Birth name: Paula Julie Abdul
Birth place: San Fernando, California, U.S.
Birthday: June 19, 1962
Occupation: Singer, choreographer, dancer, television personality, actress
Year’s Active: 1986–present
Most Recent Role: Judge on American Idol
Paula Abdul is the daughter of Harry and Lorraine Abdul, but her parents got divorced in 1969. Paula and her sister, then, went on to stay with their mother. Ever since her childhood Paula had shown interest in music and dancing. At an early age of eight she started taking dance lessons in order to improve her natural talent, which helped her later in life. During her high school days she was in the cheerleading team. After completing her high school, Paula went ahead to California State University, Northridge, where she wanted to study broadcasting. In the very first year of the college she was selected for the cheerleading squad of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Though Paula started as a cheerleader but soon left college after taking training for three months in order to pursue a career in choreography. Abdul has choreographed songs for famous singers like Janet Jackson. She has choreographed songs in movies like ‘Big’, ‘Coming to America’, ‘Action Jackson’, ‘Jerry McGuire ’,‘ The Running Man’ and ‘American Beauty’.
She has released various videos under the name “Paula Abdul’s Get Up and Dance!(2003)”, “Cardio Dance(2000)”, Cardio Cheer(2005).
After gaining success in choreography, the multi talented star went ahead to try her luck in singing, where she was successful in giving some of the best songs to the avid music fans. In 1988 she released her first pop album, under the name “Forever Young Girl”. Her songs “Straight Up”, “Forever Your Girl”, “Cold Hearted”, “(It’s Just) The Way That You Love Me”, and “Opposites Attract” hit #1 at the Billboard’s chart. She also released a remix album “Shut up and Dance”, which is till date one of the most successful remix album. Since that day Paula has become a prominent singer and has made it huge in the world of music and singing. Other albums that she has released are “Promise of a New Day,” “Blowing Kisses in the Wind”, “Head Over Heels”, “My Love Is for Real”, “Crazy Cool” and “Ain’t Never Gonna Give You Up”.
Paula joined the cast of “American Idol” Tv show in 2002 as a judge on the show. The series went on to become one of the highest rated shows on American television and is currently running in its eighth season. Paula judges the show along with Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson. In 2009, Kara DioGuardi was added to the judges’ panel.
Coming down to her personal life Paula was married to Emilio Estevez, but divorced him in 1994. In 1996 Paula married sportswear designer Brad Beckerman but again divorced him 1998. In 2007, she started dating J.T. Torregiani, a restaurant owner but broke up with him in 2008, stating that they could not take time out for each other as they were too busy.