sonenberg told the newspaper that, "Very sadly, it does not appear that she’s going to be back on ‘Idol’."[25] This came about as a result of stalled negotiations between Paula and the show. On August 4, 2009, after numerous contract negotiations, Abdul confirmed that she would not be returning to Idol for its ninth season.[26] The Times cited reports Abdul had been earning as much as $5 million per season and that she was reportedly seeking as much as $20 million to return.[27]
On August 18, 2009, it was reported that Abdul was negotiating to return to Idol after not taking part in season nine of Dancing with the Stars.[28] Two days later, Abdul's manager said that there were not any talks with Fox, but they were not ruling anything out.[29]
Abdul claimed her departure from Idol was not about money, but that she had to stand on principle.[30]
On September 9, 2009 Ellen DeGeneres was confirmed as Abdul's successor for Idol.[31]
2007-2011: Post-Idol projects
In January 2008, Abdul returned to the music charts for the first time in nearly 13 years with the single "Dance Like There's No Tomorrow," the first track on the album Randy Jackson's Music Club Vol 1. The song debuted on On Air with Ryan Seacrest.,[34] and Abdul performed it during the pre-game show for Super Bowl XLII.[35] "Dance Like There's No Tomorrow" was a modest comeback hit for Abdul, peaking at #62 on the Billboard Hot 100, #11 on iTunes and #2 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. She also made a brief guest appearance in season 3 episode 1 of the British television Comedy-Drama Hotel Babylon, which aired in the United Kingdom on February 19, 2008.
In January 2009, Abdul hosted "RAH!," a 90-minute cheerleading competition on MTV. "RAH!" featured five collegiate squads competing in a series of challenges with Abdul crowning one the winner.[36] In May 2009, Abdul debuted her latest song "I'm Just Here for the Music" (originally an unreleased song from Kylie Minogue's ninth album Body Language) on the Ryan Seacrest Radio KIIS-FM show and performed the single on the American Idol results show. "I'm Just Here for the Music" reached #87 on the Billboard Hot 100,[37] becoming Abdul's 15th song to appear on the chart.[38]
Paula Abdul has remained busy since leaving American Idol. She hosted "VH1 Divas Live" in September 2009, and opened the show by performing a medley of #1 hits, including "Straight Up", "Cold Hearted", "Opposites Attract", and "Forever Your Girl." Also on the program, Paula poked fun at her American Idol replacement Ellen DeGeneres.
In 2009 and 2010, Abdul appeared in several episodes of Lifetime Television's hit series Drop Dead Diva, a comedy about a shallow model whose soul resurfaces in the body of a brilliant, plus-size and recently deceased attorney, Jane.[39] On the show, Abdul played herself as "Judge Paula," a figment of Jane’s subconscious.[39]
In November 2010, Abdul launched and co-founded AuditionBooth.com, a website that allows aspiring talents to connect with casting directors, producers, and managers.[40]
Abdul kicked off 2011 by serving as lead judge, executive producer, creative partner, mentor and coach on CBS' new dancing competition, Live to Dance (formerly Got to Dance)[41] Abdul said that unlike American Idol, her new show is less about "competition" and more about "celebration."[42] After its first season of seven weekly shows, it was cancelled by CBS.[43]
2011-present: The X Factor
Personal life
Marriages and relationships
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Legal issues
On December 20, 2004, Abdul was driving her Mercedes on an L.A.-area freeway when she changed lanes and hit another vehicle. The driver and passenger snapped a photograph with a cell phone camera and wrote down the license plate number of the car, which was traced to Abdul. On March 24, 2005, Abdul was fined $900 and given 24 months of informal probation after pleading no contest to misdemeanor hit-and-run driving in Los Angeles. In addition to the fines, she was ordered to pay $775 for damage to the other car.[50]Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy
In April 2005, Abdul revealed that she suffers from a rare neurological disorder called Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (CRPS) that causes chronic pain.[51]Victim of battery
On April 4, 2006, Abdul filed a report at a Hollywood police station claiming she had been a victim of battery at a private party at about 1 a.m. April 2, according to L.A.P.D. spokesman police Lt. Paul Vernon. "According to Abdul, the man at the party argued with her, grabbed her by the arm and threw her against a wall," Vernon said. "She said she had sustained a concussion and spinal injuries."[52]Religion
Paula practices Judaism[53] and is proud of her heritage. She once stated, "My father is a Syrian Jew whose family immigrated to Brazil. My mother is Canadian with Jewish roots. My dream is to come to Israel for a real holiday." In November 2006, Israeli Tourist Minister Isaac Herzog invited her to Israel, Abdul responding with a hug, adding, "I will come; you have helped me make a dream come true."[54]Activism
Paula is also a dog lover who raised awareness about National Guide Dog Month in May 2009 and she is teaming up with Dick Van Patten to help people with blindness to have more independence through the help of guide dogs.[55] She does not wear real fur.[56]Controversies
Corey Clark
Substance abuse allegations
Substance abuse allegations arose as the result of what some described as "erratic behavior"[51] by Abdul during episodes of American Idol. After reading these allegations on message boards, Abdul told People magazine in April 2005 that she suffered from chronic pain for years following a "cheerleading accident" at age 17 and was diagnosed with reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD) in November 2004.[51] Abdul says she is now pain-free following treatment, including the anti-inflammatory medication Enbrel.[51]Allegations arose again in January 2007 when videos circulated on the Internet of Abdul appearing to sway in her chair and slur her speech during a set of interviews.[59] Abdul's publicist attributed this to fatigue and technical difficulties during the recording of the interviews.[59] It was revealed on the Bravo show Hey Paula, which had followed Abdul with a video camera prior to the interviews, that Abdul had not been sleeping, perhaps suffering from some mild form of insomnia.[citation needed]
In February 2007, Abdul told Us Weekly that she had never been drunk or used illegal drugs and called the allegations "lies."[60]
In a March 2007 appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman, Abdul joked that her scrutinized behavior was caused by her being "abducted by aliens."
