Paula Julie Abdul, a well-recognized singer/songwriter is one of the top female solo performers in the late 1980s and early 1990s. She is also counted as one of the prevailing choreographers in the music video sector and has been a part of the judge panels of some epic shows including, American Idol from 2002-10, CBS’s Live to Dance, The X Factor and permanent judge of the So You Think You Can Dance Australia and America.
Paula Abdul Mini Bio
Abdul, born on June 9, 1962, had a passion for dance from an early age and started dance lessons in ballet, jazz, and tap. Later, she joined Van Nuys High School, where she was a cheerleader and an honest student.
She received a scholarship to a dance camp near Palm Springs. Subsequently, she was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to appear in the musical film, Junior High School.
Moving on with her career journey, after she graduated from the California University majoring in Broadcasting, Paula commenced her career from the Los Angeles NBA basketball team Laker Girls where she was selected out of 700 candidates for the cheerleading squad; she was selected as the lead choreographer.
Abdul’s ability paid off as she was hired as an assistant choreographer for the Jackson 5 for their Victory Tour. Afterwards, she worked with the perceived names including, ZZ Top, George Michael, Duran Duran and Janet Jackson.
Abdul choreography in Jackson’s video achieved huge success. She poured with success one after another and she was honored with the Emmy Award for her dance work on The Tracey Ullman Show.
The big budget videos like Forever Your Girl, and Paula’s debut album Straight Up made her popular. By 2000, Abdul gained huge success from ‘two No.1’ and ‘six No. 1’ singles selling 30 million records.
Family and Personal LIfe
Paula is the daughter of Harry Abdul and Lorraine M. Rykiss. Her father Harry is an owner of a sand and gravel business while her mother is a concert pianist in San Fernando, California. She is blessed with one sister named Wendy.
The renowned choreographer got married twice. She was first married to Emilio Estevez for 2 years and shortly divorced in 1994. For the second time, she was married to clothing designer Brad Beckerman in 1996 in Bristol. Their relation ended in 1998. She doesn’t have children yet. Abdul’s current residence is in Los Angeles, California.
Associated With
The permanent judge of the So You Think You Can Dance, Paula’s hard work and dedication have paid off as she has become one of the prominent choreographers in the American music video industry. The admired beauty recently performed at the MixTape Festival in Hershey.