Who is Jenni Rivera?

Jenni Rivera, a vocalist and composer who rose to fame in the regional Mexican market before passing away in 2012 became one of the Latin world’s most tragic stories. She was an American singer, songwriter, producer, philanthropist, speaker, and actor known as Dolores Janney Rivera Saavedra. 

According to several media sources, the famous performer was well-known for her unique Banda and Ranchera music style. Additionally, Rivera is regarded as one of the most influential performers in establishing Mexican music worldwide.

Jenni was awarded the prestigious Billboard magazine’s ‘Best selling Latin artist of 2013’ and the ‘Top Latin artist of 2013’. Likewise, she was honored for her remarkable contribution to the traditionally male-dominated genre of Banda music.

In addition, she recorded eleven studio albums during her two-decade career, including ‘Parrandera, Rebelde y Atrevida’ and ‘Jenni.’ These two albums together reached the top of the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart.

Similarly, she has four Latin Grammy nominations and is also a star on the Las Vegas Walk of Fame for being one of the best-selling regional Mexican artists.

Also, she was well-known for her work on television, in addition to her singing career. She created the Mexican-American reality shows ‘I Love Jenni,’ ‘Chiquis & Raq-C,’ and ‘Chiquis’ n Control,’ and others.

quick facts

Jenni Rivera interesting facts

1. Jenni Rivera sold out her concert at Gibson Amphitheater as the first female Banda artist.
2. Jenni was the first artist to sell out back-to-back tickets at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles.
3. Rivera was excellent in her studies and achieved straight A’s.
4. She was also the class valedictorian.
5. Rivera was pregnant while attending high school.
6. She also worked in the real estate business before starting her career as a singer.
7. Jenni was a reality star as well.
8. She worked as an entrepreneur and had her cosmetics, fragrance, jeans, foundation, etc.
9. During her lifetime, Rivera has been nominated for 113 awards and had 69 wins.
10. Rivera has won 18 Lo Nuestro Awards, 22 Billboard Latin Music Awards, one BMI Award, and 11 Billboard Mexican Music Awards.
11. Rivera was awarded with 15 gold, 15 platinum, and five double-platinum records.
12. She sold more than 15 million albums all around the world.
13. She was nominated for Grammys thrice in the years 2003, 2008, and 2010.
14. She was the spokeswoman for the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

Early age of Jenni Rivera

Dolores Janney Rivera Saavedra was born in Long Beach, California, on July 2, 1969. Rosa Saavedra and Pedro Rivera, her mother, and father, raised her and her five siblings in a musical atmosphere. 

Then, Rivera’s family introduced her to the Banda musical genre and Mexican music. Jenni Rivera began singing at a young age, but she recorded her first album on Father’s Day in 1992, grateful to her father.

Although Mexico’s traditionally male-dominated music industry was tough to get through, she once admitted that a Los Angeles radio DJ threw her music CD into the trash bin in her presence.

Additionally, she received perfect A’s in school until she became pregnant with her first child. She became a mother at the age of 15 with Janney’ Chiquis’ Marin Rivera, whom she supported by selling CDs at flea markets. She later transferred to a continuation school and graduated as class valedictorian.

After, she moved on to California State University. It is here she received a bachelor’s degree in business administration before working in real estate.

Family

parents

Jenni’s parents were Mexican, and her father, Pedro Rivera, and mother, Rosa Saavedra, came to the United States of America illegally by crossing the border. 

Her mother was pregnant during this time. Later, the couple gave birth to Jenni in Long Beach, California.

Did Jenni Rivera’s parents divorce?

Divorce is never easy, especially when there are children involved. Rosie Rivera may be an adult with a family of her own. Still, Jenni Rivera’s younger sister recently expressed hope that her parents, Doa Rosa Saavedra and Don Pedro, will reunite one day.

The former couple, married for over four decades, divorced in 2009 due to Don Pedro’s alleged unfaithful ways. Could their daughter’s wish for them to reconcile help them heal their relationship?

Jenni Rivera siblings

Rivera grew up in a big household family. She has a brother named Lupillo, one sister named Rosie, and three other brothers as well. Lupillo is also a Mexican singer.

Jenni Rivera husbands

Jenni married her then-high school boyfriend José Trinidad Marín, with whom she had three children. She later divorced him due to emotional and physical abuse in 1992.

In 1997, Rivera married for the second time. Her marriage with Juan López ended in 2003. They had two children together.

She then married Esteban Loaiza, a famous baseball player, in 2010. She filed for divorce in 2012. However, the divorce was not able to be finalized due to her death.

Children of Jenni Rivera

Rivera became pregnant with her first child Chiquis when she was just fifteen. Like her mother, Chris is also a famous American singer and television personality. So you could see that the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.

In 1989, Rivera had her second child, Jacqueline, and her third child, Michael, in 1991. Their father is José Trinidad Marín.

