Jennifer Lopez

Lopez is one of the most successful recording artists of all time. She is mostly known for her dance-pop and Spanish-language songs, but she has also scored major hits in English and French. In 2019, she became the first artist to achieve seven billion streams on Spotify, proving that she still has the power to captivate people and make them listen.

The singer has sold over 150 million albums worldwide and has won numerous awards, including five Grammys. She is also one of the biggest selling Latin artists of all time. Her song “On the Floor” spent seven weeks at number one on the Billboard Top 100 single chart in 2007, and it was followed by four more top ten singles. Her album A.K.A. (album) was the best-selling Latin album of 2007, with 400,000 copies sold. In 2009, Billboard ranked her at number eight on their list of the top selling artists of the 2000s. In 2019, she surpassed Lady Gaga for the most consecutive top ten hits on the Adult Contemporary chart, with her song “The One” peaking at number nine.

Music Career

Lopez’s mother taught her to sing at a young age, and she decided to take music more seriously at 14. At 17, she was already playing piano and performing in nightclubs. She then enrolled in Berklee College of Music, where she studied songwriting, production, and audio engineering. She also did an internship at a recording studio in New York City. Lopez eventually dropped out of college to pursue a music career. She started her own label, Strive, and released her self-titled EP in 2005. It featured her previously released singles as well as two new tracks. The EP served as the basis for her debut studio album, Piece of Me, which was released the following year. The album peaked at number two on the Billboard Top Dance/Electronica Albums chart and number six on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart.

In 2006, Lopez released her second album, Love, Marriage, and Candy, which debuted at number seven on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart. The album marked a major shift in style, with the singer exploring new genres and dropping the traditional salsa and bachata music that she was known for. It also featured the singles “Waiting for Tonight,” “Vacación Final,” and “Como Está En El Cielo (Maid of the Sky).” In Latin America, Piece of Me and Love, Marriage, and Candy each achieved platinum status, with over 100,000 units sold. In 2007, Lopez released her third album, Rebirth, which debuted at number five on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart. The album featured the single “Loco” and its accompanying music video, which won a Grammy for Best Short-Form Music Video in 2008. Loco was officially certified platinum by the RIAA in January 2010.

Lopez’s fourth studio album, All Things Go, was released in 2011 and debuted at number eleven on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart. The album’s first single, “Si Te Pegue de Grito,” peaked at number two on the Billboard Top Latin Songs chart. The album was followed by three more top ten singles, including the international hit “Live Your Life.” In 2013, Lopez released her fifth studio album, Love & War, which climbed to number four on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart and spawned the singles “Dare to Love,” “Dividiview,” and the Latin Grammy–nominated “Loco.” From the album, she also released a series of music videos, including the popular “Sueño Americano,” which won a Billboard Music Video Awards for artist of the year in 2014.

Lopez’s sixth album, Dance Again, released in 2015, reached number three on the Top Latin Albums chart. Its first single, “Let’s Get Loud,” peaked at number twenty-nine on the Billboard Top 100 single chart. Both “Let’s Get Loud” and the title track were nominated for a 2016 Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. “Let’s Get Loud” also won the Grammy for Best Song Written for Visual Media in 2018.

Music Awards and Honors

Lopez has received five Grammy Awards out of her six nominations. She won four Grammys for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for her songs “On the Floor,” “Get Right,” “Dare to Love,” and “I’m Lovin’ It.” She also won Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for the song “Get Right,” off her 2009 album Get Right with Your Ex. The fifth Grammy she won was for Best Short-Form Music Video for “Go All The Way.” She is the most nominated artist at the Grammy Awards for her six nominations.

In 2019, she became the first artist to reach seven billion streams on Spotify, proving that she still has the power to captivate people and make them listen.

Live Performance Artistry

As a live performer, Lopez delivers a show that is part concert, part dance party. She performs all of her Billboard Top 40 hits as well as fan-favorite album cuts. Though she mostly tours with a small band, she occasionally brings out larger guest bands and orchestras for special concerts. She also regularly tours internationally, where she performs in Spanish. In 2020, she will begin a residency at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. There she will perform from April 16 through October 15. She also has a residency at the Bowers & Wilkins Grand Theater in Orlando, Florida, where she will perform from October 4 through December 22, 2020.

Influences

Lopez grew up listening to artists like Madonna, who she said influenced her musical style and gave her courage, and Michael Jackson, who she said taught her to always push boundaries. She said that while she admires many different musical genres, she particularly loves jazz, blues, and R&B. She began playing the piano when she was seven and learned to sing at a young age. Her mother is Puerto Rican and her father is of Spanish and Italian descent. She has described her style as “Latin pop with a little English flavor mixed in.”