After dating in the early 2000s and getting engaged, the pair ultimately went their separate ways in 2004.
It took almost two decades, but Jennifer and Ben found their way back to each other and tied the knot earlier this year.
Looking back on their first split, Jennifer admits it was one of the most painful times of her life and affected her career for the next 18 years.
“It was so painful after we broke up,” she said during a conversation with Zane Lowe for Apple Music 1.
She continued, “Once we called off that wedding 20 years ago, it was the biggest heartbreak of my life, and I honestly felt like I was going to die.”
Jennifer explained that following the split, she felt as though she couldn’t make music like she used to and it set her on a “spiral” for years.
“So I didn’t make music in that way that I did in 2002 until now…it set me on a spiral for the next 18 years where I just couldn’t get it right,” Jennifer shared.
She added, “But now, 20 years later, it does have a happy ending. It has the most, would-never-happen-in-Hollywood ending.”
After rekindling her romance with Ben, she says she “felt so inspired and so overtaken with emotion that [the music] was just pouring out of me.”
As for her new album, This Is Me…Now, Jennifer says it will cover her journey to finding love again — and hopefully inspire others not to give up.
“I think what the message of [This Is Me…Now] is — if you have, like me at times, lost hope, almost given up, don’t,” Jennifer said.
She added, “True love does exist and some things do last forever and that’s real. I want to put that message out into the world and that does take a lot of vulnerability.”
