In her latest documentary, “The Greatest Love Story Never Told,” Jennifer Lopez, the renowned singer and actress hailing from the Bronx, reflects on whether the public still holds a deep interest in her and her highly awaited comeback album, “This Is Me … Now,” amidst the ever-changing landscape of pop music.
It’s noteworthy that it’s been a decade since her last studio album, “A.K.A.,” in 2014. More significantly, 22 years have passed since “This Is Me … Then” (2002) solidified her position as a musical icon, bringing the world unforgettable hits like “Jenny From the Block” and “All I Have.” This considerable gap adds weight to her reflections as she navigates through a potentially transformed music scene.
In the documentary, which premiered Monday night on Prime Video, Jennifer Lopez, aged 54, openly acknowledges, “I didn’t feel the urgency to create the album.”
“It felt like there wasn’t a strong public demand for another J.Lo record, if you catch my drift,” she further explained.
Perhaps she was onto something.
Despite Jennifer Lopez launching an extensive marketing campaign, including a star-studded short film titled “This Is Me… Now: A Love Story,” to promote her new album, it unfortunately didn’t resonate well. Her ninth studio album only debuted at number 38 on the Billboard 200 chart, marking a significant decline in popularity compared to her previous releases.
The singer boasts seven prior Top 10 albums, with “J.Lo” in 2001 reaching #1. “Brave” in 2007 narrowly missed the Top 10 at #12.
This #38 debut signifies a notable descent for the once-dominant artist who once ruled the pop landscape with “On the 6” in 1999.
Despite her two-decade tenure in the music industry, the former “In Living Color” Fly Girl remains vibrant. She co-headlined the Super Bowl halftime show in 2020, performed at the presidential inauguration in 2021, and recently secured the coveted “Saturday Night Live” musical guest spot in her mid-50s.
Jennifer Lopez’s “This Is Me… Now” trails Usher’s “Confessions” by just two spots. “Confessions,” a 20-year-old album, experienced a resurgence after Usher’s Super Bowl halftime show.
Interestingly, “This Is Me… Now” debuted at #1 on the Top Album Sales chart. This chart disregards streaming, which is pivotal in today’s music market. Physical albums are scarce these days, and Lopez’s sales primarily consist of CDs, vinyl, and digital downloads. However, even these sales are modest. “J.Lo” sold 272,300 copies in its first week, while “This Is Me… Now” fell short by a significant margin. To boost sales, Lopez offered multiple album versions, enticing devoted fans to purchase more than one copy.
She invested $20 million of her personal funds into the album and the short film, “The Greatest Love Story Never Told.”
The documentary unveils that the album’s title track shares its name with a book gifted to Lopez by her husband, Ben Affleck. Affleck presented her with the book “The Greatest Love Story Never Told” for their first Christmas together after reuniting in 2021, following their widely known 2003 split.
