A native of Los Angeles, he grew up in the San Fernando Valley's Mission Hills, experiencing an economically poor upbringing. The majority of his standup comedy is based specifically on his childhood and unique characterization of his Hispanic relatives, particularly the grandmother who raised him. His depictions struck a universal chord with his audience not unlike that of his hero Richard Pryor's Mudbone character. After years of struggling as a standup comic, Lopez finally released his first album, Alien Nation, in 1996 and with it his rise to superstardom began. Within five years he had landed his own weekly ABC-TV series, The George Lopez Show, where he was co-creator (with actress Sandra Bullock), writer, producer, and star.

Between taping episodes of the TV show, he recorded his next CD, Right Now Right Now, in 2001, followed in 2003 by Team Leader, which was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album. The following year, Lopez taped his immensely popular Showtime concert Why You Crying? and released his autobiography of the same name. In April of 2005, after Lopez dealt with the life-threatening experience of having a kidney transplant (the donor was his wife, Ann), he bounced back with a wide variety of projects, including the 2006 CD release El Mas Chingon. The disc was recorded live at the Ice House in Pasadena, California, where he had also recorded Team Leader three years previously. Material for both his 2007 album, America's Mexican, and his 2009 effort, Tall, Dark & Chicano, were drawn from HBO specials of the same name. The 2012 release It's Not Me, It's You was another HBO special, but this one was aired live, beamed right to the cable network's satellites from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. ~ Al Campbell