Forever Your Girl

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 most notably Janet Jackson, recorded a demo using her savings.{{cite web|title=Paula Abdul Biography|url=http://www.metacritic.com/person/paula-abdul?filter-options=tv|website=metacritic.com|access-date=19 October 2017}} 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 until her singing range was rated mezzo-soprano.{{cite news |last1=Dominguez |first1=Pier |title=How "Forever Your Girl" Made Paula Abdul The Original Britney |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/pdominguez/paula-abdul-forever-your-girl-pop-princess |access-date=June 20, 2018 |publisher=BuzzFeed |date=June 13, 2018}}{{cite web|url=http://dance.lovetoknow.com/Dancer_Paula_Abdul|title=Dancer Paula Abdul|publisher=LoveToKnow Corp|work=LoveToKnow|first=Rachel|last=Hanson|access-date=20 January 2018}} 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."{{cite news |last1=Hall |first1=Carla |title=Paula Abdul, Soaring Straight Up |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1990/03/25/paula-abdul-soaring-straight-up/b11d0418-7754-4e56-84fb-000f5a215bff/ |access-date=June 21, 2018 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=March 25, 1990}} The album was made on a budget of $72,000.{{cite web | url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-news/paula-abdul-talks-forever-your-girl-las-vegas-residency-1251502/amp/ | title=Paula Abdul Talks "Very Personal" Las Vegas Residency and Paving the Way for Today's Pop Stars | website=The Hollywood Reporter | date=31 October 2019 }}

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r131740|pure_url=yes}}

| rev2 = Christgau's Record Guide

| rev2score = C{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=A&bk=80|chapter=A|access-date=August 16, 2020|title=Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s|publisher=Pantheon Books|year=1990|isbn=0-679-73015-X|via=robertchristgau.com}}

| rev3 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music

| rev3score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite book |last1=Larkin |first1=Colin |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |date=2007 |publisher=Omnibus Press |location=United Kingdom |isbn=978-1-84609-856-7 |pages=32 |edition=5th Concise}}

| rev4 = Los Angeles Daily News

| rev4score = C{{cite news |last1=Britt |first1=Bruce |title=Sound Check |work=Los Angeles Daily News |date=July 29, 1988 |page=L40}}

| rev5 = Number One

| rev5score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}{{cite magazine|first=David|last=Martin|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/57779449@N02/46198425975/in/album-72157678711745258/|title=Albums|magazine=Number One|date=April 26, 1989|page=43|access-date=March 12, 2023}}

| rev6 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev6score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite book| last = Brackett | first = Nathan |author2=Christian Hoard | title = The Rolling Stone Album Guide | publisher = Simon and Schuster | year = 2004 | location = New York City, New York | page = [https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/2 2] | isbn = 0-7432-0169-8 | url = https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac| url-access = registration | quote = rolling stone paula abdul album guide. }}

}}

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 sales chart, the longest an album has been on the market before hitting number one.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.contactmusic.com/info/paula_abdul |title=Paula Abdul - Biography, Photos, News, Videos, Movie Reviews |magazine=Contactmusic.com |access-date=2012-02-16}} The album was eventually certified seven times Platinum in the US by the RIAA and has sold over 12 million copies worldwide.{{cite news|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFrxeHQEUz0 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/WFrxeHQEUz0 |archive-date=2021-12-22 |url-status=live|title=Paula Abdul, Driven|work=VH1|access-date=22 November 2017|publisher=VH1|quote="Forever Your Girl went on to sell 18 million records."}}{{cbignore}} It also 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. Forever Your Girl is also one of nine albums to have a minimum of four songs reach number one on the U.S. charts. She was the first female artist to have four number one singles from a debut album. "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.

After a slow start, the album's third single "Straight Up" helped the album breakout in spring/summer 1989 after its initial summer 1988 release. Forever Your Girl hit number one for the first time on October 7, 1989. After the release of the single "Opposites Attract", the album shot to number one again on February 3, 1990, and stayed there for nine consecutive weeks.

