Jennifer Lopez Said 1 Singer Saved Her Estranged Relationship With Her Mom

In the earliest days of Jennifer Lopez’s career, she had a falling out with her mom. Lopez left college to pursue dance, much to her mother’s dismay. They went for months without speaking, but they eventually reestablished their relationship. Lopez said her ability to score tickets to a concert was instrumental in their reunion.

Jennifer Lopez said she and her mom went for a time without speaking

When Lopez was 18, she moved out of her family’s home at the request of her parents. They disapproved of her decision to pursue dance full-time.

“My mom and I butted heads,” Lopez told W Magazine in 2013. “I didn’t want to go to college — I wanted to try dance full-time. So she and I had a break.”

Lopez said she began sleeping on the couch in her dance studio. She refused to give up on her dream, though, no matter how much drama it caused in her family.

“I wanted to go into show business and she wanted me to be a lawyer. And I was dropping out of school,” she told Jay Leno, per The Seattle Post-Intelligencer. “We butt heads for a while … I left the house and we had a big fight, it was like a big Lopez family drama. I didn’t talk to her for a while.”

Jennifer Lopez said getting tickets to a concert helped her relationship with her mom

Months passed without communication between Lopez and her mother. Eventually, Lopez decided she wanted to repair the rift between them. She thought concert tickets would be a good way to break the ice.

“She loves Barry Manilow … and there was a big Barry Manilow concert. He was performing for Mother’s Day,” she said. “So I was like, ‘You know what I’m going to do? I haven’t spoken to my mother for, like, eight months…’ I went and bought tickets.”

Her mother agreed to go with her to the concert, and they began speaking again.

“I had no money but I somehow got money to get these tickets and then I went home and I was like, ‘I have Barry Manilow tickets for Mother’s Day!’” she said. “And that’s when we started talking again.”

She said she has always wanted to make her parents proud

Over the years, many of the people in Lopez’s life have spoken about her impeccable work ethic. She has worked tirelessly for over two decades. She said that she learned this from her parents. 

“I watched my parents,” she said. “My dad worked nights, and I was aware of how much he was doing for us. My mom was a Tupperware lady and also worked at the school. I always felt that I couldn’t let them down. And I had a natural discipline from early on. I was always training for something.”

She hopes to pass her work ethic on to her own children.

“I think a lot about teaching my kids to work hard,” she said. “I’ve learned something about kids — they don’t do what you say; they do what you do.”