EARLY LIFE
Lopez was born and raised in the Bronx, New York to Puerto Rican parents Guadalupe Rodríguez, a kindergarten teacher, and David Lopez, a computer specialist. She has two siblings, Lynda and Leslie. Lopez spent her entire academic career in Catholic schools. She financed singing and dancing lessons for herself from the age of nineteen. After leaving a one-semester career at Baruch College, Lopez divided her time between working in a legal office, dance classes, and dance performances in Manhattan clubs at night. After months of auditioning for dance roles, Lopez was selected as a dancer for various rap artists' music videos, a 1990 episode of Yo! MTV Raps, and on the American Music Awards as a backup dancer for the New Kids on the Block and their performance of their song "Games" in 1991. After being rejected twice, Lopez gained her first regular high-profile job as a "Fly Girl" dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color in 1990. Soon after, Lopez became a backup dancer for Janet Jackson and made an appearance in her 1993 video "That's the Way Love Goes".
FILM AND TELEVISION
Lopez has appeared on the short-lived television programs South Central, Second Chances, and Hotel Malibu, and the made-for-television film Nurses on the Line: The Crash of Flight 7. Lopez broke into the big screen in the 1995 drama My Family and then appeared opposite Wesley Snipes in the action film Money Train. Lopez has played roles in Francis Ford Coppola's 1996 comedy Jack starring Robin Williams, and the 1997 thriller Blood and Wine with Jack Nicholson. Lopez played the lead role in the 1997 film Selena for which she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for "Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy" in 1998. She became the first Latin actress to get paid $1 million or more for a film role. Some of her other critically-acclaimed films include Out of Sight, The Cell, and An Unfinished Life. Lopez's performances were less well-received in the financially successful films The Wedding Planner, Maid in Manhattan, Monster-in-Law, and Shall We Dance?.
Lopez has finished shooting two new independent films: Bordertown and El Cantante. El Cantante was shown at the Toronto International Film Festival where it got positive reviews. Bordertown was shown at the Brussels Film Festival. Both films were produced by Lopez and her production company, New Yorican Productions.
In April 2004, Lopez guest starred in the sixth season finale of Will & Grace, playing herself. This was the highest-rated episode of the series since Elton John's appearance in 2002, and Lopez appeared again in the season seven's opening episode. In May 2006, MTV gave the greenlight on her executively-produced reality show, DanceLife. The show followed the lives of six aspiring dancers as their struggle to make it in the competitive world of professional dance. Lopez, who took an active role in selecting the show's participants, made cameo appearances over the course of the season and the show's eight-episode run which began on January 15, 2007.
Lopez made an appearance as a mentor on American Idol on April 10, 2007.
MUSIC CAREER
-- On the 6 (1999) --
Lopez's debut album On the 6, a reference to the 6 subway line she used to take growing up in Castle Hill, was released on June 1, 1999, and reached the top ten of the Billboard 200. The album featured the multi-week Billboard Hot 100 number-one lead single, "If You Had My Love", as well as the top ten hit "Waiting for Tonight". It contained the Spanish language, Latin-flavored duet "No Me Ames" with Marc Anthony. Though "No Me Ames" never had a commercial release, it reached number one on the U.S. Hot Latin Tracks. Despite this, the music video for "No Me Ames" received moderate airplay on the music channels VH1 (United States) and The Box (United Kingdom). On the 6 featured guest artists such as Big Pun and Fat Joe on the track "Feelin' So Good", which failed to make the top fifty of the Billboard Hot 100. "Let's Get Loud", the final single, earned Lopez a Grammy Award nomination in the "Best Dance Recording" category in 2001 Grammy Awards.[11] "Waiting for Tonight" was nominated for the same category the previous year.[12] "No Me Ames" received two nominations at the 2000 Latin Grammy Awards — "Best Pop album by a Duo or Group with Vocal" and "Best Music Video". The album has sold 7 million copies to date.
-- J. Lo (2001) --
Lopez's second album, J. Lo, was released on January 23, 2001 and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. When her film The Wedding Planner achieved number one shortly after, Lopez become the first actress-singer to have a film and an album at number one in the same week.[13] The lead single, "Love Don't Cost a Thing", was her first number-one single in the United Kingdom and took her into the top five on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. She followed it up with "Play" which gave her another top twenty hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached number three in the UK. Her next two singles were "I'm Real" and "Ain't It Funny" which were quickly rising up the charts. To capitalize on this, Lopez asked The Inc. Records (then known as Murder Inc.) to remix both songs, which featured rap artists Ja Rule (on both) and Caddillac Tah (on the "Ain't It Funny" remix). Both remixes reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for several weeks. She re-released J. Lo on her thirty-second birthday with the remix of "I'm Real" as a bonus track. The album has sold 13 million copies to date.
-- J to tha L-O!: The Remixes (2002) --
Following the success of the re-release of J. Lo, Lopez decided to devote an entire album to the remixing effort, releasing J to tha L-O!: The Remixes, on February 5, 2002. This album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming the first remix album in history to debut at the top on the chart.[14] Featured artists on J to tha L-O!: The Remixes included P. Diddy, Fat Joe, and Nas, and the album included rare dance and hip hop remixes of past singles. It is the third all-time biggest-selling remix album in the world, after Michael Jackson's Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix (1997) and Madonna's You Can Dance (1987). The album has sold 3 million copies.