By 1998, Billboard magazine reported that Forever Your Girl was the most successful album released by the Virgin Records label, with all five of its top 20 hits also appearing on the same chart ranking Virgin's singles.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DQoEAAAAMBAJ&dq=forever+your+girl+paula+abdul+1988&pg=PA42|title=Billboard|date=1998-09-05|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|language=en}}

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'."

{{track listing

| total_length = 44:22

| extra_column = Producer(s)

| title1 = The Way That You Love Me

| writer1 = Oliver Leiber

| extra1 = Leiber

| length1 = 5:22

| title2 = Knocked Out

| writer2 = {{hlist|Babyface|Daryl Simmons|L.A. Reid}}

| extra2 = {{hlist|Reid|Babyface}}

| length2 = 3:52

| title3 = Opposites Attract

| writer3 = Leiber

| extra3 = Leiber

| length3 = 4:24

| title4 = State of Attraction

| writer4 = {{hlist|Glen Ballard|Siedah Garrett}}

| extra4 = Ballard

| length4 = 4:07

| title5 = I Need You

| writer5 = {{hlist|Jesse Johnson|Ta Mara}}

| extra5 = Johnson

| length5 = 5:01

| title6 = Forever Your Girl

| writer6 = Leiber

| extra6 = Leiber

| length6 = 4:58

| title7 = Straight Up

| writer7 = Elliot Wolff

| extra7 = Wolff

| length7 = 4:11

| title8 = Next to You

| writer8 = {{hlist|Curtis Williams|Kendall Stubbs|Sandra Williams}}

| extra8 = C. Williams

| length8 = 4:26

| title9 = Cold Hearted

| writer9 = Wolff

| extra9 = Wolff

| length9 = 3:51

| title10 = One or the Other

| writer10 = {{hlist|Paula Abdul|C. Williams|Duncan Pain}}

| extra10 = C. Williams

| length10 = 4:10

}}

Adapted from AllMusic.{{cite web|title=Forever Your Girl - Paula Abdul {{!}} Credits {{!}} AllMusic|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/forever-your-girl-mw0000652277/credits|website=AllMusic|access-date=27 November 2016}}

{{div col}}

• 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

{{div col end}}

{{col-begin}}

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{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Australia|type=album|award=Platinum|relyear=1988|certyear=1990|access-date=15 November 2021}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|type=album|award=Platinum|number=7|relyear=1988|artist=Paul Abdul|title=Forever Your Girl|access-date=August 2, 2016}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Hong Kong|type=album|award=Gold|relyear=1988|certyear=1990|artist=Paul Abdul|title=Forever Your Girl|access-date=August 2, 2016}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=New Zealand|type=album|award=Platinum|relyear=1988|id=1990-07-27|source=newchart|access-date=2024-11-20|certyear=1991}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Sweden|type=album|award=Gold|relyear=1988|certyear=1989|artist=Paula Abdul|title=Forever Your Girl|access-date=February 24, 2025}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Switzerland|type=album|award=Gold|relyear=1988|certyear=1990|artist=Paula Abdul|title=Forever Your Girl|access-date=August 2, 2016}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=album|award=Platinum|relyear=1988|artist=Paul Abdul|title=Forever Your Girl|access-date=August 2, 2016|id=2357-3442-2}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=album|award=Platinum|number=7|relyear=1988|artist=Paul Abdul|title=Forever Your Girl|access-date=August 2, 2016}}

{{Certification Table Bottom}}

• List of best-selling albums by women

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070929144507/http://billboard.com/bbcom/retrieve_chart_history.do?model.chartFormatGroupName=Singles&model.vnuArtistId=3918&model.vnuAlbumId=167280 Paula Abdul Billboard peaks]

{{Paula Abdul}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1988 debut albums

Category:Paula Abdul albums

Category:Virgin Records albums

Category:Albums produced by L.A. Reid

Category:Albums produced by Babyface (musician)

Category:New jack swing albums