Janney Dolores Rivera (July 2, 1969 – December 9, 2012), better known as Je… Read Full Bio ↴Janney Dolores Rivera (July 2, 1969 – December 9, 2012), better known as Jenni Rivera, was an American singer-songwriter, actress, television producer, and entrepreneur of Mexican heritage, known for her work within the banda and norteña music genres. She began recording in 1992, and her recordings often have themes of social issues, infidelity, and relationships. Her tenth studio album, Jenni (2008), became her first number-one album in the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart in the United States. In 2010, she appeared in and produced the reality TV show Jenni Rivera Presents: Chiquis & Raq-C. She also appeared in and produced I Love Jenni starting in 2011 and Chiquis 'n Control in 2012.

Rivera was born in Long Beach, California. Her parents are Mexican immigrants who raised Rivera and her four brothers and sister (including Lupillo Rivera) in a tight-knit musical household. While still in high school she became pregnant with the first of her five children, and eventually married the child's father, José Trinidad Marín.

Rivera made her first recording in 1994 as a birthday present to her father. She then made more recordings and signed to Capitol/EMI's Latin division after receiving significant airplay on Southern California radio stations. Her first album, Chacalosa (slang for "party girl"), was released in 1995, and sold over one million copies. She then released the albums We are Rivera and Farewell to Selena independently, the latter a tribute album to Tejano music singer Selena who was murdered in 1995. She signed to Sony Music in the late 1990s and Fonovisa Records in 1999; in the same year, Rivera released her first album with Fonovisa, titled Que Me Entierren con la Banda, featuring the hit "Las Malandinas".[6] In 2001, she released the records Dejate Amar and Se las Voy a Dar a Otro.Her 2003 release Homenaje a las Grandes (in English "Homage to the Great Ones") was a tribute album to female Mexican singers including Lucha Villa, Mercedes Castro, Rocío Dúrcal, Lola Beltrán, and Alejandra Guzmán. She attained more substantial success with the record Parrandera, Rebelde y Atrevida, released in 2005, which peaked at number ten on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart.

Rivera sold over 15 million albums worldwide and was nominated at the 2003, 2008 and 2010 Latin Grammys. She was awarded a star on the Las Vegas Walk of Stars.She started many companies, including Divina Realty, Divina Cosmetics, Jenni Rivera Fragrance, Jenni Jeans, Divine Music and The Jenni Rivera Love Foundation. Jenni Rivera became the first female banda artist to sell out a concert at the Gibson Amphitheater in Universal City, California, and became the first artist to sell out two back-to-back nights at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California, on August 6 and 7, 2010.

On August 6, 2010, Rivera was named spokeswoman for the National Coalition against battered women and domestic violence in Los Angeles. A proclamation was given "officially naming" August 6 “Jenni Rivera Day” by the LA City Council for all her charity work and involvement in the community.

Rivera married baseball player Esteban Loaiza on September 8, 2010. According to reports, divorce papers were filed on Monday, October 1, 2012. The statement released by Rivera's reps stated that the divorce was due to "irreconcilable differences on behalf of both parties derived from private circumstances that occurred during the lapse of their two-year marriage."

Rivera's musical style was classified as banda, a form of traditional regional Mexican music popular in Mexico and areas of the Southwestern United States.However, according to Leila Cobo of Billboard, her music contained a "contemporary, outspoken flair". She was significant as one of the few female artists in the often male-dominated genre.[6] She sung in both Spanish and English and often addressed personal themes such as her struggles with domestic violence, divorce, and her weight. Rivera described speaking openly with her fans about her personal issues as a "primary part" of her career. Discussing her unconventional approach and her single "Las Malandrinas", Rivera explained, "It was the late 1990s and the early 2000s and the female singers were singing ballads and romantic fare. So I figured, I'm not typical at all in any way, so I'm going to do what the guys do but in a different voice."

At approximately 3:25 a.m. CST on December 9, 2012, a U.S. registered private Learjet 25 N345MC (manufactured in 1969) carrying two pilots and five passengers, including Rivera, lost contact with air traffic control near Iturbide, Nuevo León, Mexico. The plane had taken off from General Mariano Escobedo International Airport in Monterrey about 10 minutes earlier and was en route to Toluca for an appearance by Rivera on La Voz ... México.All on board were presumed dead by Mexican authorities when the wreckage was found later that day with no apparent survivors. Jenni Rivera's father Pedro Rivera confirmed in a Telemundo interview that his daughter had died in the crash.Univision has reported that the plane had been involved in a 2005 fuel system incident. Rivera was finally buried on December 31, 2012 at All Souls Cemetery in Long Beach, California. Her father told Telemundo that her burial was delayed due to legal issues.

She acted in the film Filly Brown, released in 2012. The whole cast won the award Special Achievement in Film at the 2013 American Latino Media Arts Awards, or ALMA Award, and Jenni (deceased by the time of the award) was also given a moment of silence.

In 2016, Spanish singer Natalia Jimenez released Homenaje a la Gran Señora, a set of covers of Jenni's songs.