66 Facts About Jenni Rivera

Dolores Janney "Jenni" Rivera was an American singer, songwriter, actress, businesswoman, and producer known for her work within the regional Mexican music genre, specifically in the styles of banda, mariachi and norteno.

Jenni Rivera gained more popularity when she won the Lo Nuestro Award for Regional Mexican Female Artist of the Year in 2007, which she won nine consecutive times.

Jenni Rivera appeared in and produced I Love Jenni starting in 2011 through 2013 and Chiquis 'n Control in 2012.

Jenni Rivera's acting debut was in the film Filly Brown, which was released in 2013.

Dolores Janney Jenni Rivera was born and raised in Long Beach, California, to Rosa Saavedra and Pedro Jenni Rivera, both from Mexico.

Jenni Rivera's parents raised Rivera and her sister and four brothers in a tight-knit, musical household; her brother Lupillo is a regional Mexican musician.

Jenni Rivera's family introduced her to traditional Mexican music, including the genres of banda, nortena, and ranchera.

Jenni Rivera earned straight A's in school until her sophomore year, when at 15 she became pregnant with the first of her five children, Janney "Chiquis" Marin-Jenni Rivera.

Jenni Rivera supported the two of them by selling CDs at flea markets, while working toward her GED at a continuation school and graduating as class valedictorian.

Jenni Rivera attended Long Beach City College, and obtained a degree in business administration and worked in real estate before going to work for her father's record label.

Jenni Rivera's father was a bartender and businessman who created the record label Cintas Acuario in 1987, which launched the career of Mexican singer and songwriter Chalino Sanchez.

Jenni Rivera then released the albums La Maestra, Poco a Poco, Por Un Amor, La Chacalosa, and Adios a Selena independently, the latter a tribute album to Tejano music singer Selena, who was murdered in 1995.

Jenni Rivera signed to Balboa Records in 1993, Sony Music in the late 1990s, and then with Fonovisa Records in 1999; in the same year, Rivera released her first commercial album with Fonovisa, titled Que Me Entierren Con la Banda, featuring local hit "Las Malandrinas".

Jenni Rivera stated that she wrote "Las Malandrinas" to pay homage to her female fans.

Jenni Rivera became the first American-born artist to be nominated for the award in 2003.

Jenni Rivera's 2003 release Homenaje a Las Grandes was a tribute album to female Mexican singers.

Jenni Rivera began to attain more substantial success with the record Parrandera, Rebelde y Atrevida, released in 2005, which peaked at No 10 on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart.

Jenni Rivera sold out the concert, the first female banda singer to do so.

Jenni Rivera said she wanted to grow as an artist and the people that listen to banda will listen to mariachi if they find a good album that they feel is worth buying.

Jenni Rivera went on to say there are certain nationalities that will listen to mariachi and not banda.

Jenni Rivera became the first Latin artist to sell out the Nokia Theatre on July 9,2009.

Jenni Rivera has sold out Mexico's National Auditorium, a feat few female singers in her genre ever achieve.

Jenni Rivera then appeared in the spin-off show I Love Jenni.

Jenni Rivera worked as coach in the second season of the Mexican talent show La Voz.

In December 2012, Jenni Rivera was only the third singer to place three albums on the entire top three on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart with her albums No 1 La Misma Gran Senora, No 2 Joyas Prestadas: Pop, and No 3 Joyas Prestadas: Banda.

Jenni Rivera joins two other leading singers, who achieved the feat only in death: Celia Cruz and Selena Quintanilla.

Jenni Rivera had been working on it for years, and after her death her family put it together and turned it into a full book that became an instant New York Times bestseller.

Jenni Rivera's family has released two parts of her last concert in Monterrey, titled 1969 - Siempre, En Vivo Desde Monterrey, Parte 1 and 1969 - Siempre, En Vivo Desde Monterrey, Parte 2.

At the 2015 Billboard Latin Music Awards Jenni Rivera was awarded Top Latin Albums Female Artist of the Year and Regional Mexican Artist of the Year.

