|
Paula Abdul Information
|
|
'Paula Julie Abdul' (born June 19, 1962 in San Fernando, California) is an American dancer, choreographer, singer, and television personality.
Background
Abdul's Canadian-born Jewish mother, Lorainne Rykiss, is a former classical concert pianist. Her father, Harry Abdul, is an entrepreneur of Lebanese birth who grew up in Ohio. He is a Sephardic Jew and was once a livestock trader in Brazil. In an interview with Ebony Magazine on May 1990, Abdul says that the unrelenting curiosity about her ethnicity doesn't annoy her. Instead, she gladly responds to the numerous questions about whether she is Black, White or Latin. However, she holds firmly to her response, for she is who she is, and her stardom will not change that. Her parents divorced when she was 7. Abdul and her sister Wendy went to live with their mother after the divorce.
As a small child Abdul watched Gene Kelly in the classic film Singin' in the Rain and decided she wanted to be a dancer. She was also influenced by many black entertainers such as Debbie Allen, Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis Jr. She was also inspired greatly by Fred Astaire and Bob Fosse. In her conversation with Ebony (May 1990), she says, "Absolutely," when asked about black influence. "As a young kid growing up, I admired the talent of so many [Black artists]. Black kids identified with me because we all danced together, and we shared that love for art. My favorite artists were Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, the O'Jays-that's what I grew up on. That was my consciousness."
Abdul began dance lessons around the age of eight and showed a natural talent for it. She attended Van Nuys High School where she was on the cheerleading squad, played flute in the band, and was an honor student. She enrolled at California State University at Northridge to study broadcasting but dropped out once her choreography career took off.
Dancing and Choreography
Abdul began her career as the head cheerleader and choreographer for the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team.
She started choreographing the live tour for The Jacksons, and got her big break as the choreographer for the 1980s videos of singer Janet Jackson. She also choreographed music videos for Duran Duran, Prince, The Jacksons, Jermaine Jackson, Kool & the Gang, the Pointer Sisters, Steve Winwood, Luther Vandross, INXS, Deborah Gibson (known as Debbie Gibson during that time), ZZ Top, George Michael and Dolly Parton. She choreographed and appeared in Toto's 1986 music video for "Till The End", Michael Jackson's music video "Liberian Girl", and Janet Jackson's music videos "What Have You Done For Me Lately" and "Nasty."
Abdul choreographed the stage shows for Suzanne Somers and Toni Basil.
In film, Abdul choreographed the dance sequences in the films Coming to America and American Beauty, as well as Cuba Gooding Jr.'s touchdown celebration in Jerry Maguire.
Abdul received two Emmy Awards for "Outstanding Achievement in Choreography": in 1989 for her work on The Tracey Ullman Show and in 1990 for The 17th Annual American Music Awards.
In a 1990 commercial for Diet Coke, Abdul danced, via editing with footage from the classic film Anchors Aweigh, with childhood inspiration Gene Kelly.
Singing
In 1988, she released her debut album Forever Your Girl and, after a fairly long time, became a smash hit star. The album spawned five American Top Five singles (out of just ten songs): "Straight Up", "Forever Your Girl", "Cold Hearted", "(It's Just) The Way That You Love Me", and "Opposites Attract". A remix album, Shut Up and Dance, was also released and reached #7 on Billboard's album chart. The video for "Opposites Attract" featured an animated cat named MC Skat Kat. As a sign of Paula's enormous popularity, the cartoon cat ended up with his own record deal later that year. Abdul's voice was sampled on one track and she appeared in the video for the first single.
Controversy erupted in Paula's music career when three weeks prior to the release of her sophomore album, Spellbound, backup vocalist Yvette Marine filed a million-dollar lawsuit against Virgin Records, claiming that the company had blended her voice with Paula's lead vocals on songs "Knocked Out", "Opposites Attract" and "I Need You" from Forever Your Girl. Marine claimed that she was inaccurately credited as a backup singer when she was really performing "co-lead" vocals with Abdul. Virgin Records went to great lengths to bring as much evidence into court as possible (such as live recordings of Paula's vocals) and eventually won the case against Marine.
Her follow-up album, 1991's Spellbound, is often overlooked in musical history. Abdul made such an impact in late-1980s music that when her second effort was released in the early 1990s, everyone assumed it would be less successful. Instead, it unleashed another string of hits "Rush, Rush" (which topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for five consecutive weeks, thanks to its George Lucas-directed video, and Rebel Without a Cause premise featuring Keanu Reeves in the James Dean role), "The Promise of a New Day", (also a chart-topper) "Blowing Kisses in the Wind", "Vibeology", and "Will You Marry Me?". The first single "Rush, Rush", was a ballad, which surprised many as singers generally release an up-tempo song as a first single. The album Spellbound retained much of the dance-oriented formula heard on her debut album. The track "U" was written for Paula by Prince.
