Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969), popularly nicknamed J.Lo, is a Puerto-Rican American pop and R&B singer, actress, record producer, dancer, model, fashion and perfume designer and film and television producer. She is the richest person of Latin American descent in Hollywood according to Forbes, and the most influential Hispanic entertainer in America according to People en Español’s list of “100 Most Influential Hispanics”.

Starting in 1999, Lopez has released seven albums, including two #1 albums on the Billboard 200 charts and four Billboard Hot 100 #1 singles. She won the 2003 American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist and the 2007 American Music Award for Favorite Latin Artist. She has appeared in numerous films and has won ALMA Awards for outstanding actress for her work in Selena, Out of Sight and Angel Eyes. She parlayed her media fame into a fashion line and various perfumes with her celebrity endorsement.

Media attention has also focused on her personal life. She has had high-profile relationships with Ojani Noa, Cris Judd, Sean Combs, Ben Affleck, and Marc Anthony. Her first children, fraternal twins named Max and Emme, were born on February 22, 2008.

Jennifer Lopez was born and grew up in the Bronx to Puerto Rican parents Guadalupe Rodriguez and David Lopez. She has two sisters, Lynda and Leslie.

Jennifer Lopez financed singing and dancing lessons from the age of 16. After she dropped out of college, Lopez pursued her talent for dance. She split her time between her job at a law office, taking dance classes, and dancing in Manhattan clubs at night. She got her first spot and started out in television as a video girl for rap artist MC Hammer, also a guest spot on the American Music Awards. Her first regular high profile gig was as a “fly girl” dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color in 1990 after being twice rejected. She then left the show after the second season due to friction with another dancer.

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 Billboard Hot 100 number-one lead single, “If You Had My Love” as well as the top ten hit “Waiting for Tonight”. The album also featured a Spanish language, Latin-flavored duet “No Me Ames” with Marc Anthony (who later would become her husband). Though “No Me Ames” never had a commercial release, it reached number one on the U.S. Hot Latin Tracks. On the 6 featured guest artists such as Big Pun and Fat Joe on the track “Feelin’ So Good”, which had moderate success on 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. “Waiting for Tonight” was nominated for the same category the previous year. “No Me Ames” received two nominations at the 2000 Latin Grammy Awards: “Best Pop Duo/Group with Vocal Performance” and “Best Music Video”.

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. 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. Also, “Si Ya Se Acabó” was released in Spain, due to the success of “Que Ironia”.

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. Featured artists on J to tha L-O! The Remixes included P. Diddy, Fat Joe, and 50 Cent 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).

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), 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”.

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 release in late 2005, 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. Lopez was then 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.

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 “Qué 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. 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 released is called “Me Haces Falta”. Lopez won an American Music Award as the Favorite Latin Artist in 2007. Como Ama una Mujer according to the United World Chart, it is #3 on the best selling Spanish albums of 2007 and #37 on the best selling albums so far of 2007. Como Ama una Mujer holds the record for the best opening week internet sales for a Spanish album. With Como Ama Una Mujer, Jennifer Lopez is one of the few performers to debut in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 with a Spanish album.

Just over six months later, on October 9, 2007, Lopez released her fifth English studio album (sixth studio album overall), called Brave. She collaborated with producers such as Midi Mafia, J. R. Rotem, Lynn and Wade and Ryan Tedder with Rotem working on some tracks with writing partner Evan "Kidd" Bogart. Earlier, on August 26, 2007, ABC premiered a promo for the fourth season of Desperate Housewives, featuring a snippet of the song "Mile In These Shoes". "Do It Well" was released as the lead single and reached the top 20 in many countries. "Hold It, Don't Drop It" was released as the second single in only some countries from Europe.

Billboard Magazine reported, on July 24, 2007, that Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony would "co-headline" a worldwide tour called "Juntos en Concierto" starting in New Jersey on September 29. Tickets went on sale August 10. The tour was 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 and ended on November 7, 2007 at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida.

