"Forever Your Girl" is a 1989 hit song by Paula Abdul

Paula Abdul

Paula Julie Abdul is an American singer-songwriter, dancer, choreographer, actress and television personality.In the 1980s, Abdul rose from cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers to highly sought-after choreographer at the height of the music video era before scoring a string of pop music-R&B hits...

, taken from the album of the same name

Forever Your Girl

Forever Your Girl is the debut album from singer Paula Abdul. It was released on June 13, 1988 and took 64 weeks from its release to 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...

. It was written and produced by Oliver Leiber.

After the success of "Straight Up", Virgin Records

Virgin Records

Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...

 quickly released another single to satisfy the public's newfound interest in Paula Abdul. It became the second #1 from her debut album, which would eventually yield a record of four #1 singles.

History

The song is about loyalty in a relationship. The female vocalist proclaims that, despite rumors that others may be interested in her, none of those matter because she will remain faithful to the man she loves; she will remain "forever his girl." The single version differs slightly from the album version, as it uses more of the background male vocal and denser instrumentation.

The song was part of a medley Abdul sang at the 1989 MTV Music Video Awards.

"Forever Your Girl" spent two weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 in May 1989, and charted at #24 in the UK and #17 in Germany.

The video was directed by David Fincher

David Fincher

David Andrew Leo Fincher is an American film and music video director. Known for his dark and stylish thrillers, such as Seven , The Game , Fight Club , Panic Room , and Zodiac , Fincher received Academy Award nominations for Best Director for his 2008 film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and...

, and featured Abdul acting as a choreographer and director of a children's performance (a 6-year-old Trevor Wright

Trevor Wright

Trevor Christopher Wright is an American actor.Wright was born in Pomona, California. His breakthrough acting role was in the 2007 film Shelter....

, 8-year-old Elijah Wood

Elijah Wood

Elijah Jordan Wood is an American actor. He made his film debut with a minor part in Back to the Future Part II , then landed a succession of larger roles that made him a critically acclaimed child actor by age 9. He is best known for his high-profile role as Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson's...

 and 10-year-old Nikki Cox

Nikki Cox

Nicole Avery "Nikki" Cox is an American actress known mostly for her roles on the television series Unhappily Ever After, Las Vegas, and Nikki.-Early life:...

 were among them). The "Forever Your Girl" video spent two weeks at number one on MTV's video rotation and helped establish Abdul as a leading visual entertainer.

The video also satirized Robert Palmer videos, having three little girls dressed like the three women who play backup guitars in his videos (black dresses, red lipstick, white makeup, and hair tied in buns).

US 12"

1. Forever Your Girl - 12" version 6:33
2. Forever Your Girl - Yo! Greg dub version 5:45
3. Forever Your Girl - Saunderson-Grosse House of Love mix 6:33
4. Straight Up - Kevin Saunderson Club mix 6:52
5. Next to You - album track 4:28

UK/European CD single

1. Forever Your Girl - 7" remix 4:15
2. Straight Up - 7" edit
3. Next to You 4:29
4. Forever Your Girl - 12" remix 6:33

Official mixes

• Album version 4:57
• 12" Remix 6:33 - Keith Cohen
• Single Version / 7" Remix 4.15 - Keith Cohen
• Club mix 6.52 - Kevin Saunderson
  Kevin Saunderson
  Kevin Saunderson is an American electronic music producer. At the age of nine he moved to Belleville, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit where he attended Belleville High School and befriended two students, Derrick May and Juan Atkins...
  
  /Ben Grosse
• House of Love mix 6:33 - as above
• Yo! Greg Dub version 5:45 - as above
• Shep's Special mix 6:27 - Shep Pettibone
  Shep Pettibone
  Robert E. Pettibone, Jr. is a record producer, remixer, songwriter and club DJ, one of the most prolific of the 1980s. His earliest work known to the public was for one of New York City's top disco/dance radio stations, WRKS 98.7 "Kiss" FM, and later as remixer/producer for the disco label Salsoul...
  
  
• shut up and dance remix 6:11

Chart performance

Chart (1989)	Peak position
US Billboard Billboard charts The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...  Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...	1
US Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary	1
US Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play	1
US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks	54
Canadian Singles Chart	1
German Singles Chart	17
UK Singles Chart	24

See also

• Hot 100 number-one hits of 1989 (United States)