page_title: Jennifer Lopez
section_title: Legacy and cultural impact
hierarchical_section_title: Jennifer Lopez / Legacy and cultural impact
caption_attribution_description: English: Jennifer Lopez with the flag of Puerto Rico. Español: Jennifer López con la bandera de Puerto Rico. Português: Jennifer Lopez com a bandeira de Porto Rico.
context_page_description: Jennifer Lynn Lopez, also known by her nickname J.Lo, is an American actress, singer, dancer, fashion designer, producer, and businesswoman. In 1991, Lopez began appearing as a Fly Girl dancer on In Living Color, where she remained a regular until she decided to pursue an acting career in 1993. For her first leading role in the 1997 Selena biopic of the same name, Lopez became the first Latin actress to earn over US$1 million for a film. She went on to star in Anaconda and Out of Sight, later establishing herself as the highest-paid Latin actress in Hollywood.
  Lopez ventured into the music industry with her debut studio album On the 6, which helped propel the Latin pop movement in American music. With the simultaneous release of her second studio album J.Lo and her romantic comedy The Wedding Planner in 2001, Lopez became the first woman to have a number-one album and film in the same week. Her 2002 remix album, J to tha L–O! The Remixes, became the first in history to debut atop the US Billboard 200. Later that year, she released her third studio album This Is Me... Then, and starred in the US box office number-one Maid in Manhattan.
context_section_description: Lopez is regarded as the most influential Hispanic performer in the United States, credited with breaking ethnic barriers in the entertainment industry. In 1999, The Record newspaper observed that she was responsible for the introduction of a Latina presence in the film industry, which was a "whites-only preserve" for much of its history. Described as a "multidimensional artist who had turned into a financial powerhouse", Lopez became the highest-paid actress of Hispanic descent in history. Miriam Jiménez Román stated in The Afro-Latin Reader: History and Culture in the United States (2009) that "[she] was able to traverse the difficult racial boundaries". In 2012, business magazine Forbes suggested that Lopez "may be the most powerful entertainer on the planet", and named her "the world's most powerful Latino celebrity".
  Upon launching her music career in the late 1990s, Lopez contributed to the "Latin explosion" occurring in entertainment at the time. Writing for The Recording Academy, Brian Haack described her as the "breakout female star" of the Latin pop movement in American music. She was featured on the cover of the first issue of Latina magazine in 1996, with editor Galina Espinoza stating in 2011 that there is "no recounting of modern Latina history without Jennifer". Around the time her career began to burgeon, the emphasis on Lopez's curvaceous figure grew; scholar Sean Redmond wrote that this was a sign of her role and social power in the cultural changes occurring in the United States. In August 2005, Time listed Lopez as one of the most influential Hispanics in America, remarking: "Why? Because over a decade ago, she was an anonymous background dancer on the second-rated sketch-comedy show. Today she's known by two syllables." In February 2007, People en Español named her the most influential Hispanic entertainer. In 2014, scientists named a species of aquatic mite found in Puerto Rico, Litarachna lopezae, after Lopez.
  Lopez is considered a global icon, and is often described as a triple threat performer. VH1 ranked her at number 15 on their list of 200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons, number 16 on 100 Greatest Women In Music, and number 21 on 50 Greatest Women of the Video Era. Lopez has been cited as an influence or inspiration by a range of entertainers, including Jessica Alba, Adrienne Bailon, Kat DeLuna, Mike Doughty, Fifth Harmony, Becky G, Selena Gomez, Ryan Guzman, Kelly Key, Q'orianka Kilcher, Demi Lovato, Normani, Pitbull, Francia Raisa, Cierra Ramirez Naya Rivera, Bebe Rexha, Rosa Salazar, Gwen Stefani, Stooshe, and Kerry Washington.
  Famed for her distinct style and fashion sense, Us Weekly named Lopez "Style Icon" of the 2000s decade. In 2019, the Council of Fashion Designers of America presented her with its Fashion Icon Award for her "long-standing and global impact on fashion". The Green Versace "Jungle Dress" that Lopez wore at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2000 was voted the fifth most iconic red carpet dress of all time in a poll run by The Daily Telegraph. The images of Lopez wearing the dress became the most popular search query of all time at that point, and subsequently led to the creation of Google's image search. Her style has influenced a range of celebrities, including Kelly Rowland, Kim Kardashian and Jennifer Love Hewitt. Her record-breaking fragrance line has become the most successful celebrity line in the world, with sales exceeding $2 billion as of 2012. Her first fragrance, Glow by JLo, has been credited with influencing the rise of celebrity fragrances in the 2000s, with perfume critic Chandler Burr stating: "Elizabeth Taylor was one of the first [to have her own scent], but Glow kicked the whole thing into overdrive." Following the success of Lopez's appointment as a judge on American Idol in 2010, a trend of networks hiring "big names" for judging panels on reality shows ensued. The Hollywood Reporter branded this "The J.Lo Effect".
caption: Lopez waving the Puerto Rican flag in 2009 at the Puerto Rican Day Parade in Manhattan.
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