She’s maintained a dignified poise ever since her break-up with husband Marc Anthony, but on Saturday night Jennifer Lopez broke down in front of a packed auditorium as she sang about love.

The 42-year-old was shimmering through her headline performance at the Mohegan Sun Arena’s 15th anniversary celebration when she started sobbing and had to leave the stage.

Jennifer had just performed a raw, unembellished rendition of If You Had My Love when she told the audience that the 1999 track was ‘the first song I wrote about love.’

Raw emotion: J-Lo broke down in tears just thinking about her lost loves

Sparkling form: Jennifer Lopez shone in s skintight catsuit at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut tonight

The emotionally overwrought superstar then shocked the crowd by beseeching: ‘What is love?’

Before adding: ‘As the last song I wrote about love…a lot has changed since then.’

According to TMZ, there was another factor which contributed to her tearful state – when she saw a picture of her twins Max and Emme flash up on the big screen.

A source told the website the image – shot for a Gucci add last year – had sentimental value to the singer.

In an interview with Maria Menounos, set to air tonight, Lopez admits to feeling fragile and says seeing her motehr in the crowd added an extra level of poignancy to her performance.

Does my bum look big in this?: Lopez is lifted aloft by some of her dancers at the show tonight

She’s got the moves: Lopez powered through tonight’s set

‘I didn’t see her the whole time until this one moment, and I was a bit emotional,’ she explains.

Saying she was just like any normal person, she went on: ‘I have feelings and emotions. My life goes great and it goes not great sometimes. But you know what? We keep going, and that?s what it is’

If You Had My Love centres around the theme of trust.

Lopez wrote the song when she was in a fledgling relationship with rap P Diddy, the pair had a tumultuous relation

Then she became one half of Bennifer with Ben Affleck, and embroiled in one of the highest profile relationships of last decade – until it ended in their wedding being called off at the last minute.

She found love – and motherhood – with Latin superstar Marc Anthony, and as they headed towards their seventh wedding anniversary in June this year, things seemed to still be hot.

The couple wowed American Idol fans with their sizzling performance together on the May final, but just weeks later they announced their shock split.

Tellingly in the song that Lopez penned before all this happened, she ends her entreaty to a lover with the line: ‘I have to know the truth, If I spend my life with you.’

But the mother-of-two had set herself up for the cavalcade of painful feelings by having dancers recreate her important relationships while she sang.

A P. Diddy double danced with the female dancer wearing a copy of her infamous slit-down-to-the navel Versace gown, while a ringer for her ex-husband Cris Judd danced with a paired down Lopez-a-like in jeans.

Another doppelganger was wearing the mint green gown she wore to the Oscars with fiance Ben Affleck as she twirled with a square-jawed replica of The Town star.

But the most dazzling pairing came from the twosome reliving Lopez and Marc Anthony’s American Idol performance from May, only weeks before they announced the end of their marriage.

‘At the end of the song she started sobbing and had to take a few moments to keep it together,’ an onlooker told RadarOnline.com’

‘She held it together for one song but then ran offstage crying.

‘She only sang a few more songs and she was obviously out of it. Everyone was so sad for her. It was really dramatic.’

But there was nothing slipshod about J-Lo’s performance tonight.

She might have pleaded with us ‘not to be fooled by the rocks that she’s got’ but if it weren’t for strategically placed sequins, Lopez would have literally bared all to her audience at one point.

At other points, Lopez donned a white yet equally encrusted blazer and had some fun with a cane.

And it was clear that despite her sadness over lost loves, the American Idol judge is still full of passion for the future.

After all, there is that burgeoning romance with a certain Bradley Cooper to consider.

The showbiz world is abuzz with rumours about their romance.

Howeverthe singer and actress pledged not to speak about any romances until she is in another serious relationship at her fashion line launch in Connecticut last week.

High octane: Fans lapped up the star’s stellar performance

Don’t give her any stick: Lopez may have broken down but she was also in feisty form tonight

Jennifer said she wants to protect her three-year-old twins Emme and Max in case her relationships do not work out.

She said: ‘As a mom, and having children, right now they’re my first priority.

‘And because of them, I wouldn’t ever comment on anything until I’m in a serious relationship again.

‘It would just be confusing for them and it would be unfair. And so at the end of the day, it’s about them.’

Jennifer tried to hide her face when she was spotted enjoying some time alone with A-Team hunk Bradley earlier this week.

The pair are believed to have started dating last month, when they were spotted enjoying dinner at Per Se restaurant in New York.

Jennifer and Bradley, 37, had tried to explain the cosy meeting away by insisting it was just a professional meeting.

But Jennifer’s suspicious behaviour earlier this week have sent Hollywood gossipers in overdrive.