Paula Abdul Fan Found Dead Outside "American Idol" Judge's House

The body of a "big fan" of Paula Adbul was found dead near the American Idol judge's house last night. The woman, Paula Goodspeed, reportedly died of a drug overdose in her car, which was parked outside Abdul's Los Angeles home. Making the situation even stranger is Goodspeed's own American Idol past: Goodspeed auditioned for the show back in 2006, and even had her own segment during the tryout phase. An artist, Goodspeed said she made "life-size drawings of Paula" before auditioning with "Proud Mary." Abdul ultimately voted "No" with the rest of the panel. Abdul was not home during the time of the death.

Related Stories:
• Cowell, Abdul Send Condolences to Jennifer Hudson
• American Idol Adds Songwriter As Fourth Judge
• Paula Abdul Confirms New Album, Tour Are in the Works

• 
  MUSIC Exclusive Live Chat With Linkin Park and Incubus
• 
  MOVIES & TV Peter Travers: 'The Avengers' Has it All
• 
  POLITICS Matt Taibbi: Jon Corzine Is the Original Zimmerman
• 
  VIDEOS Exclusive Premiere: Tenacious D's 'Tinnitus'

Song Stories

“Piano Man”

Billy Joel | 1973

Billy Joel’s first hit, “Piano Man,” was – ironically – an autobiographical lament about how his first album wasn’t a hit. When Cold Spring Harbor didn’t take off, Joel briefly became a lounge pianist in Los Angeles, and this song, about that experience, expressed his frustrations and fears at the time: “And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar/And say, ‘Man, what are you doing here?’” “It was all right,” Joel said later, about the gig. “I got free drinks and union scale, which was the first steady money I’d made in a long time.”

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter