Jennifer Lopez - Actor and Musician

By Kristyne McDaniel

Jennifer Lynn Lopez was born on July 24 in 1969, and has since created a plethora of intriguing albums mixing Latin and pop influences, as well as pursuing acting roles that have truly given her a large repertoire from which to draw much success from.  She is an American-born actress that has achieved great success in Grammy-nominated music combining rhythm & blues, Latin pop, and pop music qualities together, and she is also a well-known dancer and fashion designer with the commonly referred to nickname of J. Lo.

Lopez financed singing and dancing lessons for herself from the age of sixteen, and after leaving a semester-long stint in college, divided time between working in a legal office with dance lessons and dance performances in Manhattan clubs at night.  After months of auditioning for dance roles, she was given the opportunity to appear in various rap artists’ music videos as a dancer, and even appeared in the American Music Awards as a dancer.  After being rejected on a few different occasions, Jennifer gained a foothold toward the fame she would later indulge becoming a dancer on a widely enjoyed television comedy program in 1991, and this ended up being her first high-profile dancing work.

Afterwards, she became a dancer for famed pop singer Janet Jackson, and made an appearance in a handful of her videos, she chose to pursue her acting desires even though she was contracted to tour with Jackson.  However, she was able to get out of the contract to fully devote her time to this pursuit, and has since gone on to become a pop star in her own right.  From that point on, Lopez had appeared in a few short-lived television programs, and then broke out onto the big screen in 1995.  In 1998, Lopez played the lead role in a movie documenting the real life of Latin pop singer Selena, and was nominated for a Golden Globe award for her performance.

J. Lo’s debut album came out in 1999, and featured a number of well-received singles, along with Spanish-language songs like the duet with Marc Anthony.  With many various guest appearances from other artists and heavy rotation on music video channels on television and songs on radio stations, Lopez’s album earned her Grammy nominations for her work, and she released her second album in 2001.  Producing clothing and music, and garnering some prime acting roles and earned Jennifer Lopez a reputation for being at the forefront of popular culture.