Paula Abdul

Bio:
Paula Abdul  (born June 19, 1962, San Fernando, CA) is an American singer and dancer and former judge on American Idol. She got her start as a “Laker Girl,” one of the dancers at L.A. Laker basketball games, for which she also choreographed the squad’s routines. She later went on to choreograph music videos for top stars in the mid 1980’s like Janet Jackson. in 1988 she released her debut album Forever Your Girl, which spawned three number one singles, propelled by the popularity of her high energy and dance-heavy music videos. She released her second album Spellbound in 1991. Paula took a break from her pop career in the 1990’s but stayed busy with choreography work. In 2002 she became one of three judges on the Fox singing competition American Idol, alongside Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson. She was the sympathetic voice to Simon’s blunt critiques for seven seasons. She departed the show in 2009 after a failed contract negotiation, and was replaced by talk show host Ellen DeGeneres. She went on to join Simon when he launched AI competitor The X Factor in 2011 but only lasted one season. She has since guest hosted on other reality shows So You Think You Can Dance and RuPaul’s Drag Race.

Best Known For:
Paula is best known for her 1980’s pop singing career and being a judge on American Idol.

Personal Life:
Paula’s father is Syrian and her mother is of Canadian descent. She studied ballet, jazz, and tap from a young age. Paula has been married twice, first to actor Emilio Estevez from 1992 to 1994 and later toclothing designer Brad Beckerman in 1996 to 1998. she battled the eating disorder bullimia  during the early 1990’s. In April 2005, she revealed that  she suffers from a neurological disorder, reflex sympathetic dystrophy, which causes chronic pain. Paula was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1991.