Jennifer Lopez made the tough decision of having Marc Anthony sing on tour with her

The mid-2000s was an emotional time for  Jennifer Lopez . In 2011, the “Jenny from the Block” singer separated from her ex-husband and father of her twins,  Marc Anthony . Then just a year later, Lopez made the tough decision of including Anthony on her tour to sing with her on stage.

From June 2012 to December of that same year, JLO embarked on her first worldwide tour, Dance Again. In her 2014 book, “True Love” the “Hustlers” actress said the tour provided her with an outlet to express the emotions she was feeling after splitting from Anthony. “During all those shows, and being embraced by the crowds, was a cathartic process that helped me heal,” wrote Lopez.

While the “Waiting For Tonight” singer was using her world tour as a way to heal her personal life, she mustered up the strength to do something big for her final show of the tour, as suggested by her former manager and friend. “Benny could see it too, so one day toward the end of the tour he made a suggestion that he knew I wouldn’t have been able to consider even just a few weeks earlier,” Lopez said in the book.

The final show of the tour was taking place in Puerto Rico and Benny suggested that Anthony should join Lopez on stage to sing a song together.

Lopez said she couldn’t fathom the thought of being reunited with her ex-husband who she just split from on stage and she had a lot of concerns, according to “True Love.”

“I thought about that, thought about whether doing this would be like giving the spotlight to Marc on that American Idol finale, letting him have a moment that might have been mine. Was I falling into the same old pattern that I had spent months pulling myself out of? Would inviting him to sing with me be a step backward?” JLO wrote in her book.

Anthony eventually agreed to sing with his ex-wife during the final show and Lopez described the moment with Anthony onstage as a bittersweet one. Lopez said in the book that a lot of emotions came flooding back for both her and Anthony. The two sang the song, “No me Ames,” and it was one of the first songs the couple sang together. Lopez said in her book that the feeling of singing together did more for her than expected.

“Things might not have worked out the way I had planned, but I was so proud of where we had come, especially after all that heartache,” wrote Lopez. “It was the perfect start to the rest of my life.”