In November 2018, Jenni Rivera Enterprises signed a music distribution deal with Sony Music Entertainment.

In June 2023, Jenni Rivera's family released Mision Cumplida which is her first, and posthumous, studio album in eleven years since the release of Joyas Prestadas.

Jenni Rivera sang in both Spanish and English and often addressed personal themes such as her struggles with domestic violence, divorce, and her weight.

Jenni Rivera described speaking openly with her fans about her personal issues as a "primary part" of her career.

Jenni Rivera died from complications of pneumonia while in prison in 2009.

In June 2008, Univision reported that Jenni Rivera was arrested after a concert in Raleigh, North Carolina, for allegedly hitting a fan.

Media reports state the incident occurred after Jenni Rivera was hit on her right leg with a beer can that was thrown by someone in the crowd.

Jenni Rivera made the culprit climb up on stage, and allegedly started assaulting him physically and verbally.

Jenni Rivera was detained for a few hours, but released shortly after paying $3,000 bail.

Jenni Rivera was arrested on May 18,2009, by customs authorities at the international airport in Mexico City.

Jenni Rivera failed to declare $52,467 cash in her purse.

Jenni Rivera later paid a fine of $8,400 and was released.

Jenni Rivera's estate has launched a copyright lawsuit against her former manager Laura Lucio.

Lucio alleged her book project, Mi Vida Loca, which she claimed to have written with Jenni Rivera, was shelved following Jenni Rivera's death but was later published under a new title, Unbreakable: My Story, My Way, without her permission.

Jenni Rivera then published the materials and Rivera's estate are now claiming they are the rightful owners of them.

On December 9,2014, the estate of Jenni Rivera sued the owners of the plane that was carrying her.

Jenni Rivera's estate has been sued along with Starwood by relatives of those killed in the crash, including her attorney, hairstylist, publicist and makeup artist and one of the plane's pilots.

Jenni Rivera died in an aircraft accident in the early hours of December 9,2012, when the Learjet 25 she was traveling in with six others crashed near Monterrey, Mexico.

Jenni Rivera was in the city to perform at Monterrey Arena the previous evening.

Jenni Rivera was buried on December 31,2012, at All Souls Cemetery in Long Beach, California.

Jenni Rivera's father told Telemundo that legal issues had caused this delay.

Shortly after her death, CNN en Espanol reported that Jenni Rivera started to become more known internationally, with her name trending on Twitter worldwide and a surge of sales in her albums being bought from people outside of Mexico and the United States.

From her incredibly versatile talent to the way she embraced her fans around the world, Jenni Rivera was simply incomparable.

Jenni Rivera was one of the early women in the industry to sing narcocorridos.

Hernandez further argues how Jenni Rivera's music allows Latina women express a different way of love and pleasure for themselves.

Jenni Rivera's music was a source of empowerment for young Latinas and Chicanas who saw their stories reflected in her music.

On July 2,2013, Jenni Rivera's family released Unbreakable: My Story, My Way by Jenni Rivera.

Jenni Rivera received a tribute by various artists singing the songs that she performed.

Jenni Rivera was awarded five awards, including Artist of the Year.

Jenni Rivera always considered herself a chic from Long Beach with pride, no matter how many millions of albums she sold.

Jenni Rivera always knew she'd return to her hometown, but this exceeded her dreams.

In 2024, Jenni Rivera received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In 2012, Jenni Rivera was honored at Children's Hospital Los Angeles with a spot on the "wall of fame" for her continued support and donations to the hospital.

Jenni Rivera's Refuge was built with earnings from Jenni Rivera Vive 2015.

Jenni Rivera partnered with 3 Crowns Distributors, planned, tasted, and approved the tequila from 2009 to 2012.

Jenni Rivera's Tequila has appeared in music videos from her daughter, Chiquis, to fellow celebrities such as Mario "El Cachorro" Delgado, Snow The Product, and more.

Rivera is the subject of an upcoming ViX biographical film, Jenni directed by Gigi Saul Guerrero and starring Annie Gonzalez in the title role, with JR Villarreal playing Juan 'Cinco' Lopez.