Forever Your Girl is the debut studio 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
By the mid-1980's Abdul had found fame within the entertainment industry as a choreographer and set off to record her first album. She signed with Virgin Records and recorded what would become her debut album.
Release and reception
Released on June 21, 1988, 64 weeks later, it hit number one on the Billboard 200 album sales chart, the longest an album has been on the market before hitting number one.[3] The album was eventually certified seven times Platinum in the US by the RIAA and has sold over 18 million copies worldwide.[4] It also includes four number one Billboard Hot 100 singles: "Straight Up", "Forever Your Girl", "Cold Hearted", and "Opposites Attract",[4] which ties Forever Your Girl for second most #1 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 "(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. At one point, Forever Your Girl reportedly sold 191,000 copies in a single day.[5]
Abdul co-wrote one song on the album, "One or the Other".
By 1998, Billboard Magazine reported that Forever Your Girl was the most successful album released by the Virgin Record Label, with all five of its top 20 hits also appearing on the same chart ranking Virgin's singles[6]
^ ab"Paula Abdul, Driven". VH1. VH1. Retrieved 22 November 2017. Forever Your Girl went on to sell 18 million records.
^"Forever Your Girl". Paula-Abdul.net. Archived from the original on 2012-02-16. Retrieved 2012-02-16. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
^Inc, Nielsen Business Media (1998-09-05). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. {{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)
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