Paula Abdul is a legendary pop icon who rose to fame in the late 80s and the early 90s. She is known as a triple threat until today being phenomenal at singing, dancing and at acting. But not everything came naturally to Paula. As a baby she was born with hips inward and was always short growing up. These were unideal features to be a dancer at the time, because the tall blonde girls were favored. But Paula fought through by working harder and harder and became a prodigy in tap dancing, ballet and jazz within her first few classes. Her passion for dance ran so deep that she made a negotiation with her ballet teacher that she would clean the windows in exchange for lessons. Due to years and years of hard work, she became the head Laker cheerleader at the age of 18 and began choreographing unique routines for them without the pom poms. This caught the attention of many celebrities that would often come to view the Laker games and some of those celebrities were the Jackson brothers. They soon hired Paula as their choreographer for their Victory Tour. After choreographing the Jackson Brothers, Paula went on to choreograph their little sister Janet Jackson along with other celebrities like George Michael, Duran Duran, Debbie Gibson, and the list literally goes on. After becoming the number 1 choreographer in America and saving up enough money, Paula signed a deal with Virgin Records and started recording her first studio Album, Forever Your Girl. Paula was an overnight success and the first song that put her on the map was her song Straight Up. Paula’s slick vocals, sharp dance moves and one of a kind music videos made people fall in love with her and she became America’s sweetheart. Straight Up quickly reached the #1 spot on the Billboard 100. Paula had 3 more #1 songs on that album such as Cold Hearted Snake, Opposites Attract and Forever Your Girl. She made history with this, because at the time she was the only debut singer to have 4 #1 songs from her debut album. With this album Paula became the biggest superstar in the world by 1990. Paula went on to break records with her second album, Spellbound, in 1991. She had 2 more # 1 singles with this album: The Promise of a New Day and Rush Rush. In total Paula Abdul has 6 #1 singles which is among the top for any female artist and a feat that many artists struggle to achieve until today. But bigger than Paula’s talent is Paula’s heart. After achieving so much and being considered an icon, Paula became a judge on the first 8 seasons of American Idol along with Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell in order to help the dreams of other aspiring pop stars to come true. Her music and dance styles continue to influence so many of the artists to come including Britney Spears and Beyonce. In other words, she was the original pop princess.
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