Forever Your Girl

For the song of the same name, see Forever Your Girl (song).

Forever Your Girl
Studio album by Paula Abdul
Released	June 13, 1988
Recorded	October 1987–April 1988
Studio	Creation Audio, Minneapolis Studio Masters, Los Angeles, California Silverlake Studios, Los Angeles, California Kren Studio, Los Angeles, California JHL Sound, Pacific Palisades, California Studio 55, Los Angeles, California Cochrane Studios, Studio City, California Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California House of Music, West Orange, New Jersey
Genre	Dance-pop [1] [2]
Length	44:35
Label	Virgin
Producer	Oliver Leiber Glen Ballard Elliot Wolff L.A. Reid Babyface Jesse Johnson Curtis Williams
Paula Abdul chronology
Forever Your Girl (1988) Shut Up and Dance: Mixes (1990)
Singles from Forever Your Girl
"Knocked Out" Released: May 4, 1988 "The Way That You Love Me" Released: August 2, 1988 "Straight Up" Released: November 22, 1988 "Forever Your Girl" Released: February 20, 1989 "Cold Hearted" Released: June 15, 1989 "Opposites Attract" Released: November 17, 1989

Forever Your Girl is the debut album by American singer Paula Abdul. It was released in June 13, 1988 through Virgin Records. ^[a] 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, 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. ^[4] Soon thereafter, she was signed to Virgin Records by Jeff Ayeroff, who had worked in marketing at A&M Records with Janet 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. ^{[5] [6]} 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." ^[7] The album was made on a budget of $72,000. ^[8]

Release and reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[9]
Christgau's Record Guide	C [10]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[11]
Los Angeles Daily News	C [12]
Number One	[13]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[14]

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. ^[15] 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. ^[16] It also includes four number one Billboard Hot 100 singles: "Straight Up", "Forever Your Girl", "Cold Hearted", and "Opposites Attract", ^[16] 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 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. ^[17]

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'." ^[12]

Accolades

Organization	Country	Accolade	Year	Result
MTV Video Music Awards	United States	Best Female Video (Straight Up)	1989	Won
		Best Dance Video (Straight Up)
		Best Choreography in a Video (Straight Up)
		Best Editing (Straight Up)
		Best New Artist in a Video (Straight Up)		Nominated
		Breakthrough Video (Straight Up)
American Music Awards		Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist	1990	Won
		Favorite Dance Artist
		Favorite Pop Rock Album		Nominated
		Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist
		Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist	1991
Billboard Music Awards		#1 World Album	1990
Soul Train Awards		Best R&B/Urban Contemporary Song of the Year (Straight Up)	1990	Nominated
People's Choice Awards		Favorite Female Artist	1990	Won
		Favorite All-Around Female Entertainer		Nominated
Grammy Awards		Best Vocal Performance, Female (Straight Up)	1990	Nominated
		Best Music Video (Short Form) Opposites Attract	1991	Won
Juno Awards	Canada	International Single of the Year (Straight Up)	1990	Nominated
		International Album of the Year	1990
Brit Award	United Kingdom	International Breakthrough Act	1990	Nominated

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"The Way That You Love Me"	Oliver Leiber	Leiber	5:22
2.	"Knocked Out"	Babyface Daryl Simmons L.A. Reid	Reid Babyface	3:52
3.	"Opposites Attract"	Leiber	Leiber	4:24
4.	"State of Attraction"	Glen Ballard Siedah Garrett	Ballard	4:07
5.	"I Need You"	Jesse Johnson Ta Mara	Johnson	5:01
6.	"Forever Your Girl"	Leiber	Leiber	4:58
7.	"Straight Up"	Elliot Wolff	Wolff	4:11
8.	"Next to You"	Curtis Williams Kendall Stubbs Sandra Williams	C. Williams	4:26
9.	"Cold Hearted"	Wolff	Wolff	3:51
10.	"One or the Other"	Paula Abdul C. Williams Duncan Pain	C. Williams	4:10
Total length:				44:22

Personnel

Adapted from AllMusic. ^[18]

• Paula Abdul – lead vocals
• Marvin Gunn and Bruce DeShazer AKA Tony Christin – 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 chart performance for Forever Your Girl by Paula Abdul Chart (1988–1990) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA) [19] 1 Canada Top Albums/CDs ( RPM ) [20] 1 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [21] 19 European Albums ( Music & Media ) [22] 13 French Albums (SNEP) [23] 12 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [24] 24 Japanese Albums (Oricon) [25] 94 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [26] 19 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [27] 17 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [28] 6 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [29] 15 UK Albums (OCC) [30] 3 US Billboard 200 [31] 1 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) [32] 10

Year-end chart performance for Forever Your Girl by Paula Abdul Chart (1989) Position Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM) [33] 6 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [34] 72 US Billboard 200 [35] 3 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) [36] 24 Chart (1990) Position Australian Albums (ARIA) [37] 20 Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM) [38] 9 European Albums (Music & Media) [39] 92 US Billboard 200 [40] 6 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) [41] 79 Decade-end chart performance for Forever Your Girl by Paula Abdul Chart (1990–1999) Position US Billboard 200 [42] 53

All-end chart performance for Forever Your Girl by Paula Abdul

Chart	Position
US Billboard 200 (Women) [43]	10

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA) [44]	Platinum	70,000^
Canada (Music Canada) [45]	7× Platinum	700,000^
Hong Kong (IFPI Hong Kong) [46]	Gold	10,000*
New Zealand (RMNZ) [47]	Platinum	15,000^
Sweden (GLF) [48]	Gold	50,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland) [49]	Gold	25,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) [50]	Platinum	300,000^
United States (RIAA) [51]	7× Platinum	7,000,000^
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also

