# Forever Your Girl

Forever Your Girl is the debut studio 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 the album's release it was the most successful debut album of all time and was the first time that a female artist scored four US Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles from a debut 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 most notably 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 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. 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

Professional ratings :
| Review scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| Christgau's Record Guide | C |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | |
| Los Angeles Daily News | C |
| Number One | |
| The Rolling Stone 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. The album was eventually certified seven times Platinum in the US by the RIAA and has sold over 12 million copies worldwide. 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.
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

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

## Personnel

Adapted from AllMusic.
* 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) | 1 |
| Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM) | 1 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) | 19 |
| French Albums (SNEP) | 12 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) | 24 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) | 94 |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) | 19 |
| Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) | 17 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) | 6 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) | 15 |
| UK Albums (OCC) | 3 |
| US Billboard 200 | 1 |
| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) | 10 |
Year-end chart performance for Forever Your Girl by Paula Abdul :
| Chart (1989) | Position |
| Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM) | 6 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) | 72 |
| US Billboard 200 | 3 |
| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) | 24 |
| Chart (1990) | Position |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) | 20 |
| Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM) | 9 |
| European Albums (Music & Media) | 92 |
| US Billboard 200 | 6 |
| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) | 79 |
Decade-end chart performance for Forever Your Girl by Paula Abdul :
| Chart (1990–1999) | Position |
| US Billboard 200 | 53 |
All-end chart performance for Forever Your Girl by Paula Abdul :
| Chart | Position |
| US Billboard 200 (Women) | 10 |

## Certifications

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