J LO

Born into a family of Puerto Rican descent, Jennifer Lynn Lopez had early aspirations of fame and quickly became one of the highest-paid Latina actresses in the history of Hollywood. Her mother, a kindergarten teacher, and her father, a computer specialist, wanted her to study, but instead, Jennifer concentrated on taking dance lessons throughout her childhood and performed in stage musicals before making her film debut with a small role in My Little Girl in 1986. This followed with a television debut in 1990 when she won a national competition and earned a spot dancing as one of the ‘Fly Girls’ in, In Living Colour. A series of small acting jobs followed, including parts in two more series and a TV movie, Nurses on the Line: The Crash of Flight 7, in 1993.

Jennifer’s first feature film was the critically acclaimed Mi Familia, in 1995, followed by Money Train opposite Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson. The following year she starred in Jack, directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Robin Williams. 

Lopez’s first big break came in 1997 when she was chosen to play the title role in Selena, a biopic of the Tejano pop singer who was killed by a fan in 1995. She earnt widespread praise for the role, including a Golden Globe nomination. Anaconda, Blood and  Wine and Out of Sight followed with Jack Nicholson and George Clooney. 

In 1999 Lopez added pop artist to her list of accolades with the release of her debut album, On the 6. The album went platinum within two weeks making Jennifer one of the most influential examples of the growing Latin cultural influence in pop music.

Lopez’s fame reached new heights in early 2001, when her new album J. Lo debuted at No. 1 on the pop charts, while her film, the romantic comedy The Wedding Planner, shot to the top spot at the box office in its first week of release. In 2002, J.Lo began dating actor Ben Affleck; they announced their engagement later that year however following rumours of a split, the couple broke up in early 2004. The same year Jennifer married singer Marc Anthony. The pair joined forces in the 2006 biopic El Cantante. Anthony played Hector Lavoe, the internationally acclaimed salsa singer, with Lopez alongside him as Puchi, Lavoe’s wife.

In 2007, Lopez released her first Spanish language album, Como Ama una Mujer, which did well on the Latin and pop charts. The following February she gave birth to twins, her first children and Anthony’s fourth and fifth. 

Despite being busy with her family and both music and acting projects, in 2010, Lopez announced her plans to replace Ellen DeGeneres as the new female judge on the 10th season of American Idol. But heartbreak came again and in July 2011, Lopez and Marc Anthony sadly announced their separation. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Lopez didn’t reveal the cause of the breakup, but said, “I loved myself enough to walk away.” With a new hit song out, the superstar refused to be deterred. “I am positive, determined to move forward with my life, bring up my babies, and do the best job I can as a mother, entertainer and person.” 

After taking a year off Lopez returned to the hit reality TV show for its 11th season, earning a reported $20 million, almost double what she had made when she first signed on. In 2019, she was seen in the film Hustlers. Her performance in the movie was highly appreciated and she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Golden Globe Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards, Critics’ Choice Movie Awards and Independent Spirit Awards. The same year Lopez embarked on an international concert tour to celebrate her 50th birthday; the tour grossed an estimated $54.7 million from thirty-eight shows. In 2020, she co-headlined the Super Bowl halftime show alongside Shakira, guests were also treated to an appearance by her daughter, Emme Muñiz and is the most-watched halftime show to date. 

In mid-2021, Lopez signed a multi-year deal with Netflix to produce a range of films and television shows through Nuyorican Productions, she also rekindled her relationship with Affleck.  

Their happy ending came in 2022 when they married, the same year the documentary Halftime, which focuses on her life and career, was released.

This year J.Lo is set to release her ninth studio album, This is Me…Now, is as a “culmination” of who she is. “People think they know things about what happened to me along the way, the men I was with — but they really have no idea, and a lot of times they get it so wrong,” she shared. “There’s a part of me that was hiding a side of myself from everyone. And I feel like I’m at a place in my life, finally, where I have something to say about it.”