• List of best-selling albums by women

Notes

1. RIAA's official website listed the release date as June 13, 1988. ^[3]

References

1. Breihan, Tom (December 3, 2021). "The Number Ones: Paula Abdul's "Rush Rush". Stereogum . Retrieved December 22, 2023.
2. Deggans, Eric (January 1, 1998). "Paula Abdul". In Graff, Gary; du Lac, Josh; McFarlin, Jim (eds.). MusicHound R&B: The Essential Album Guide. Detroit: Visible Ink Press. p. 2.
3. "Gold & Platinum". RIAA. May 31, 2024. Retrieved February 19, 2025.
4. "Paula Abdul Biography". metacritic.com. Retrieved October 19, 2017.
5. Dominguez, Pier (June 13, 2018). "How "Forever Your Girl" Made Paula Abdul The Original Britney". BuzzFeed . Retrieved June 20, 2018.
6. Hanson, Rachel. "Dancer Paula Abdul". LoveToKnow. LoveToKnow Corp. Retrieved January 20, 2018.
7. Hall, Carla (March 25, 1990). "Paula Abdul, Soaring Straight Up". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved June 21, 2018.
8. "Paula Abdul Talks "Very Personal" Las Vegas Residency and Paving the Way for Today's Pop Stars". The Hollywood Reporter . October 31, 2019.
9. https://www.allmusic.com/album/r131740
10. Christgau, Robert (1990). "A". Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s . Pantheon Books. ISBN   0-679-73015-X . Retrieved August 16, 2020– via robertchristgau.com.
11. Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th Concise ed.). United Kingdom: Omnibus Press. p. 32. ISBN   978-1-84609-856-7.
12. Britt, Bruce (July 29, 1988). "Sound Check". Los Angeles Daily News. p. L40.
13. Martin, David (April 26, 1989). "Albums". Number One . p. 43. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
14. Brackett, Nathan; Christian Hoard (2004). The Rolling Stone Album Guide . New York City, New York: Simon and Schuster. p.  2. ISBN   0-7432-0169-8. rolling stone paula abdul album guide.
15. "Paula Abdul - Biography, Photos, News, Videos, Movie Reviews". Contactmusic.com. Retrieved February 16, 2012.
16. "Paula Abdul, Driven". VH1. VH1. Archived from the original on December 22, 2021. Retrieved November 22, 2017. Forever Your Girl went on to sell 18 million records.
17. Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. September 5, 1998.
18. "Forever Your Girl - Paula Abdul | Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved November 27, 2016.
19. "Australiancharts.com – Paula Abdul – Forever Your Girl". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
20. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 9072". RPM . Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved July 28, 2013.
21. "Dutchcharts.nl – Paula Abdul – Forever Your Girl" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
22. "European Top 100 Albums" (PDF). Music & Media . Vol. 6, no. 16. April 22, 1989. p. 23 – via World Radio History.
23. "Lescharts.com – Paula Abdul – Forever Your Girl". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
24. "Offiziellecharts.de – Paula Abdul – Forever Your Girl" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
25. "Spellbound – Oricon", Oricon (in Japanese), archived from the original on May 5, 2019, retrieved February 21, 2009
26. "Charts.nz – Paula Abdul – Forever Your Girl". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
27. "Norwegiancharts.com – Paula Abdul – Forever Your Girl". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
28. "Swedishcharts.com – Paula Abdul – Forever Your Girl". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
29. "Swisscharts.com – Paula Abdul – Forever Your Girl". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
30. "Paula Abdul | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
31. "Paula Abdul Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
32. "Paula Abdul Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
33. "Top 100 Albums of 1989". RPM . Library and Archives Canada . Retrieved November 27, 2022.
34. "Jaaroverzichten – Album 1989". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
35. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1989". Billboard. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
36. "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 1989". Billboard. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
37. "ARIA Top 100 Albums for 1990". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
38. "Top 100 Albums of 1990". RPM . Library and Archives Canada . Retrieved November 27, 2022.
39. Bakker, Machgiel (December 22, 1990). "1990 REVIEW: Music & Media Year -End Awards . European Top 100 Albums 1990" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 7, no. 51. pp. 29, 38. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
40. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1990". Billboard. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
41. "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 1990". Billboard. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
42. Mayfield, Geoff (December 25, 1999). 1999 The Year in Music Totally '90s: Diary of a Decade - The listing of Top Pop Albums of the '90s & Hot 100 Singles of the '90s. Billboard . Retrieved October 15, 2010.
43. "Greatest of All Time Billboard 200 Albums By Women". Billboard . Prometheus Global Media . Retrieved December 1, 2017.
44. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1990 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association . Retrieved November 15, 2021.
45. "Canadian album certifications – Paul Abdul – Forever Your Girl". Music Canada . Retrieved August 2, 2016.
46. "IFPIHK Gold Disc Award − 1990". IFPI Hong Kong. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
47. "New Zealand album certifications". Recorded Music NZ . Retrieved November 20, 2024.
48. "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 17, 2011. Retrieved February 24, 2025.
49. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('Forever Your Girl')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
50. "British album certifications – Paul Abdul – Forever Your Girl". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved August 2, 2016.
51. "American album certifications – Paul Abdul – Forever Your Girl". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved August 2, 2016.

External links

• Paula Abdul Billboard peaks