Jennifer Lopez: ‘Everybody goes through hard times in their life. And it’s what you do in those moments that defines you’

Jennifer Lopez isn’t like anybody else. And that’s why the home of the 55-year-old New Yorker — an actress, singer, producer and businesswoman, who has an estimated fortune of $150 million, 30 million monthly Spotify listeners, 80 million albums sold, as well as 40 films grossing $3 billion and counting — isn’t like any other house, either.

Her immense infinity pool overlooks tree-lined Beverly Hills from a marble terrace, dotted with white umbrellas. Before entering, you have to walk through the foyer — which is the size of a typical apartment — and underneath its soaring ceilings. You pass the kitchen on the right and the living room on the left. Upon stepping onto the terrace, the artist is waiting patiently, along with a crew of half-a-dozen people. They’re taking care of the lights, chairs, makeup and the artist’s hair, which rises slightly in the cool morning breeze of Los Angeles.

It’s unusual for Lopez to grant long interviews to foreign media outlets, or to host journalists in her home, as she did when she gave an interview to EL PAÍS one Monday in April. Even less so in a context where she continues to be in the spotlight because of her personal affairs: Lopez divorced Ben Affleck eight months ago. But she’s now embarking on an important phase of her life, by going on tour. Despite her extensive 35-year-long career, this is only the fifth time she’s hit the road. It’s also her third solo tour (in 2007, she did one with her then-husband, Marc Anthony; in 2012, with Enrique Iglesias), as well as her first in six years. And, on the Up All Night Tour, Spain is her main market: of the 17 scheduled dates, seven are in the Southern European country.

Lopez confesses that she’s “excited to be back.” However, surprisingly, the tour isn’t the focus of her conversation with EL PAIS. Rather, it’s more about her entire career, her steps forward and how reading, prayer and therapy have helped her focus her life. She feels renewed, after a year that — as she acknowledges — has been very, very tough.

“It’s been a while. I had plans to go on tour last summer and I had to cancel it,” she explains. Her previous tour was set to focus on the album that she made in tribute to her love story with Affleck: she canceled it a month before it began. “I miss the fans. I miss the energy and the love that I get to give. And I miss the love that I receive. I was looking forward to it last summer, so you can imagine how much more excited I am now.”

She admits that performing in Spain (she performed in Madrid in 2012 and in Fuengirola in 2019) is something she’s looking forward to, especially right now. “There are new songs. My show has evolved over the years. There have been different eras that I’ve been through since then. My show is always very energetic, full of dancing and music. Just very high energy. It’s still like that, but there are always stories to tell, things that you learned over the years that come out in your music and your artistry. I’m very excited. I don’t even know exactly what it will be like yet,” she confesses.