-- This Is Me... Then (2002) --
On November 26, 2002, Lopez released her third studio album, This Is Me... Then, which reached number two on the Billboard 200 and spawned four singles: "Jenny from the Block" (featuring Jadakiss and Styles P), which reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100; "All I Have" (featuring LL Cool J), which spent multiple weeks at number one; "I'm Glad"; and "Baby I Love U!". The album included a cover of Carly Simon's 1978 "You Belong to Me". It performed well on the charts, selling over three million copies in the United States alone and 6 million world wide.
The video for "I'm Glad" recreated scenes from the 1983 film Flashdance, leading to a lawsuit over copyright infringement, which was later dismissed.[15][16]
-- Rebirth (2005) --
After a year away from the music scene, Lopez released her fourth studio album, Rebirth, on March 1, 2005. Although debuting and peaking at number two on the Billboard 200, the album quickly fell off the charts. It spawned the hit "Get Right", which reached the top fifteen in the U.S. and became her second Platinum hit (after "If You Had My Love"). "Get Right" was also successful in the UK, becoming her second number-one single there. The second single, "Hold You Down", which featured Fat Joe, reached number sixty-four on the U.S. Hot 100; it peaked at number six in the UK and ascended to the top twenty in Australia. Another song, "Cherry Pie", was slated for a fall release, but the plans to make a video were cancelled as the album sales were definitely too weak and the promotion budget exceeded. It was released to radio stations in Spain. Rebirth was certified Platinum in the U.S. by the RIAA. Nevertheless, Lopez was featured on LL Cool J's single "Control Myself", which was released on February 1, 2006. It reached number four on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and number two on the UK Singles Chart. It was Lopez's first U.S. top ten hit in three years and has sold 3 million copies world wide.
-- Como Ama Una Mujer (2007) --
Lopez officially released her first full Spanish-language album, called Como Ama una Mujer, on March 27, 2007 in the U.S. and March 23, 2007 in Europe. Her husband, singer Marc Anthony, produced the album with Estefano, except for "Que Hiciste", which Anthony co-produced with Julio Reyes. The album peaked at number ten on the U.S. Billboard 200, number one on the U.S. Top Latin Albums (for four straight weeks), number one on the U.S. Latin Pop Albums (for seven straight weeks), and number one hundred and thirty-one in the UK. It set the record for largest sales for a Spanish debut album. The album did well in Europe peaking at number three on the albums chart, mainly due to the big success in countries like Switzerland, Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, Greece, Germany, Austria, and Portugal. The lead single, "Qué Hiciste" (Spanish for "What Did You Do"), was officially released to radio stations in January 2007. Since then, it has peaked at eighty-six on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Hot Latin Songs and the Hot Dance Club Play. It also went top ten on the European chart. The video for the song was the first Spanish-language video to peak at number one on MTV's Total Request Live daily countdown. The second single has been confirmed to be "Me Haces Falta" as she announced on MTV News, but the release will be postponed so as not to clash with the El Cantante soundtrack.
-- Brave (2007) --
Lopez is working on her sixth studio album, and fifth English studio album, in which she is working with producers Midi Mafia, Jonathan "J.R." Rotem, and Ryan Tedder. It has been confirmed to be released on October 9, 2007 and that Jonathan "J.R." Rotem is working on some tracks with writing partner Evan "Kidd" Bogart.[17] On March 27, 2007, Lopez appeared on MTV's Total Request Live and stated that the album will be out in September (but now has been confirmed by Yahoo! to be released in October) and Do It Well will be the first single. Lopez played one of the tracks from the new album in Las Vegas in late April. She stated she will finally be going on tour in late 2007 with a mix of her English and Spanish music.
MTV News reports that the album will see Lopez return to pop, R&B and hip-hop sounds. Speaking to MTV News about the album, Lopez said: "I'm really excited about it. The first single will be out this summer. And, you know, it's very different from my Spanish album. My Spanish album was kind of an opportunity to get away from what I do on my English [albums], to kind of express a different side of myself." She continued: "This [next] album is more of what people and my fans are used to - you know, just kind of dance, funk, R&B, hip-hop, all that stuff, all mixed up together to make some great pop music." A slow song called "Wrong When You're Gone" leaked onto the Internet in July. It was confirmed on July 30 to Yahoo UK, that Lopez's new album will be called, Brave and will be released October 8 in the UK and October 9 in the US.[18] Two singles will be released in the U.S.; "Hold It, Don't Drop It" will be allocated to pop stations while "Do It Well" will be sent to urban stations. Recently, a snippet of a song titled "Mile In These Shoes" was featured in a promo for season four of the ABC series Desperate Housewives.
She performed "Hold It, Don't Drop It" and "Do It Well" as a live set for the first time at a show she devised called, "Secret" in New York. She had an open audition for dancers to join her on stage. She also did a medley of her past hits.
-- Tour (2007) --
Billboard Magazine reported, on July 24, 2007, that Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony will "co-headline" a worldwide tour called En Concierto starting in New Jersey on September 29.[19] Tickets went on sale August 10. The tour will be a mix of her current music, older tunes and Spanish music. In a later press release, Lopez announced a detailed itinerary. The tour launched September 28, 2007 at the Mark G. Etess Arena.
Lopez reportedly almost fell off the stage while singing at the Mohegan Sun Arena October 3, 2007.
It had been rumored that Lopez would be joining the Spice Girls’ on stage during their 2007 reunion world tour. Lopez and Posh Spice (Victoria Beckham) are friends.[20] However, in an interview with the British press, Lopez stated that there had never been any discussion of joining the Spice Girls reunion world tour.
