Forever Your Girl is the debutstudio album by American singer Paula Abdul. It was released on June 21, 1988 through Virgin Records. The album was Abdul's breakthrough into the music industry after being a choreographer for high-profile artists including 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 an artist scored four US Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles from a debut album.
Background
In 1987, Abdul, once a choreographer for Los Angeles Lakers and high-profile artists including George Michael, ZZ Top, Duran Duran and most notably Janet Jackson, used her savings to make a singing demo. Soon thereafter, she was signed to the newly formed 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 was a relatively untrained singer, and worked with various coaches and record producers to develop her vocal ability, with her vocal range defined as 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."
Release and reception
On February 3, 1990, 64 weeks after its release on June 21, 1988, 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 18 million copies worldwide. It also includes four number one Billboard Hot 100 singles: "Straight Up", "Forever Your Girl", "Cold Hearted", and "Opposites Attract", which ties Forever Your Girl for second most number-one songs from a single album, and ties it for the most number ones in a debut album. She was the first female artist to have four number one singles from a debut album. "The Way That You Love Me" reached #3, and "Knocked Out" reached #41. The album also reached #4 on the R&B album chart, while "Straight Up," "Opposites Attract," "Knocked Out," and " 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. At one point, Forever Your Girl reportedly sold 191,000 copies in a single day. 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.
