Why didn’t Paula Abdul’s career last longer?

[TMC]

She had two smash hit albums and then fell off the face of the earth. She came back a few years later in 1995 with another album that was somewhat of a dud and then disappeared again until American Idol.

[Duster76]

She was a very exciting dancer to watch and she made great videos. That had a lot to do with the album sales. She could best be described as an ordinary singer, and sooner or later the lack of singing talent was going to catch up with her.

[Hawkee]

When it comes to popular singers there are some that become huge and release hit after hit for decades to come then there are singers that release one hit song then get forgotten about and become a one-hit wonder. When Paula Abdul made her debut in 1988 with her debut album Forever Your Girl Paula Abdul did not just become a superstar she became a huge success and when Straight Up went to #1 on the music charts it proved that Paula Abdul would be the newest singer since Madonna made her debut in 1982. And with pop singers like Jody Watley and Janet Jackson making their marks Paula Abdul showed that she was not like Jody Watley and Janet Jackson because she had her own unique style. And upon it's release in 1988 Forever Your Girl became Paula Abdul's bestselling album of 1988 and she released hit after hit from the album. But when Paula Abdul's second album Spellbound debuted in 1991 it was a flawless album with the single Rush Rush being a hit ballad and The Promise Of A New Day being a dance pop hit but it wasn't a success that they had hoped for. But Spellbound proved that it was a better album than the previous one. But I think when Paula Abdul released her third album Head Over Heels in 1995 it was gonna be her comeback album but the beginning of a new image for Paula. Because I think with Head Over Heels they were trying to morph her into a Janet Jackson type image to have competition with Janet Jackson because Janet and Paula were both on Virgin Records. And even today people consider Head Over Heels Paula Abdul's weakest album and that's why she moved on to acting by guest starring in sitcoms such as Cybill and The Fall Guy. But I mainly think Paula Abdul got the job as a judge on American Idol was so she could jumpstart her music career and get the fame she really deserved. I used to love Paula Abdul and she was my role model because she really had talent and had originally a nice image and I got all of Paula Abdul's albums and I do wish Paula could release a 4th album soon in the future

[rusty spike]

I haven't read up on her personal life, but I always got the impression that she wanted a "break" after releasing her 2nd album Spellbound (which is my favorite).

I picked up a used cd Spellbound at Hastings and was pleasantly surprised. My used copy had been personally autographed by Paula on the inside cover. You can clearly see the ball point pen signature and indentations.

[Hawkee]

I think Paula Abdul's singing career became officially over was when her 1995 album Head Over Heels failed to sell well. Because from the way I see it Virgin Records was trying to make her an R&B artist and they tried to give her a R&B sound mixed with hip-hop and with the single My Love Is For Real they do give Paula a middle-eastern like sound mixed with a Madonna like sound. But I can see why Head Over Heels didn't sell well is because Virgin Records failed to promote the album enough and people thought it would become a bestseller like Forever Your Girl was in 1988. But Paula Abdul wanted to focus on launching a career doing exercise videos and trying a career at becoming a sitcom star

[Sgt. Saunders]

Lack of talent?