In several interviews given in the late 2000s, Paula claimed to have been left in debilitating pain after a 1992 car accident and a 1993 plane crash that required 15 spinal surgeries and which left her dependent on pain medication for years.[61]
In May 2009, Ladies' Home Journal posted an article on its Web site that said Abdul told them she attended the La Costa Resort and Spa the previous year to recover from physical dependence on prescription pain medications.[62] The medications, prescribed due to injuries and her RSD diagnosis, included a pain patch, nerve medication, and a muscle relaxant. According to the article, Abdul said the medications made her "get weird" at times and that she suffered from physical withdrawal symptoms during her recovery.[62]
Later that same week, though, in an interview with Detroit radio station WKQI, Abdul rejected the article's accuracy. She told the radio station she never checked into a rehab clinic and never had a drug abuse problem.[63]
Tours
- The Club MTV Tour
- The Under My Spell Tour
Discography
Main article: Paula Abdul discography
- Studio Albums
- 1988: Forever Your Girl
- 1991: Spellbound
- 1995: Head over Heels
Filmography
Film and television| Year | Film[64] | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Junior High School | Sherry | |
| 1987 | Can't Buy Me Love | Dancer | Uncredited |
| 1997 | Touched By Evil | Elle Collier | TV Movie |
| 1998 | The Waiting Game | Amy Fuentes | TV Movie |
| Sabrina, the Teenage Witch | Herself | 1 Episode | |
| 1999 | The Wayans Bros. | Sasha | 1 Episode |
| Mr. Rock 'n' Roll: The Alan Freed Story | Denise Walton | TV Movie | |
| Family Guy | Herself | 2 Episodes | |
| 2002–2009 | American Idol | Judge | Guest Appearance Finale 2010 2003 Zoe's Dance Moves Herself |
| 2004 | That's So Raven | Undercover Judge | 1 Episode |
| 2005 | Romy and Michele: In the Beginning | Herself | TV Movie |
| Less Than Perfect | Kathleen | 1 Episode | |
| Robots | Watch | Cameo | |
| 2006 | The X Factor UK | Guest Judge | 3 Episodes |
| 2007 | Hey Paula | Herself | 7 Episodes, also Executive Producer |
| 2009 | RAH! Paula Abdul's Cheerleading Bowl | Herself | Host |
| Brüno | Herself | Uncredited | |
| 2008 | Hotel Babylon | Herself | Guest star |
| 2009– present | Drop Dead Diva | Herself | 4 episodes |
| 2011 | Live to Dance | Judge | |
| 2011-present | The X Factor (U.S.) | Judge |
| Year | Film | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Private School | |
| 1986 | A Smoky Mountain Christmas | |
| 1987 | The Tracey Ullman Show | Won 1989 Emmy Award for "Outstanding Achievement in Choreography" |
| Can't Buy Me Love | ||
| The Running Man | ||
| 1988 | Action Jackson | |
| Big | ||
| Coming To America | ||
| 1989 | She's Out of Control | |
| Dance To Win | ||
| The Karate Kid, Part III | ||
| 1990 | 17th American Music Awards | Won 1990 Emmy Award for "Outstanding Achievement in Choreography" |
| 1991 | The Doors | Val Kilmer's choreographer |
| 1996 | Jerry Maguire | |
| 1999 | American Beauty | |
| 2001 | Black Knight | |
| 2002 | The Master of Disguise |
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