Paula Abdul has been a feature of popular music, and pop culture more generally, for the better part of four decades now. In the early '90s, Paula Abdul was in a plane crash that required cervical surgeries. That wasn't happening., Despite losing all feeling on her right side and developing reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome (RSD), a disorder that fires so intensely that sometimes your skin can break out in lesions like shingles, Abdul says she was doing anything and everything I could to stay in the game. 2 Rich Juzwiak at Jezebel dug up records that give us a possible date for the alleged crash. I 100% agree with your point about no one coming forward--she has said things along the lines of "ask anyone who was on the plane with me, they'll say the exact same thing happened", but we haven't heard from anyone on the plane with her even though it was people like her makeup artist who I'd think it would be easy to track down. I woke up in the hospital only to find that I had crushed my cervical spine, leaving me partially paralyzed.. is for general information purposes only. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. While. Picture of American singer, Paula Abdul during an interview with RuPaul. Abduls website lists no shows between the June 10 show in Greenwood Village and the June 23 show in Seattle. Which makes it all the weirder that she keeps talking about a plane crash that really doesn't seem like it happened. Paula Abdul at Build Studios in 2019, in New York City | Photo: Getty Images. "I went through all of that, mostly, privately. Was Paula Abdul in a plane crash? According to Jezebel, Paula has also said some contradictory statements about the date and timeline of the crash. But Abdul shakes off such accusations. 2005 People interview, discusses details including plane route. Sounds like some Jameela Jamil level of storytelling! I couldn't find this as I was writing, but u/bookdrops dug up this Springfield News-Leader article from June 19, 1992 that references the same June 20 date at the Sandstone Ampitheater. "No one on the show knew I was in pain. Abdul released more successful albums and videos in the following years, expanding her fanbase outside the United States. Abdul spoke about the crash with PEOPLE in 2005, saying the plane, flying from St. Louis to Denver, landed in a cornfield. Abdul arrived in the entertainment industry as one of the most promising talents of her time. I've heard about this before too. We may earn a commission from links on this page. A good title for this study would be, Paula Abdul- Plane Crash, or Train Wreck?, You know what? It's like, there are seven other people that were on the plane, who were in that plane accident with me. Abdul claimed the injuries caused her to be inactive in the industry for over seven years as she endured 15 cervical spine surgeries with top doctors around the world, hoping to get back to one piece. A subreddit dedicated to the unresolved mysteries of the world. Like you, I had no reason to doubt Paula Abdul's claim that she had been in a plane crash. If this story is true there will be evidence for it. EDIT: Link to confirmation of Sandstone Amphitheater concert, so there is now proof of this and I have edited the post accordingly. There are a few aspects of Abduls story that are pointed to as proof that she is lying. The 59-year-old has also worked as a songwriter, actor, and television personality, appearing on popular shows like "So, You Think You Can Dance?" Translation: These are my excuses for constantly being fucked up on pain pills.. So I just recently heard from a co-worker that singer/dancer Paula Abdul was once in a plane crash many years ago. The flight she claims to have taken is pretty much straight west, and crashing in Iowa would require a significant detour north. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. PAULA ABDUL has been talking a lot lately about that plane crash she was in back in the early '90s . I withstood 15 cervical spinal surgeries and I had to take seven years off. Honestly, I can't believe that I am even asking a question about Paula Abdul in 2020, but my question is, is there any chance that this incident ever happened? During the opening night of her show at Flamingo Las Vegas on Thursday, the 57-year-old "Straight Up". It also doesnt care if you are using it for fun, to cope with life or to cope with pain. It was crazy. But at my very core, I did not like existing the way I had been.. She took a break from the limelight to recover, came back for American Idol, and decided to embellish her story to garner sympathy and distract from the other issues (the relative commercial failure of Head Over Heels, her divorces) that contributed to her break. The Truth About The Plane Crash Paula Abdul Claims She Was In. The award-winning dancer noted that she found herself in the hospital with serious injuries on her body. Famous American singer and dancer Paula Abdul once revealed she survived a traumatizing plane crash in the early '90s, but years after telling the story, some think it's a sham, and here's why. ). Paula Abdul thankful social media wasn't around during plane crash I started losing all feeling on my right side, and I was starting to really live in excruciating pain. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. It's like, you learn and grow through wisdom and experience of being in this business, especially with the internet," she told the outlet. Paula Abdul explains her secret illness - UPI.com Paula Abdul has wowed onlookers with her recent death- and gravity-defying live performances, during which she has swan-dived from "Cold-Hearted"-style scaffolding into the waiting arms of her. I mean, I had a spinal cord injury and nerve damage. