The 48-year-old singer also reflects on where Selena Quintanilla would be now if she was still alive.
Having to work with your ex may not sound ideal, but Jennifer Lopez wouldn't have it any other way.
During an appearance on the first episode of Spotify's ¡Viva Latino! podcast on Thursday, the 48-year-old singer opened up about working with Marc Anthony on her upcoming Spanish language album, and how it "repaired" their relationship after divorce.
"[Collaborating on Por Primera Vez] actually kind of repaired certain parts of our relationship that had been fractured from our marriage and our divorce and it kind of made us friends again," Lopez shared. "Because when we first started working together, it's how we met...we met working. And so we remembered that like, oh right, we connect on this level of music."
"We have that," she continued. "And that's what the album came out of."
Lopez, who is currently dating Alex Rodriguez, split with Anthony in 2011, but has remained supportive of him and his family since. In fact, the singer recorded her own version of "Vivir Mi Vida" as a tribute to his late mother, Guillermina Quiñones, who died in July.
"The first thing that came to my mind, because Marc's mom had just passed away, you know, my kids' grandma, was 'Vivir Mi Vida.' And I thought, 'I think that's a good song to sing right now,'" she explained. "But, in a different way. Not in the kind of up-tempo, rhythmic, salsa way that Marc did it, but in a way where you really hear the words to that song, which is, you know, you have one life and you have to live it."
J.Lo also opened up about the lasting "impact" of her 1997 film, Selena, and where Selena Quintanilla would be now if she was still alive.
"She was such a bright light, and she was such an amazing artist and such a talent. She was so damn talented. It's like those things you're born with, she just, she had the light inside her. She was a star," she said, admitting that her performance in the movie is one of her favorites to this day.
"It was sad to not see where she would be now at my age," Lopez, who was less than two years older than Quintanilla, continued. "She would be around my age now, so it's sad. Tragic."
ET was with the late singer's family as she was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame earlier this month. Watch below.
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