Forever Your Girl is the debut album by American singer Paula Abdul. It was released on June 13, 1988 through Virgin Records. The album was Abdul's breakthrough into the music industry after being a choreographer for high-profile clients including the California Raisins, George Michael, ZZ Top, Duran Duran and most notably Janet Jackson. At the time of its release, it was the most successful debut album and was the first time that a female artist scored four US Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles from her first album. It is currently certified 7× Platinum by the RIAA.

Background In 1987, Paula Abdul, who had built up her professional reputation as a choreographer for the Los Angeles Lakers and high-profile artists including George Michael, ZZ Top, Duran Duran and Janet Jackson, recorded a demo using her savings. Soon thereafter, she was signed to Virgin Records by Jeff Ayeroff, who had worked in marketing at A&M Records with Jackson. Although she was a skilled dancer and choreographer, Abdul's vocal abilities were unimpressive and with Ayeroff's support, she underwent training for her mezzo-soprano voice. Ayeroff recalled signing Abdul to a recording contract years later, stating: "She said, 'I can sing, you know. I want to do an album.' Paula's in our industry. Here's someone with a personality and she's gorgeous, and she can dance. If she can sing, she could be a star. So she went into the studio and cut a demo record and she could sing." The album was made on a budget of $72,000.

Release and reception

On October 7, 1989, 64 weeks after its July 23, 1988, debut on the chart, Forever Your Girl hit number one on the Billboard 200 album chart, the longest an album was on the market before hitting number one. It returned to the number one spot in early 1990 for 9 weeks, the album spending 10 weeks in total at number one. The album was eventually certified seven times Platinum in the US by the RIAA and has sold over 12 million copies worldwide.

The album includes four number one Billboard Hot 100 singles: "Straight Up", "Forever Your Girl", "Cold Hearted" and "Opposites Attract", which places Forever Your Girl in a tie (with several other artists) for second most number-one songs from a single album, and ties it for the most number ones in a debut album. Abdul is only one of three artists, the others being George Michael and Mariah Carey, to have four number-one singles from their debut album. The re-released "(It's Just) The Way That You Love Me" reached number three, and "Knocked Out" reached number 41. The album also reached number four on the Billboard R&B album chart, while "Straight Up", "Opposites Attract", "Knocked Out", and "(It's Just) The Way That You Love Me" all reached the top 10 of the R&B tracks chart.

By 1998, Billboard magazine reported that Forever Your Girl was the most successful album released by the Virgin Records label. The Los Angeles Daily News called the album "a fine starmaker vehicle", stating that Abdul "applies a come-hither whisper to a likable batch of melodies... What's frustrating is that Abdul's voice is buried beneath bustling arrangements on tunes like 'Opposites Attract' and 'Knocked Out'."

Accolades YearOrganizationAccoladeResult1990American Music AwardsFavorite Pop/Rock Album rowspan="1" Billboard Music Awards#1 World Album rowspan="2" Juno AwardsInternational Album of the Year

Track listing

Personnel Adapted from AllMusic.

Paula Abdul – lead vocals Marvin Gunn and Bruce DeShazer aka Tony Christian – backing vocals Peter Arata – mixing assistant Babyface – keyboards, producer, backing vocals Glen Ballard – drums, producer, programming Russ Bracher – engineer Pattie Brooks – backing vocals Wally Buck – engineer Francis Buckley – engineer, mixing Annette Cisneros – assistant engineer Dave Cochran – guitar, backing vocals Keith "KC" Cohen – mixing, producer Delisa Davis – backing vocals Tami Day – backing vocals Jimmy Demers – backing vocals Eddie M. – saxophone on "I Need You" Al Fleming – assistant engineer Basil Fung – guitar Jon Gass – engineer, mixing Bobby Gonzales – guitar Danny Grigsby – assistant engineer Evelyn Halus – backing vocals Dann Huff – guitar Tim Jaquette – engineer, mixing Jesse Johnson – drums, keyboards, producer Cliff Jones – assistant engineer, engineer Kayo – synthesizer, synthesizer bass Oliver Leiber – arranger, drum programming, guitar, keyboards, producer, programming Jeff Lorber – drum programming, engineer, guest artist, keyboards, producer Yvette Marine – backing vocals Pat McDougal – assistant engineer Lucia Newell – backing vocals Ricky P. – keyboards Pebbles – guest artist, backing vocals L.A. Reid – drums, guest artist, percussion programming, producer Angel Rogers – backing vocals Josh Schneider – assistant engineer Daryl Simmons – backing vocals Bob Somma – guitar St. Paul – arranger, bass, keyboards, Organ, vocoder Kendall Stubbs – engineer Randy Weber – programming, synthesizer Steve Weise – engineer Troy Williams – alto saxophone on "Forever Your Girl" Wild Pair – vocals, backing vocals

Charts

Weekly charts +Weekly chart performance for Forever Your GirlChart (1988–1990)Peakposition European Albums (Music & Media)13Japanese Albums (Oricon)94

Year-end charts +Year-end chart performance for Forever Your GirlChart (1989)PositionCanada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)6Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)72New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)50US Billboard 2003US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)24Chart (1990)PositionAustralian Albums (ARIA)20Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)9European Albums (Music & Media)92UK Albums (OCC)83US Billboard 2006US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)79

+Decade-end chart performance for Forever Your Girl by Paula AbdulChart (1990–1999)Position US Billboard 20053

+All-end chart performance for Forever Your Girl by Paula AbdulChartPositionUS Billboard 200 (Women) 10

Certifications

See also List of best-selling albums by women

Notes

References

External links Paula Abdul Billboard peaks