Paula Julie Abdul was born June 19th, 1963, in San Fernando, California. The daughter of Harry and Lorraine Abdul knew early on that she wanted to dip her feet into dance.

She grew up in southern California and got her first break as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers in the early 1980s. Her reputation as a choreographer led to a job as an assistant dance director for The Jacksons, which in turn led to a job choreographing videos for Janet Jackson's album Control.

Paula Abdul began a recording career, releasing her debut album, Forever Your Girl, in 1988. The first two singles drawn from the record were moderate hits, but the release of "Straight Up" at the end of the year made her a superstar.

She returned to acting with cameo appearances in Cybill, The Single Guy, Spin City, All That, The Wayans Bros., and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. She also starred in made-for-TV movies such as Touched by Evil and The Waiting Game, and appeared in Mr. Rock 'n' Roll.

Abdul's spectacular big-budget videos helped push the sales of Forever Your Girl past seven million in the U.S. alone. While her second album, 1991's Spellbound, wasn't as successful, it still sold over three million copies and spent two weeks at number one.

Paul Abdul won Emmys for choreography for The Tracey Ullman Show (1989) and The American Music Awards (1990)... Abdul is of Syrian-Brazilian / French-Canadian ancestry. Her mother worked as an assistant to filmmaker Billy Wilder.