Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969), popularly nicknamed J.Lo, is an Puerto Rican-American, Golden Globe Award-nominated actress, Grammy Award-nominated singer, songwriter, dancer, and fashion designer. She is the richest Latin American in Hollywood according to Forbes magazine.[1]Early years
Lopez was born and raised in the Castle Hill neighborhood in the Bronx, New York City, New York to Puerto Rican parents Guadalupe Rodríguez and David Lopez. Lopez spent her entire academic career in Catholic schools. She also financed singing and dancing lessons for herself from the age of nineteen. After leaving a one semester-long 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, and was given a guest spot on the American Music Awards. After being rejected for the gig twice, Lopez gained her first regular high-profile gig as a "Fly Girl" dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color in 1991. Soon after, Jennifer Lopez became a back-up dancer for famed singer Janet Jackson and made an appearance in her 1993 video "That's the Way Love Goes". Scheduled and contracted to go on Janet's world tour, she asked the superstar to be let out of her contract to pursue her acting career.[citation needed]Acting
Lopez has appeared on the short-lived television programs South Central, Second Chances, and Hotel Malibu, and the television movie Nurses on the Line: The Crash of Flight 7. Lopez broke into the big screen in 1995, in the drama My Family and then appeared opposite Wesley Snipes in the action film Money Train. Lopez has also 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". She also became the first Latina actress to get paid $1 million or more for one film, the role.[2] Some of her critically-acclaimed films include Selena, Out of Sight, The Cell, and An Unfinished Life. Lopez's not so critically-acclaimed (but successful) films include The Wedding Planner, Maid in Manhattan, and Monster-in-Law.
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 to mixed reviews. Bordertown was shown at the Brussels Film Festival.
Lopez also guest-starred in the sixth season finale of Will & Grace in 2004. That episode made history for getting the highest audience numbers during the series' running.
In May 2006, MTV gave the greenlight on her executively produced reality show, Dance Life. The show will follow the lives of six aspiring dancers as they struggle to make it in the competitive world of professional dance. Lopez, who took an active role in selecting the show's participants, is also slated to make cameo appearances over the course of the season and the show's eight-episode run is scheduled to begin on January 15, 2007.
Music
On the 6 (1999)
Lopez' 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 also contained the Spanish-language, Latin-flavored duet "No Me Ames" with Marc Anthony. Though "No Me Ames" never had a commercial release, the tropical remix was included on the "If You Had My Love" CD single as a B-side. Despite this, the music video for "No Me Ames" received moderate airplay on the U.S. music channels VH1 and The Box. On the 6 also featured guest artists such as Big Pun and Fat Joe on the track "Feelin' So Good". It 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. "Waiting for Tonight" was nominated for the same category the previous year.
Lopez' second album, J. Lo, was released in January 23, 2001 and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. 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. 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. Following the success of the album re-release, 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.[3] Featured artists on J to tha L-O!: The Remixes included P. Diddy, Fat Joe, and Nas, and the album also included rare dance and hip-hop remixes of past singles. 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!". This album included a cover of Carly Simon's 1978 "You Belong to Me". In 2004, Lopez once again participated in a duet with Marc Anthony, called "Escapémonos", this time on his 2004 albums Amar Sin Mentiras and Valió La Pena.
Rebirth (2005)
After a year away from the music scene, Lopez released her fourth studio album, Rebirth, on March 1, 2005, at age of thirty-five. Debuting and peaking at number two on the Billboard 200 to decent sales success, the album quickly fell off the charts. The album spawned one hit in "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 a huge hit in the UK, becoming her second number-one single there. The second single, "Hold You Down", which featured Fat Joe, made it into the top seventy-five in the U.S., peaking at number sixty-four. It reached number seventeen in Australia with little promotion and peaked at number six in the UK. Later in 2005, Rebirth was certified Platinum in the U.S. by the RIAA.
Lopez was later featured in the LL Cool J's song, "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' first top ten hit in three years.
She is to release her first full Spanish-language album, titled Como Ama Una Mujer, in February 2007. The lead single, the ballad "Qué Hiciste" (Spanish for "What Did You Do"), is scheduled to be released to radio stations sometime in 2006. It is said to be rock-tinged.
She is also working on her fifth English studio album, in which she is working with producer Swizz Beats. "It's coming out incredible", he said. "We're putting together some great things, and not what everyone's expecting. Think a little Jamiroquai, a little Sade. It's real feel-good music". Other producers are Timbaland, Cory Rooney, and Jermaine Dupri. There is no year or date set for this album.
Business
"Glow After Dark"
Lopez owns a clothing line, JLO by Jennifer Lopez, whose brand has been licensed for a term by Warnaco Group.[4] Her line includes different types of clothing for young women, including jeans, T-shirts, coats, belts, purses, and lingerie. In 2005, she launched a new clothing line called Sweetface. She is planning to launch a jewelry line, as well as an accessory line that includes hats, gloves, and scarves.[5] Lopez has also done photoshoots to represent the Louis Vuitton Winter 2003 campaign.
Lopez's frequent use of animal fur in her clothing lines and personal wardrobe has brought the scorn of people concerned with animal rights. At the Los Angeles première of Monster-in-Law, more than one hundred protestors from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) held a demonstration to highlight their concerns. Lopez told a radio DJ she was open to being educated on the topic.
On April 12, 2002, Lopez opened an elegant Cuban restaurant in the South Lake district of Pasadena, California named Madre's. A media sensation was creating when during a press shoot for the fancy restaurant, a mysterious man appeared out of the sidelines and gave Lopez a floral arrangement from Ben Affleck, even as then-husband Cris Judd stood next to her. Lopez was widely criticised for what appeared to be infidelity on her part.
Upcoming fragrance called "Live Luxe"
Lopez has also dabbled in the perfume industry, with her debut "Glow by J.Lo" which broke numerous records in sales. In October 2003, Lopez introduced a perfume called "Still". Before launching another completely new fragrance, she revisited 2002 "Glow" by creating a limited edition spin-off entitled "Miami Glow by J.Lo", in homage to her adopted hometown of Miami. Around the same time, Lopez came up with a "Glow" body line, which featured different body lotions and bronzers. For the Christmas season of 2005, she launched another fragrance, "Live by Jennifer Lopez". Most recently, for 2006 Valentine's Day, "Miami Glow" was replaced by yet another "Glow" spinoff – "Love at First Glow by J.Lo |