As Abdul's image shifted slowly from "beautiful" to "sexy", gossip began to circulate about her weight. At only 5 ft 2 in (157 cm), Abdul did not have the height commonly associated with dancers and choreographers. In her music video for "Promise of a New Day", a visual effect was used which stretched images vertically on the screen. Tabloids claimed this was to make Abdul appear taller and thinner, which was ridiculous since every image on the screen--including other dancers--were stretched as well. Then, in an appearance on the MTV Video Music Awards, Abdul did a live performance of "Vibeology" wearing a sequined one-piece bustier outfit. A microphone pack (poorly placed in a built-in pocket at the small of her back) gave Abdul a round appearance, only adding fuel to the fire. Morning radio hosts were merciless the following day. In truth, Abdul was in the best shape of her adult life. In a sadly ironic twist, Abdul appeared in an ABC television interview with Diane Sawyer in 1995 and revealed that she'd been in recovery from a lifelong battle with bulimia.
Spellbound didn't sell as many copies as Abdul's debut album (that would have been quite a feat) but it was very successful nonetheless and it did ascend to the top of Billboard's Album chart. Abdul took a break from recording and resurfaced in 1993 with an exercise video.
In 1995 Abdul released her fourth album, Head Over Heels. With modest radio hits with the singles "My Love Is for Real", "Crazy Cool", and "Ain't Never Gonna Give You Up", she showed that she was still able to create popular music while moving with the times. The first single off the album, "My Love Is for Real", featured a fusion of R&B and traditional Middle Eastern instruments. It's accompanying Lawrence of Arabia inspired music video had was played in theaters across the world as a preface to the film Clueless. It was a hit in dance clubs (peaking at #1 on Billboard's Dance Music/Club Play chart) but the single stalled at #28 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. The second single, "Crazy Cool", was accompanied by a music video wherein Abdul is seen riding a mechanical bull and pouring beer over her breasts. Virgin Records, possibly counting on name-recognition to move copies, didn't put nearly as much muscle behind promoting the album and, although it moved plenty of copies, Head Over Heels didn't sell as well as the previous two.
In the year 2000, the CD Greatest Hits was released. It featured an array of hit singles from all three of Abdul's previous albums, as well as other noteworthy tracks. The song "Bend Time Back Round", included on the CD, had only been heard previously on the 1993 soundtrack of the hit television series Beverly Hills 90210.
Abdul co-wrote Kylie Minogue's 2000 hit single "Spinning Around".
Paula has claimed several times that she is working on releasing another album (rumored to have the working title Paulatix of Love), although its release has been delayed several times. She originally signed with Mercury Records in 1997 and was going to release her album in Spring 1999, but the album was postponed due to the merger between Universal Music Group and Polygram (which Mercury Records is under) causing layoffs of many music acts, including Abdul. The second scheduled release date was the Summer of 2000, but that release date was later cancelled as well. As of 2005, she is working with fellow American Idol judge Randy Jackson to produce her new album and hopes to find another record company to release it.
With the coming of her "Cardio Cheer" francise, Paula will be working with DNA Studio on producing "Cardio Cheer: Music" which will be a collection of various remixed songs by top musical artists tailored to be the perfect accompaniment to high energy, high impact, dazzling cheer and dance routines.
There has been rumors that her new album will be released out of this business venture with Warner Bros. Music Group and DNA Studio.
Acting
Abdul had never had a real career as an actress, barring an appearance as Sherri in a low-budget musical movie from 1978 called Junior High School. In an attempt to revitalize her career as a performer, she began accepting acting roles, starting with the television movie Touched by Evil in 1997. In a genre that is hardly well respected to begin with, her performance (as a rape victim who discovers her boyfriend was her rapist) was rejected by both fans and critics. Another made-for-TV movie, The Waiting Game (1988), was neither panned nor praised.
American Idol
In 2002, Abdul accepted a job as one of three judges for the reality TV competition American Idol. Abdul's job was to evaluate the talent of a large group of young amateur singers, eliminate most of them in various audition rounds, and then help American television viewers whittle the remaining ones down to just one performer: the aforementioned idol. Abdul, who had seemingly emerged from obscurity, won praise as a sympathetic and compassionate judge. She seemed especially so when her critiques were compared against those of fellow judge Simon Cowell, who was often cruelly blunt in his appraisals of the contestants' performances. When she realized that Cowell's over-the-top judging style was heartbreaking for some young contestants, Abdul was so horrified, she considered leaving the show. Although their differences often resulted in extremely heated on-air exchanges, Cowell says he played a major role in convincing Abdul not to walk off. Now a bonafide television celebrity, Abdul accepted a second gig as reporter for Entertainment Tonight.
On March 24, 2005, Abdul pleaded no contest and was fined and sentenced to two years' probation for a hit-and-run incident in Encino, California. Abdul claims she did not notice the brief contact between her Mercedes and another vehicle as she was changing lanes.
During 2004, public concern for Abdul began growing as a result of some apparently erratic behavior during episodes of American Idol. When rumors of drug or alcohol abuse began to swirl, Abdul went to People magazine to explain that she had been diagnosed with reflex sympathetic dystrophy and was undergoing successful treatment.
In May 2005, ABC's Primetime Live reported season-two Idol contestant Corey Clark's claims that he and Abdul had had an affair during that season, and that she had coached him on how to succeed in the competition. Perhaps not surprisingly, Clark was coming forward at a time when he was marketing a CD and trying to get a book deal. For the most part, Abdul refused to dignify Clark's allegations with a response. At the height of the debacle, Abdul appeared in a Saturday Night Live skit, making light of the situation.