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. There is some confusion as to which part of her tour the crash occurred on. RSD and any severe chronic pain can sometimes also cause people to seem spacey or loopy, which could also explain why so many people thought she was acting strange during the time she was on American Idol. Paula Abdul opens up about plane crash - Yahoo Life Canada She was a mess the times I saw her, and while I do not recall her ever using a cane or anything (I interacted with her maybe half a dozen times? She was divorced twice between 1994 and 1998. Reacting to such claims, Abdul remarked that seven others witnessed the crash, adding that she chose not to spend her time debating on the opinions that don't matter; instead, she prefers to focus on her growth. Watch Paula Abduls full Yahoo Entertainment interview below, in which she discusses MC Skat, her friendship with Gene Kelly, working with Keanu Reeves, her lost 1978 musical movie Junior High, new music, and the possibility of her working again with original American Idol judges Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson. So, I really don't care what people have to say. Fans and tabloids during Abduls run as an American Idol judge often commented on her strange behavior, although she was quick to explain it away. She said: lists no record of a plane crash in Iowa at any time between Abdul's St. Louis and Denver-area shows in 1992. On Tuesdays episode of RuPauls new talk show, RuPaul (which kicked off a three-week trial run Monday on selected Fox affiliates), consummate survivor and savior of this years Billboard Music Awards show, Paula Abdul, took to Rus pink couch to promote her upcoming Las Vegas residency. While she's maintained a more private life in the years since she stopped working on American Idol, she's appeared on shows like The X Factor and So You Think You Can Dance. Abduls next era following Spellbound, Head Over Heels, was her worst selling release. American Idol'S Paula Abdul Lying About Plane Crash? 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AmoMama creates engaging, meaningful content for women. There seems to be no record of this crash ever having happened. After becoming a top pop singer in the '80s, Paula took a break from Hollywood for several years in the '90s before she reemerged to be a judge on American Idol in 2002. But at its closest point, Iowa is about 200 miles away from St. Louis and well north of the straight shot from that city to Denver. In July I saw this comment and decided to look up the plane crash story, expecting it to be easily explainable one way or another. Is Paula Abdul lying about her plane crash years ago - Blogger In an interview with Yahoo! None of the descriptions in their accident reports remotely match Abduls story. BestsellerThe Barista Express grinds, foams milk, and produces the silkiest espresso at the perfect temperature. Before undertaking any course of treatment please consult with your healthcare provider. Following her successful stint with "The Jacksons," Abdul released her dance workout CDs. In a 2005 cover story spread with People, Paula said she dealt with chronic pain from the accident for years, and that it was a big issue during her first season of American Idol. The good thing was that she was able to sit out a few years and focus on her health without having to deal with the negativity that often arises on the internet. A subreddit dedicated to the unresolved mysteries of the world. "I went through all of that, mostly, privately," she said, adding that because the tabloids and the internet were different back then, she was able to contain some information, per Music News. I think Paula just gets high on pain pills and makes things up. "During the end of my world tour when I was traveling from one city to the next, in a small seven-seater plane, one of the engines blew up and the right wing caught on fire, and we crash-landed. Then, 30 to 40 minutes into the flight (the time has varied in her repeated accounts), there was trouble. She explained that during turbulence she hit her head and suffered a head/neck injury. Instead, its her emotional mid-show monologue about a 1992 plane crash that required 15 cervical surgeries and led to Abdul living in near-constant agony for years. The Barista Express grinds, foams milk, and produces the silkiest espresso at the perfect temperature. Born in San Fernando, California, in 1962, Abdul's career began as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team when she was 18. In addition to the frequent changes in the narrative and other aspects of the story that don't add up, there's the fact that there is absolutely no record of this plane crash. It also seems to have taken off in Nebraska with an intended destination elsewhere in Nebraska, rather than going to either St. Louis or Denver, and it crashed shortly after takeoff rather than the claimed forty minutes to an hour into the flight. Perhaps this supposed plane crash will remain mysterious, but like Abdul told the Hudson Union Society: It doesnt matter what you go through, its how you come out.. In 1992 Paula Abdul supposedly survived a devastating plane crash in an emergency crash landing into a cornfield in Iowa. About 40 minutes into the flight, an engine [caught fire], Abdul told People magazine in a May 2005 story. This, in conjunction with her (also consistent) story about a cheerleading accident in high school followed by several smaller car accidents over the years, means that Paula Abdul already has a pretty good reason to be using painkillers. it's a tactic they use to get publicity. 