Actress, dancer, and singer, Jennifer Lopez was honored with the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the 2018 MTV Music Awards (VMAs). Lopez, who turned 49 in July, treated the audience to a show-stopping performance of hits like, “Waiting For Tonight”, “Get On The Floor”, and “Love Don’t Cost A Thing”.
During her acceptance speech, Lopez thanked her family, video directors, and her mentors, “I grew up on MTV,” she said. “And this is really, like, a tremendous honor for me. It has been an incredible journey of dreaming my wildest dreams and then kinda watching them come true. Music, acting, performing – this career has always been kind of an obsession for me. I kinda had to forge my own path and make my own rules. I was obsessed like that.”
Born in the Bronx, New York, Lopez got her start as a ‘Fly Girl’ for the 90s television sketch comedy, In Living Color, and landing dance roles in music videos for icons like Janet Jackson. Her acting career took off when she landed the title role in 1997’s Selena, portraying the slain Tejano singer. Later she co-starred with George Clooney in 1998’s acclaimed Out of Sight, becoming the highest-paid Latina actress in Hollywood history. She has several movies and television shows under her belt, with new movie Second Act releasing in 2018, and Bye Bye Birdie Live! in 2019.
In 1999, she returned to her musical roots with her debut pop album, On the 6, scoring a major hit with the single “If You Had My Love”. Following that came hit albums, J.Lo (2001), J to tha L-O!: The Remixes, This Is Me, and Rebirth (2005). The Spanish-language album Como Ama una Mujer followed in 2007, peaking at number ten on the Billboard 200 chart while remaining at the top of the Latin chart for seven consecutive weeks. In October of that same year, Lopez put out a more “traditional” pop album, Brave, followed by an accompanying tour. Love?, another pop album, was released in April 2011. A few months after Lopez debuted alongside Randy Jackson and Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler as one of the judges on American Idol. Currently she is one of the judges for the television series, World of Dance. Lopez continues recording and acting throughout her career.
