Jennifer Lopez credits Selena role for inspiring her singing career

Jennifer Lopez felt inspired to juggle multiple careers after playing tragic Selena Quintanilla in a biopic.

The Booty hitmaker has been lauded as a multi-talented entertainer, finding success not only as a singer, but as an actress, fashion designer, author and business woman.

As the 20th anniversary of Quintanilla's death approaches on Tuesday (31Mar15), Lopez reveals playing the Mexican-American singer in 1997 biopic Selena and recreating her iconic 1995 concert in Texas gave her the courage to pursue her love of singing as well as her acting career.

She tells Billboard.com, "I felt she had a sense to live in the moment, that you're not ­promised tomorrow. For me that was the ­biggest lesson. That affected me in my life far more ­profoundly than the movie did in career terms... That (recreating the concert) really freed me up, and it was a very ­powerful moment. It had a lot to do with me launching my music career - all those performances. I sang in musicals before, but as part of a cast, never as a solo artist upfront or a recording ­artist. It made me realise, 'Don't neglect parts of yourself and let people put you in a box because you're an actress. You can do this, and you can also do that. Life is short, and you don't know what's going to happen. Go for your dreams and don't let anyone hold you back.'"

Quintanilla was 23 years old when she was shot and killed by the president of her fan club in 1995.