>>>paula >>>timeline of life

Paula Abdul was born on June 19, 1962 in California. The Brazilian/French Canadian singer was once a member of the Los Angeles Lakers cheerleaders (a "Laker Girl"), but began to make her mark in the entertainment field with her choreography skills for other artists like Janet Jackson, ZZ Top, George Michael, Duran Duran, The Pointer Sisters, and for The Tracey Ullman Show on TV and the movie Coming To America. 1986 September: Paula won a MTV Video Music Award for Best Choreography (Janet Jackson's "Nasty" video) and an Emmy for Award for Best Choreography of a TV Series (The Tracey Ullman Show). 1988 June: Paula released her debut LP, Forever Your Girl after using $35,000 in savings to record a demo tape. After a slow start, the LP eventually became a huge commercial success for Paula after the third single "Straight Up" topped the pop charts. The single became the first of Paula's 6 #1 hits. 1989 Paula also became popular with the video channels, always presenting new dance routines and imaginative visuals. Successive singles, "Forever Your Girl," "Cold Hearted," "Opposites Attract, " and "(It's Just) The Way That You Love Me" kept Paula on the radio and video channels into the new decade. February: Forever Your Girl was certified gold and the single "Straight Up" was certified gold. March: Forever Your Girl was certified platinum and the single "Straight Up" was certified platinum. May: The single "Forever Your Girl" was certified gold. July: Forever Your Girl was certified 2x platinum. August: The single "Cold Hearted" was certified gold. September: At the MTV Video Music Awards, the video for "Straight Up" won 4 trophies: Best Choreography, Best Dance Video, Best Editing, and Best Female Video. Forever Your Girl was certified 3x platinum. November: Forever Your Girl was certified 4x platinum. 1990 January: Forever Your Girl was certified 5x platinum. Paula won an American Music Award, People's Choice Award, and an American Dance Award for Choreographer of the Year. March: Forever Your Girl was certified 6x platinum and the single "Opposites Attract" was certified gold. May: While fans awaited Paula's follow-up LP, a collection of dance remixes was released - Shut Up And Dance. July: Forever Your Girl was certified 7x platinum and Shut Up And Dance was certified platinum. 1991 February: Abdul won a Grammy Award for Best Music Video, Short Form ("Opposites Attract") - with Video Directors, Michael Patterson and Candice Reckinger, and Video Producer, Sharon Oreck. May: Paula's second studio LP, Spellbound, was released and showed Paula's talent for ballads as well as dance music. The #1 hit "Rush Rush" and Top 10, "Blowing Kisses In The Wind," were also hits on adult contemporary charts. Paula's dance hits included the #1, "The Promise Of A New Day," and hits "Vibeology," and "Will You Marry Me." June: Spellbound was certified platinum and the single "Rush Rush" was certified gold. September: Spellbound was certified 2x platinum. 1992 January: Spellbound was certified 3x platinum. Paula married actor Emilio Estevez (the couple divorced 2 years later). In between her second and third LPs, Paula was sidetracked in court defending herself against a backup singer claiming that she herself had sung on a number of tracks on Paula's debut LP. Paula eventually won the court case. 1993 January: Rolling Stone: "The 100 Top Music Videos" includes "Straight Up" at # 80. 1995 June: Paula released her third LP, Head Over Heels. Although the LP did not sell as well as her previous LPs, she showed the musical world that she still had the ability to create infectious singles and innovative videos with the single "My Love Is For Real." July: Paula hit the Top 10 with "My Love Is For Real." The LP also had some help from Color Me Badd and Ofra Haza, and had the additional hits "Crazy Cool" and "Ain't Never Gonna Give You Up." October: Head Over Heels was certified gold. 1996 February: Paula hit the Top 40 with "Ain't Never Gonna Give You Up." Paula began an acting career with appearances on Cybil and The Single Guy as well as a TV movie the following year called Touched By Evil. Paula also married again. Although Paula's rise to stardom appeared quick and easy, it wasn't without struggles. Paula became more candid about her 15 year bout with bulimia, starting when she was in her teens. She announced that in 1989 she had joined Over Eaters Anonymous just as her career took off. 1998 Paula released an exercise/aerobic home video entitled Cardio Dance and appeared on the TV show, Spin City. 1999 November: Paula won $100,000 in court over a public appearance dispute. MTV: 100 Greatest Videos Ever Made includes "Straight Up" at # 49. 2000 September: Paula released a hit compilation - Greatest Hits. October: Paula signed a development deal with Fox Kids Network for the creation of an animated children's series. VH1: 100 Greatest Dance Songs includes "Straight Up" at # 81. 2001 May: Paula signed a development deal with Fox Kids Network for the creation of an animated children's series. VH1: 100 Greatest Dance Songs includes "Straight Up" at # 81. 2002 June-August: Paula could be seen as one of the judges on the hit talent search show "American Idol: The Search for a Superstar" on FOX. September: Paula ranked # 85 on VH1: 100 Sexiest Artists. 2003 February: Paula could be seen back on TV as one of the judges on the hit talent search show "American Idol 2: The Search for a Superstar" on FOX. February: # 45 on the Top Pop Artists of the Past 25 Years chart. 2004 February: Paula could be seen back on TV as one of the judges on the hit talent search show "American Idol 3: The Search for a Superstar" on FOX. 2005 January: Paula released the DVD Video Hits. February: Paula could be seen back on TV as one of the judges on the hit talent search show "American Idol 4: The Search for a Superstar" on FOX. March: Paula was hit with a fine and 2 years probation for a hit-and-run incident in Los Angeles. Paula reportedly swiped a car with her car last December. April: Paula released the DVD Ultimate Voice Coach - Learn To Sing Like A Star. May: Controversy erupted within American Idol as a former contestant was making accusations that he had an affair with Paula during his time with American Idol. August: FOX Television announced they found no evidence to support claims of Paula having an affair with a contestant. 2006 October: VH1: 100 Greatest Songs of the 80's included "Straight Up" at # 64.