Jennifer Lopez opened up about the inspiration behind her forthcoming album This Is Me… Now, which is her first in eight years.
The album was announced on the 20th anniversary of her third album This Is Me… Then, which she tells Apple Music’s Zane Lowe she penned when “I fell in love with the love of my life” — actor Ben Affleck.
The couple first dated in the early 2000s before calling off their engagement in 2004. They rekindled their romance last year and wed in July.
Looking back at their failed first engagement, Jennifer remarked, “It was so painful after we broke up. Once we called off that wedding 20 years ago, it was the biggest heartbreak of my life.”
Because of the sting, Jennifer admits she “wouldn’t even perform” songs about Ben from the This Is Me…Then album.
“I honestly felt like I was going to die. It sent me on a spiral for the next 18 years where I just couldn’t get it right,” she added. “But now, 20 years later, it does have a happy ending.”
“It has the most would-never-happen-in-Hollywood ending,” said Jennifer. The singer adds her rekindled romance inspired her to make This is Me… Now.
Said Jennifer, “When I’m in love is when I’m inspired the most. I was the most inspired then and I have not made another record like that since then.”
“The whole message of the album then is this love exists,” the hitmaker explained. “Now I think what the message of the album is very much if you were wondering if you have, like me at times, lost hope, almost given up, don’t. Because true love does exist and some things do last forever and that’s real.”
The album is slated for a 2023 release.
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