Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

ABDUL, Paula

(b 19 June '63, Los Angeles) Choreographer, recording artiste. Grew up in North Hollywood, studied 'jazz' and tap dancing from age ten, majored in TV studies at college. She joined the Laker Girls, a basketball team's dance troupe, became their choreographer, moved on to choreographing pop videos, then making her own albums. Her third single 'Straight Up' was no. 1 USA '89; first album Forever Your Girl '89 sold seven million copies in 18 months and was recycled as Shut Up And Dance (The Dance Mixes) '90. Second album Spellbound '91 was no. 1 USA. Another vocalist, Yvette Marine, claimed to have shared lead vocals e.g. on another hit single, 'Opposites Attract', but lost in court. Abdul won awards for being sexy; Tony Parsons in the UK wrote that Spellbound 'is slightly less spontaneous than a pocket calculator ... her dance tracks consist of boil-in-the-bag funk and her sexy stuff has fewer erogenous zones than Barbie's boyfriend'. Tracks on new album Head Over Heels '95 were described by David Sinclair as 'the work of a poor person's Madonna'. Abdul has also done charity work, and married actor Emilio Estevez '92.