Marc Anthony files for divorce from JLo

Los Angeles - Jennifer Lopez's salsa star husband Marc Anthony has filed for divorce from the actress-singer-presenter, citing "irreconcilable differences" for the split, a court spokesperson said on Wednesday.

Anthony, 43, a Grammy-winning singer now also working as an actor, filed legal papers in Los Angeles, nine months after the pair announced last July that they were ending their seven-year marriage, said the spokesperson.

Joint custody

According to the divorce petition filed on Monday and published by celebrity news website TMZ, he is asking Lopez, 42, for joint legal and physical custody of the couple's four-year-old twins Emme and Max.

The couple, both New Yorkers whose parents are from Puerto Rico, dated briefly in the 1990s and then rekindled their romance in 2004. They were married in a June 2004 secret ceremony at Lopez's Beverly Hills home.

After taking time off to become a mother in 2008, Lopez returned to the public eye last year year with a star turn as one of three talent judges on American Idol.

Also in 2011 Lopez topped People magazine's annual list of the most beautiful people. She also released her seventh studio album, Love?

Anthony has sold more than 11 million records, kicking off his career as a salsa musician and Spanish-language performer. His 1999 hit single I Need to Know was his first English-language crossover success.

In 2006, the couple co-starred in El Cantante, a biopic about salsa legend Hector Lavoe. Anthony played Lavoe and Lopez played Lavoe's wife, Nilda "Puchi" Roman.

It was the third marriage for Lopez and the second for Anthony.