After marrying Juan López, she gave birth to a daughter Jenicka and her son Juan Angel in 1997 & 2001, respectively.

In 1985, Rivera gave birth to her first child, Janney. Janney is better known as Chiquis, a singer. She eventually married Jose Trinidad Marin, the baby’s father, and they had two additional children, Jacqueline and Michael.

 As a result, she divorced her husband in 1992, citing physical and emotional abuse as reasons. When Jenni’s sisters Rosie, Chiquis, and Jacqueline accused Marin of molestation, he was jailed.

However, Marin escaped from prison for nine years before being found in April 2006. He was convicted of sexual assault and rape and sentenced to more than 31 years in life without the possibility of parole.

After that, she met her future husband, Juan López, in one local pub where she began her singing career. But, López was sentenced to six months in prison for trafficking immigrants shortly after their marriage in 1997. Her husband’s dishonesty caused the couple’s breakup in 2003, even though they had two children. Lopez was convicted of drug smuggling in 2007 and died in prison in 2009 from pneumonia. 

Additionally, Jenni Rivera and Esteban Loaiza, who married in 2010, filed for divorce shortly before her death, but it was never formalized.

Jenni Rivera career

Rivera began her career by working as a real estate agent. She later began working for her father’s label. In 1992, Rivera made a song for her father as a father’s day gift. After that, she became a famous singer, which landed her roles in the television and film industry.

Rivera was told by many in the music industry at the beginning of her career that she wouldn’t make it. However, the latter was a tribute album to Selena, a Tejano artist killed in 1995.  In the late 1990s, she was signed to Sony Music and Fonovisa Records in 1999. “We Are Rivera” and “Farewell to Selena” was her self-released albums.

She signed herself to Capitol/EMI’s Latin division. She released her first album in 1995 named Chacalosa. The word Chacalosa is slang for “party girl.”

She once said that she got rejected by many people at the beginning of her career. Many people said that her music wasn’t good. However, you can see that she proved them wrong later on.

In 1999, she signed to Fonovisa Records. She released an album called Que Me Entierren Con la Banda, which was her first commercial album. The hit song “Las Malandrinas” was also on that album. The song blew up, and with it, Rivera paved her road to success.

Over the years, she released many albums and won many awards as well. She became an icon and owned the banda genre of music. In Mexico, you could hardly find anyone who didn’t know her.

She was very open about her life with her fans. She was very close to them. After her death, her fans were left devastated.

Rivera later married Esteban Loaiza, a former baseball player. Additionally, the couple featured in many reality TV shows together. The shows include Jenni Rivera Presents Chiquis & Raq-C (2010), I Love Jenni (2011), Chiquis’ n Control (2012), Jenni Jeans, Divine Music, Divina Realty, Jenni Rivera Fragrance, and Divina Cosmetics.

Jenni Rivera’s Netflix series

In 2017, Netflix released a short series covering Jenni Rivera’s biography. In addition, the singer’s book “Unbreakable” was used as a reference for this series.

The series explored her life as a mother, daughter, wife, and artist. American actress Angélica Celaya played the character of Rivera. 

There are 91 episodes in this series. The series also managed to get ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards for Top Television series in 2018. The show has a rating of 7.3 on IMDB.

Achievements

Rivera received her first Latin Grammy nomination for Best Banda Album in 2001 for her albums “Dejate Amar” and “Se las Voy a Dar an Otro.”

She was the first performer from the United States to be nominated in the category. “Homenaje a Las Grandes,” a tribute album to female Mexican singers, was created in 2003. Likewise, Jenni made her debut collection disc, “Simplemente…La Mejor,” in 2004. Finally, her first record was to reach the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States.

Her album “Mi Vida Loca,” released in 2007, debuted at No. 1 on the Regional Mexican Albums chart and No. 2 on the Top Latin Albums chart in the United States. It also received a Latin Billboard Music Award for Regional Mexican Album of the Year. 

Finally, Rivera won her first Lo Nuestro Accolade for Regional Mexican Female Artist of the Year with the album, an award she would win every year for the remainder of her life. She also released “La Diva en Vivo,” a live CD featuring songs recorded with a mariachi band, in the same year in 2008.

Jenni Rivera’s Top Ten Songs

Jenni Rivera had many hit songs during her music career. Some of the songs that remain as her best works are:

1. “La Chacalosa” was a song about the life of a drug dealer’s daughter.
2. “Las Malandrinas” was a song dedicated to girls who didn’t fit the unreasonable beauty standard of society.
3. “Parrandera, Rebedele y Atrevida” was a song to be celebrated by women.
4. “Mariposa de Barrio” was a song dedicated to the singer’s fans.
5. “La Gran Señora” was a song about affairs and infidelity. 
6. “Por Que No Le Calas” was related to affairs and heartbreak.
7. “De Contrabando” was a song where she portrayed herself as the ‘other woman in a relationship.
8. “Ahora Que Estuviste Lejos” was the freedom song after a heartbreak.
9. “Basta Ya” was the last album released by the singer before her death.
10. “Angel Baby” was a famous English song released by the singer.

