Paula Abdul

After a cheerleading accident, she suffered from reflex sympathetic dystrophy.

She has claimed that she never abused prescription drugs and had to be on heavy medication after a car crash and a plane crash that required a number of surgeries and painkillers.

In 1992, she married Emilio Estevez, but divorced him two years later.

Paula Julie Abdul was born on June 19, 1962 to Harry Abdul and Lorraine M. in San Fernando, California. Her family is of Jewish descent and their ancestors came from Russia and Ukraine. She has an older sister, Wendy.

She studied at Van Nuys High School and graduated from there in 1978. As she was an ardent dance enthusiast from a very young age, she had made up her mind that she wanted to enter the world of showbiz. She learnt ballet, jazz and tap and was largely inspired by Debbie Allen, Bob Fosse and Fred Astaire.

She was a cheerleader and an honor student in school and at the age of 15, she received a scholarship to attend a dance camp, following which she appeared in the musical, ‘Junior High School’.

She enrolled to California State University at Northridge, where she majored in broadcasting.

During her freshman year, she was selected from over 700 candidates to become a professional cheerleader or a ‘Laker Girl’ for the Los Angeles Lakers NBA team. The same year, she was made the head choreographer of the Lakers Cheerleading Squad. This is when she realized her true calling and soon left university to pursue a career in dance and choreography.

During one of the games, Abdul was spotted by some of the members of ‘The Jacksons’ while she was cheerleading and was immediately offered a chance to choreograph their single, ‘Torture’, which became a huge success.

Through the 1980s, she was asked by a number of celebrities and singers to choreograph their music videos. She was the official choreographer for ‘The Jacksons’ ‘Victory’ tour.

In 1988, she released her debut pop album, ‘Forever Your Girl’, which became a Billboard smash hit. Three years later, she released her next music album, ‘Spellbound’, which also became one of the highest-selling albums of the time.

In 1995, she released another pop-album, ‘Head Over Heels’ under Virgin Records. Some of the singles from the album became hit club anthems.

In 1995, she released a dance-workout video, ‘Paula Abdul’s Get Up and Dance!’ and three years later, she released a second video entitled, ‘Cardio Dance’, which also became a grand success.

Paula Abdul’s debut album, ‘Forever Your Girl’, which released in 1988, took nearly 64 weeks to touch the no.1 position of the Billboard 200. However, it went on to produce some of her most successful singles including ‘Straight Up’, ‘Cold Hearted’ and ‘Opposites Attract’. The album was certified ‘multi-platinum’ and went on to sell 12 million copies worldwide.

‘Spellbound’ is her second album that released in 1991. An internationally acclaimed album, it catapulted her fame enormously, with the hit singles, ‘Rush, Rush’, ‘the Promise of a New Day’ and ‘Blowing Kisses in the Wind’. A triple platinum album, it reached the no.1 position on the Billboard 200 after its release.