At the end of their last concert in Miami on November 7, 2007, Jennifer and Marc proudly announced that they were expecting a child, officially putting to rest the widespread speculation that she was pregnant. Rumors of the pregnancy involving twins soon erupted and were finally confirmed with the birth of twins, Max and Emme in New York on February 22, 2008.

Lopez released "Louboutins", a song written and produced by The-Dream and Tricky Stewart, as the project's lead single in November 2009. However, upon release, the song failed to garner enough airplay to chart, despite topping the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart. Lopez subsequently left Epic Records in February 2010, citing that she had fulfilled her contractual obligations and now wished to release Love? under a new label.

In June 2010 following the departure of Ellen DeGeneres from American Idol, it was reported that Lopez was in talks to join season ten’s judging panel. During this same time, Lopez and her husband Marc Anthony were being considered for a role on The X Factor for their appeal to Latin and International markets. It was officially announced on September 22, 2010 that Lopez would be joining the tenth season of American Idol. MTV stated that “the deal was mutually beneficial to all those involved”, whilst CNN reported that Lopez was viewing it as a decision to revive her career while Idol producers believe Lopez and Steven Tyler’s appointments will strengthen viewing figures.

Lopez released her seventh studio album, Love? in May 2011. The lead single from the album called "On the Floor" was officially released February 8, 2011 and it featured the American rapper Pitbull. The video for On the Floor was premiered on American Idol March 3. Lopez later performed the song on American Idol, including Pitbull. She was dressed in a "glimmering ensemble" while the set included lasers and pyrotechnics. The song charted in 27 countries at #1 and it was certified 3x Platinum in the United States. Love? was officially released May 3 and it reached the fifth place in the US Billboard 200. On the Floor is the most viewed video by a female artist in YouTube with almost 550 million views. Lopez also released two other singles from the album, the hip hop jam "I'm Into You" which featured the rapper Lil Wayne and the latin influenced "Papi".

Lopez returned as judge on the eleventh season of American Idol, reportedly earning $US20 million, compared to the $US12 million she earned last year. Subsequently, Lopez is currently unsure about returning to the show.

Lopez worked with ex-husband Marc Anthony and director-choeographer Jamie King on the talent series ¡Q'Viva! The Chosen, created by Simon Fuller. It follows Lopez, Anthony and King as they travel across 21 countries in Latin America to find new talent. It premiered on January 28, 2012 on Univision and was a ratings hit for the channel.

Jennifer released her first single from her upcoming greatest hits album "Dance Again" April 2 and it features Pitbull, who is previously collaborated with J.Lo with "On the Floor" and "Fresh Out The Oven". The video premiered on American Idol April 5 and she performed a solo version of the hit on American Idol's result show April 10. She was dressed in a skin-tight blue bodysuit and black stockings, surrounded by a dozen back-up dancers.

It was announced on April 30, 2012 that Lopez would be going on a co-headlining tour in the United States with Enrique Iglesias. Lopez has already began her Dance Again World Tour which will continue after her tour with Iglesias. It began in Panama City, Panama on June 14. The Dance Again World Tour will include legs in Asia, Europe and South America.

Lopez is involved in multiple films in 2012. She starred as Holly in What to Expect When You're Expecting. The film was released to theaters on May 18, 2012. Lopez voices Shira in the upcoming animated film, Ice Age: Continental Drift which is the fourth movie in the Ice Age series. Another film which Lopez has shot her parts for, Parker will be released in 2013.

On May 16, 2012, Forbes placed Lopez first on their "Celebrity 100 List", in turn naming her the most powerful celebrity in the world for their 2012 edition. She beat out Oprah Winfrey and Lady Gaga for the title, having earned $US52 million from May 2011.

Jennifer's single "Goin' In" featuring the rapper Flo Rida will be featured in the new Step Up movie. It was officially released in the United States in June 2012. She performed the song on American Idol's finale and it is also included on her tour setlist.

To celebrate 13 years in music Jennifer will release a greatest hits album which will include, besides her smash hits, new songs. Her upcoming Dance Again... The Hits album will hit stores in July 2012.

User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License and may also be available under the GNU FDL.