AMAs Host Jennifer Lopez Reveals Performance She’s Most Excited For (Exclusive)

Jennifer Lopez may be on hosting duty at the 2025 American Music Awards, but she’s also there as a fan!

The superstar is set to emcee the night’s events on Monday, May 26 — but tells PEOPLE that much of the gig’s appeal comes from the chance to connect with stars from all across the board.

“I’m always [there] as a fan. I love artists and getting to know them and being around them and just celebrating the different things that everybody does,” she says. “I really am a believer in lifting other people up and celebrating great work so I’m very excited to do that too this year.”

Lopez, 55, notes that there’s one performance in particular that she’s most looking forward to: Janet Jackson, who is being honored with the ICON Award. Jackson, 59, is set to take the stage in what will be her first televised performance since 2018.

“I want to see all of them, [but] obviously I’m a huge Janet fan,” she says. “I’m excited to see Janet. I haven’t seen her in years, and I’m glad that she’s being celebrated, too.”

Lopez last hosted the AMAs in 2015. This time around, she says she’s also looking forward to honoring Gloria Estefan, who is set to perform a medley of her greatest hits.

“I remember having a good time with it and they asked me to do it again this year,” she says. “I’ve been working on a lot of music, and it just seemed like a good time. I just love all the music that’s out right now. I love that they’re honoring Gloria Estefan as well, who was kind of a pioneer of crossover. It seems like a really beautiful year to celebrate.”

Other performances will include Lopez herself, Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani, Estefan, Benson Boone, Lainey Wilson and Renée Rapp.

For the Kiss of the Spider Woman star, the chance to return to the AMAs stage is a special opportunity to reflect on just how far she’s come since her first AMAs performance more than 20 years ago.

Lopez says she recently sat down to watch some early shows she did, and was struck by her development.

“We were just looking at it to see the progression of the stuff that we’ve done,” she says. “I don’t know, it’s just a very important part of my musical career and life. It was created as an answer kind of to the Grammys, which was voted by an academy, and this was really about the fans. And I think that’s what makes it really special, is that the fans vote these awards and tell you, ‘This is music we love from the year.’”

Though it’s been a minute since some of those early performances, she adds that it all feels “like it was yesterday.”

“Everything feels like I just did it,” she says. “I remember the moments. I remember getting dressed for them. I remember things people said when we were walking to the stage afterwards. So it’s all these amazing core memories of my life that when you look back on them… I don’t know that I get emotional, but I definitely get like, ‘Wow.’ Happy. I’ve been doing this and I’m proud of that.”

This year’s American Music Awards will air live from the Fontainebleau Las Vegas at 8 p.m. ET on CBS and Paramount+.