Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969
[1]), also known by her nickname
J.Lo, is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, fashion designer and television producer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program
In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller
Money Train.
Her first leading role was in the biographical film
Selena (1997), in which she earned an
ALMA Award for Outstanding Actress. She earned her second ALMA Award for her performance in
Out of Sight (1998). She has since starred in various films, including
The Wedding Planner (2001),
Maid in Manhattan (2002),
Shall We Dance? (2004),
Monster-in-Law (2005), and
The Back-up Plan (2010).
Lopez came to prominence within the music industry following the release of her debut studio album
On the 6 (1999) which spawned the number one hit singl

commercial success, selling
eight million copies worldwide.
J to tha L-O!: The Remixes (2002) became her second consecutive album to debut at number one on the
Billboard 200 while her third and fourth studio albums –
This Is Me... Then (2002) and
Rebirth (2005) – peaked at number two on the
Billboard 200. In 2007, she released two albums including her first full Spanish-language album
Como Ama una Mujer, and her fifth English studio album
Brave. Returning to music with a new record label, Lopez is scheduled to release her seventh studio album, titled
Love?, on April 19, 2011. Its single "
On the Floor" is currently impacting charts worldwide. Her contributions to the music industry have garnered her numerous achievements including two
Grammy Award nominations; two
Latin Grammy Award nominations; three
American Music Awards, amongst six nominations; and the estimated sale of over 55 million records worldwide.
[2][3][4] Billboard ranked her as the 27th Artist of the 2000s decade.
[5] Lending her musical knowledge to others, Lopez is currently a member of the judging panel of American reality television competition
American Idol.
[6][7]She led
People en Español's list of "100 Most Influential Hispanics" in February 2007.
[8] She has
parlayed her media fame into a fashion line and various perfumes with her
celebrity endorsement.
[9] Outside of her work in the entertainment industry, Lopez advocates human rights, vaccinations and is a supporter of
Children's Hospital Los Angeles.
Jennifer Lopez was born in the
Bronx, New York, and raised on Blackrock Avenue in the New York City borough's
Castle Hill neighborhood.
[10] She is the daughter of
Puerto Rican parents Guadalupe (née Rodríguez), a kindergarten teacher, and David Lopez, a computer specialist, both born in
Ponce, Puerto Rico.
[11][12] Lopez was raised
Roman Catholic.
[13][14][15] She has two siblings,
Lynda and Leslie. Lopez spent her entire academic career in
Catholic schools, finishing at the all-girls
Preston High School in the Bronx. She financed singing and dancing lessons for herself from the age of 19. After attending
Baruch College for one semester, Lopez divided her time between working as a
notary public in a legal office,
[16] dance classes, and dance performances in
Manhattan night clubs.
[17] She had a small part in the 1987 film
My Little Girl at the age of sixteen.
[18] After months of auditioning for dance roles, Lopez was selected as a dancer for various
rap music videos, a 1990 episode of
Yo! MTV Raps and as a
backup dancer for the
New Kids on the Block and their performance o

f their song "Games" for the
American Music Awards in 1991. She gained her first regular high-profile job as a "
Fly Girl" dancer on the television comedy program
In Living Color from 1991-1993. Soon after, Lopez became a backup dancer for
Janet Jackson and made an appearance in her 1993 video "
That's the Way Love Goes".
Lopez's second album,
J.Lo, was released on January 23, 2001 and debuted at number one on the
Billboard 200. This album was more
urban oriented than
On the 6. When Lopez film
The Wedding Planner, a film in which Lopez falls in love with the groom of the wedding she is planning, 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.
[21] 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 20 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 Cadillac 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 32nd 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 "Que Ironia." In 2001, Lopez performed on tour on the
Let's Get Loud "Live in Puerto Rico" Concert.
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.
[22] 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 fourth all-time biggest-selling remix album in history, after
Michael Jackson's
Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix,
The Beatles'
Love and
Madonna's
You Can Dance.

Lopez released her third studio album,
This Is Me... Then, on November 26, 2002 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". The video for "I'm Glad" recreated scenes from the 1983 film
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 15 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 64 on the U.S. Hot 100; it peaked at number six in the UK and ascended to the top 20 in Australia. Another song, "Cherry Pie", was slated for a release in late 2005, but the plans to make a video were canceled. 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. Rebirth has had most success in the UK, where overall most of her singles have reached the top five.
Flashdance, leading to a lawsuit over
copyright infringement, which was later dismissed.
[23][24]