Cause of Jenni Rivera’s death

Rivera performed in Monterrey Arena, Mexico, on December 8, 2012, and left the stadium for Monterrey International Airport after finishing her show. On December 9, 2012, Rivera boarded a jet plane after attending a press conference. The aircraft took off at 3:20 pm and went off the radar after 15 minutes. Later the plane was found to be crashed in Iturbide, Nuevo León. 

Further, the private plane lost contact with air traffic authorities and was later discovered crash. None of the other passengers and crew members survived that crash. It was devastating, and the bodies were tough to recognize. The plane crashed and lost control at high speed. At first, the authorities declared her dead, and her father later confirmed it at a press conference.

However, the Mexican Director of Civil Aviation stopped investigating the incident two years later, claiming inconclusive evidence.

After all, thousands of people have paid honor to Rivera, a late Banda singer. According to BBC News, Rivera’s children were among the 6,000 people who attended the service at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Los Angeles.

“We’re not here to grieve the death,” Jenni’s son Michael, 21, told those who had come to pay their respects. Instead, we’ve gathered to honor the lives and achievements of a singer, entertainer, diva, fighter, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and, above everything, a mother – the best mother.”

Besides, thousands of Rivera’s admirers lined up at the end of the service to lay white roses on her bright red casket. Veronika Flores, one of her fans who traveled eight hours from California to attend the service, stated, “I just came to say farewell to a Latina woman, La Gran Senora.”

The family sued the owner of the crashed jet, Starwood Management Inc. The family won the case and received 70 million dollars in August 2016.

Also, you can read about her daughter Jenicka Lopez here.

What happened to Jenni Rivera?

Pepe Garza, a radio show host, revealed a stunning, never-before-heard audio clip of his last interview with Jenni on the anniversary of her tragic death. She expressed a deep fear of performing in Mexico due to numerous death threats.

On December 9, 2012, Rivera died with six other passengers in a plane crash near Monterrey, Mexico, which has long been shrouded in mystery. Furthermore, new questions arose since Pepe Garza released his 35-minute YouTube video entitled “The Interview Never Published: Jenni Rivera’s Goodbye.”

Rivera had asked Garza to interview her urgently so that she could “leave a testimonial” in case something happened to her, according to Garza. She hoped the interview would never be made public, but she requested that he record an emotional farewell just in case.

Although, she revealed many death threats she received via email, phone calls, and message boards during the conversation. However, she described how the FBI became involved after she was threatened with being kidnapped and killed if she attended a performance in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico.

Jenni Rivera controversies

Jenni was arrested in June 2008 after an accusation from the audience of facing physical and verbal abuse from her. She was hit by a beer thrown by a fan, provoking her to call him to the stage, where she assaulted him verbally and physically.

Then, she was arrested after a fan called the cops, and after paying USD 3,000 in bail, she was released.

Again, she got herself into another legal situation when she was questioned about the USD 52,467 she had in her handbag at the time of her detention at Mexico City’s international airport. For her release, she had to pay a USD 8,400 fine.

Jenni Rivera charity works

Rivera Love Foundation is a non-profit organization that will support women and their children who have been domestic violence and abuse victims in the United States and worldwide.

Additionally, the Rivera family runs the “Jenni Rivera Love Foundation” with Jacqie, Jenni’s daughter.

We aim to aid single mothers in regaining their footing, overcoming poverty and abuse, and improving the quality of their lives and their children’s lives.

Similarly, our mission is to provide secure shelter for women and their children and supportive services such as housing, job training, and counseling to attain stability, good health, and employment.

Delores Jenni Rivera, who struggled to feed her children as a teenager growing up in Long Beach, California, suffered through brutal abuse and lived in a garage with her children, founded the organization. 

The life of Jenni and her five children was changed forever by these early and traumatic experiences.

Jenni Rivera, who grew up to become a worldwide singer, songwriter, novelist, actress, and television producer, never forgot her humble beginnings and pledged to God to help needy women.

However, she founded the Jenni Rivera Love Foundation to recognize the importance she received and give back to the community. Furthermore, the foundations help single mothers maintain their spirits despite their abuse.

Above all, she remains in people’s hearts for her promise to serve others, her great heart, and her favorite phrase; “It is better to give than to receive.”

Social media accounts of Jenni Rivera

Jenni Rivera’s Instagram account still has some recent posts.

Social media links:

Jenni Rivera Instagram

Jenni Rivera Twitter

Since Jenni is no more, it’s still unknown who manages her social media accounts.

Jenni Rivera’s Net worth

Jenni Rivera’s estimated net worth at the time of her death was around USD 25 million. Her work in the banda, nortea, and mariachi music genres made her famous.

Overall, she had 15 gold, 15 platinum, and five double-platinum recordings during her career.

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