2 According to an edit in the Jezebel story, there was a Kansas City Star article claiming Abdul had performed in Kansas City on June 20, 1992, which would basically rule out a St. Louis to Denver flight. As her new Las Vegas residency took off, Paula Abdul opened up about a crash landing. What they did is they rewired my neurotransmitters to block pain. Abdul says shes been happily pain-medication-free for almost nine years now, as a result of biofeedback treatment. How is this woman still alive? Paula Abdul reflects surviving a crash landing after an alleged plane crash in 1992. I gritted my teeth. "I woke up in the. I mean, the CRPS at least doesn't necessarily mean as dramatic as it sounds if you look it up. Everyone was saying prayers. https://www.iheart.com/content/201992-plane-crash-during-vegas-residency-opener/, "Paula Abdul Keeps Talking About Surviving a Plane Crash for Which No Record Exists", https://jezebel.com/paula-abdul-keeps-talking-about-surviving-a-plane-crash-1835445212, https://www.ntsb.gov/about/employmeev_id=20001212X21252&ntsbno=LAX00FA213&akey=1, https://app.ntsb.gov/pdfgenerator/RtID=20001212X21252&AKey=1&RType=HTML&IType=FA, https://www.yahoo.com/entertainmentwant-to-talk-too-much-about-it-182841961.html, (You must log in or sign up to reply here. And then I reappeared on American Idol.. Sure, rx is cleaned and safer than street dope but the body doesnt care. Paula Abdul Said She Was In a Debilitating Plane Crash in 1992 And that changed my life.. Paula Abdul launched her "Forever Your Girl" Vegas show on Thursday (October 24), and though an exciting night the 57-year-old took some time to recall a particularly traumatic time in her life: when she was involved in a plane crash in 1992. He was very nice on the phone, we had matching airplanes and he joked about me not flying west Of the Mississippi, so we wouldnt be on the same ramp! Did Paula Abdul get injured on a plane in 1992? https://www.music-news.com/news/UK/116362/Paula-Abdul-thankful-social-media-wasn-t-around-during-plane-crash-recovery. Its just very strange that there is no proof of this event ever happening. Abdul later choreographed music videos for Janet Jackson and enjoyed more success. In the aforementioned KDWB interview, Abdul confused several dates. It was not fun. Further speaking about that time in her life, Abdul said during her Forever Your Girl Vegas show, I lost myself, I lost my passion and that little girl inside me who was once fearless. It's like, you learn and grow through wisdom and experience of being in this business, especially with the internet. Was she covering for being out of the spotlight? Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts, https://jezebel.com/paula-abdul-keeps-talking-about-surviving-a-plane-crash-1835445212?rev=1560437388395&utm_medium=socialflow&utm_source=jezebel_twitter&utm_campaign=socialfow_jezebel_twitter, Gloria Estefan was in a horrible bus accident. She explained that she and some of the crew from the tour were constantly traveling between cities in a seven-seater plane, and that the engine caught fire about 40 minutes into the flight after a performance in St. Louis. During the opening night of her show at Flamingo Las Vegas on Thursday, the 57-year-old Straight Up singer referenced an alleged 1992 plane crash she previously spoke to PEOPLE about in 2005. Paula Abdul Claims She Was In A Plane Crash But No Record Of It Exists Yet she released an album during this "break" period of healing, she even made choreographed videos. Abdul has had to endure a series of professional and personal challenges to build the career she now has. According to Abdul, the crash happened while she was out on her 1991-1992 'Under My Spell' tour and it occurred somewhere between St. Louis, Missouri and Denver, Colorado. Although there has been some skepticism on the internet about her story, Abdul argues that it happened. Likewise, Im sure Princess Diana would be pleased to know that paparazzi didnt exist then. The earliest mention of Abdul surviving a plane crash that I could find was the May 20, 2003, episode of Dateline. While there is a rehab center in Carlsbad called La Costa, the article refers to La Costa Resort and Spa, which is an actual resort and spa. The same Jezebel article also cites an Entertainment Weekly article from September 25, 1992, which refers to Abdul performing a show at the Fiddlers Green Amphitheatre in a suburb of Denver on June 22. I would see if the pain is easier or worse if I'm going ascending from the top of the screen, to descending, ascending from he bottom of the screen to the top, back and forth. In an interview with Music News, she said, "I was so afraid of being counted out and looked at as damaged goods," pointing out that she actually was because she had to take so many years off. I work out a lot, I'm pretty healthy and active, but there's certain areas that I felt like could use a little more sculpting and I just wanted to have a sleeker jawline. A dependency is much easier to recover from than is addiction. But all I could think about was, This isnt right. I don't, Abdul asserts. Paula Abdul recalls 1992 crash landing: 'I was really injured' - Yahoo! Though there are naysayers about Paul's alleged plane crash, the singer has not wavered from discussing it to the press. According to Paula, around the time her Under My Spell tour concluded in 1992, she was involved in a plane crash. It was in 1994 when I spoke with him, and I believe at that time he was VFR. Id bet even people who have no experience with drugs can at least sense theres something off about her during that show. The singer has said in a 2018 interview with Music News that the crash was kept under wraps because she didn't want publicity for it at the time, or for people to think that her career was over.