While Fox launched an investigation, Abdul received numerous calls of support from celebrities including Oprah Winfrey, and Barbara Walters even addressed the camera during an episode of ABC's The View to say she was ashamed to be part of an operation that would report Clark's flimsy tabloid claims under the guise of a news story.
In August 2005 the Fox network announced that, after hiring lawyers from two impartial law firms who conducted almost 600 hours of interviews with 43 people (including Abdul and Clark), no evidence was found to substantiate Clark's claims that he had sex with Abdul or that she helped him during the contest. Abdul did admit to investigators that she had telephone conversations with Clark during the competition, but her account of those talks differed from Clarks.
The network confirmed that she would be returning for season five, because the investigation had found insufficient evidence that the communications between Mr. Clark and Ms. Abdul in any way aided his performance.
In September 2005 Abdul's revealing dress at the Emmy Awards got her a spot on some worst-dressed lists.
Her early relationships included actor John Stamos and talk-show host Arsenio Hall. Abdul was married to Emilio Estevez from 1992 to 1994. In 1996, she married clothing manufacturer Brad Beckerman, but she later divorced him as well. In 2000 she dated Hank Kuehne, a professional golfer 13 years her junior, for about six months. She began dating millionaire Colton Melby, part-owner and then-president of Smith & Wesson Holding Co., in early 2003; they broke up in January 2004. In 2005 she ended a relationship of two months with Dante Spencer.
Cardio Cheer
Paula Abdul, along with DNA Studio, will be launching a Chearleading/Fitness/Dance/Music franchise called "Cardio Cheer" which will be marketed primarily to children and teenage girls invloved with Cheerleading/Dance. The first release will be a five-disk exercise DVD called "Cardio Cheer: Fitness", where Paula will teach girls athletic fitness and important cheerleading/dance drills. The focus of the video is to teach girls how to get/stay in shape and achive a body of a professional cheerleader/dancer. The five-disk DVD set will be released on December 10, 2005.
The second release of the "Cardio Cheer" movement will be "Cardio Cheer: Dance" and will hit in Spring 2006. Where FITNESS inspired the body, DANCE will set it to use. Paula, along with professional cheerleaders and dancers, will teach her legendary moves and innovative teaching techniques right into the living room and gyms. This DVD, unlike "Fitness", will be targeted for both genders.
The third release will be "Cardio Cheer: Music", and will be released in the summer of 2006. Paula will produce a CD featuring re-mixed performances by top musical artists tailored to be the perfect accompaniment cheer and dance routines. This music francise might include remixes of Paula's old material and possibly generate a new Paula Abdul album.
- "Cardio Cheer: Music" will be licensed to Warner Bros. Music Group.
Discography
Albums
| Year | Album | US | UK | RIAA Cert. | worldwide sales |
|---|
| 1988 | Forever Your Girl | 1 | 3 | 7X platinum | 18 mil. | | 1990 | Shut Up and Dance (remix album) | 7 | 40 | platinum | 4 mil. | | 1991 | Spellbound | 1 | 4 | 3X platinum | 8.5 mil. | | 1995 | Head Over Heels | 18 | - | gold | 3.5 mil. | | 2000 | Paula Abdul: Greatest Hits | - | - | - | 0.9 mil. | |
Singles
| Year | Song | US | US Dance | UK | Album |
|---|
| 1988 | "Knocked Out" | 41 | 14 | - | Forever Your Girl | | 1988 | "(It's Just) The Way That You Love Me" | 88 | 18 | - | Forever Your Girl | | 1988 | "Straight Up" | 1 | 3 | 3 | Forever Your Girl | | 1988 | "Forever Your Girl" | 1 | 28 | 24 | Forever Your Girl | | 1989 | "Cold Hearted" | 1 | 19 | - | Forever Your Girl | | 1989 | "(It's Just) The Way That You Love Me" (re-issue) | 3 | - | - | Forever Your Girl | | 1989 | "Opposites Attract" (duet with The Wild Pair) | 1 | 24 | - | Forever Your Girl | | 1990 | "Knocked Out" (remix) | - | - | 21 | Shut Up and Dance | |
|---|
| 1991 | "Rush Rush" | 1 | - | 6 | Spellbound | | 1991 | "The Promise Of A New Day" | 1 | - | - | Spellbound | | 1992 | "Blowing Kisses In the Wind" | 6 | - | - | Spellbound | | 1992 | "Vibeology" | 14 | 17 | 19 | Spellbound | | 1992 | "Will You Marry Me?" | 19 | - | - | Spellbound | | 1995 | "My Love Is For Real" | 28 | 1 | 28 | Head Over Heels | | 1995 | "Crazy Cool" | 58 | 13 | - | Head Over Heels | | 1996 | "Ain't Never Gonna Give You Up" | - | - | - | Head Over Heels |
Relationships
* Married to Emilio Estevez, 1992-1994.
* Married to Brad Beckerman, 1996-1998.
|
|
