Paula Abdul grew up in California’s San Fernando Valley. She started taking dance lessons when she was eight years old. Paula Abdul graduated from Van Nuys High School as senior class president and head cheerleader. She began college at Cal State-Northridge after graduating in 1980, concentrating in TV and radio. After joining the L.A. Lakers cheerleaders, she quickly rose to the position of top cheerleader/choreographer, eventually dropping out of college to dance and choreograph full-time. The Jacksons hired her to choreograph their 1984 “Torture” video, the first of many videos and films she would choreograph.
Paula Abdul debuted as a vocalist with her first CD, “Forever Your Girl,” which sold poorly until the single “Straight Up” blasted onto the charts in December 1988, and she has remained a successful singer/dancer ever since, bolstered by her tenure as a judge on the TV show American Idol (2002).
Paula Abdul’s father (Harry Abdul) is of Syrian Sephardic Jewish descent. Her mother is Jewish as well and was born in Canada. Paula Abdul’s parents have resided in Syria, Brazil, and Canada, and this diverse background has contributed to a wide range of journalistic articles regarding her nationality and/or religion. Paula Abdul grew up in Hollywood, California, as the daughter of Harry Abdul (a former livestock trader in Brazil) and Lorainne Abdul (a former assistant to film director Billy Wilder). She has been singing and dancing in community musical theatre groups since Paula was seven years old, touring across America.
Paula Abdul also took tap dance lessons and was offered a scholarship to tap dancing school. Later in life, she attended Cal State-Northridge College, where Paula Abdul majored in Broadcast radio. During that time, she auditioned for the Los Angeles Lakers NBA Cheerleading team, and she was hired as a cheerleader on the squad, earning $50 each game during her freshman year.
Paula Abdul Illness: What disease does Paula Abdul have?
Abdul suffers from reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD), a persistent neurological condition characterized by extreme pain. “In my neck, I have four titanium plates. Over the years, I’ve undergone 14 surgeries. “I had surgery the same night as the first season finale of ‘American Idol,'” she explains.
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