Jenni Rivera
Dolores Janice "Jenni" Rivera[2][3] (July 2, 1969 – December 9, 2012) was a Mexican-American singer known for her work within the regional Mexican music genre, specifically in the styles of banda, mariachi and norteño. In life and death, several media outlets including CNN, Billboard, Fox News, and The New York Times have labeled her the most important female figure and top-selling female artist in regional Mexican music. Billboard magazine named her the "top Latin artist of 2013", and the "best selling Latin artist of 2013".
Jenni Rivera
December 9, 2012 (aged 43)
All Souls Cemetery,
Long Beach, California, U.S.
- En Memoria de la Diva de la Banda
- Jenni Rivera Memorial Park
- La Diva de la Banda (The Diva of Band)
- La Primera Dama del Corrido (The First Lady of Corrido)
- La Gran Señora (The Great Lady)
Singer
1992–2012
5, including Chiquis
- Lupillo Rivera (brother)
- Juan Rivera (brother)
- Rosie Rivera (sister)
Vocals
Rivera began recording music in 1987. Her recordings often had themes of social issues, infidelity, tax evasion and inflation. Rivera released her first major label studio album, Vultures, in the late 1990s, failing to attain commercial success; however, she rose to prominence in the United States and Mexico with her 2005 album, Parrandera, Rebelde y Atrevida. In the mid to late 1990s, she was often criticized and was refused bookings at venues across California for performing Banda music—a male-dominated music genre. However, her popularity grew after she released her song "Las Malandrinas", which received airtime on the radio.[4] She 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. Her tenth studio album, Jenni (2008), became her first No.1 record on 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 through 2013 and Chiquis 'n Control in 2012. Her acting debut was in the film Filly Brown, which was released in 2013.
Over the course of her career, Rivera was awarded two Oye! Awards (Mexico's equivalent to the United States' Grammy Awards), two Billboard Music Awards, twenty-two Billboard Latin Music Awards, eleven Billboard Mexican Music Awards and eighteen Lo Nuestro Awards. She received four Latin Grammy nominations. She has a star on the Las Vegas Walk of Stars, and she is one of the best-selling regional Mexican artists of all time, having sold more than 15 million records worldwide,[5] also making her the highest-earning banda singer of all time.
Aside from music, she was active in her community and donated her time to civic causes. The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence appointed her its spokesperson in the United States. A proclamation was given officially naming August 6 “Jenni Rivera Day” by the Los Angeles City Council for all her charity work and community involvement.
Rivera, along with six others, died in a plane crash near Monterrey, on December 9, 2012. An investigation was unable to determine the causes of the accident. Lawsuits involving the owners of the plane, Rivera's estate, and family members of those on board with Rivera were filed.
Life and career[edit]
1969–1991: Childhood[edit]
Rivera was born and raised in Long Beach, California, to Rosa Saavedra and Pedro Rivera, both from Mexico.[6][7] Her parents raised Rivera and her sister and four brothers in a tight-knit, musical household; her brother Lupillo is also a regional Mexican musician.[8] Rivera spoke both English and Spanish fluently.[7] Her family introduced her to traditional Mexican music, including the genres of banda, norteña, and ranchera.[7] 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" Marín-Rivera.[9] She supported the two of them by selling CDs at flea markets,[10][11] while working toward her GED at a continuation school and graduating as class valedictorian.[9] Speaking in 2003 of her experiences as a teenage mother, Rivera explained:
Style[edit]
Rivera's musical style was classified as Banda, a form of traditional Mexican music popular in Mexico and parts of the United States with large Hispanic populations. Banda music originated in the state of Sinaloa and the music sound is primarily instruments such as tuba, clarinets and trumpets, exemplified by bands such as Banda El Recodo and Banda La Costena.[20][72] However, according to Leila Cobo of Billboard, her music contained a "contemporary, outspoken flair".[20] She sang in both Spanish and English and often addressed personal themes such as her struggles with domestic violence, divorce, and her weight.[72]
Rivera described speaking openly with her fans about her personal issues as a "primary part" of her career.[73] 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."[74]
She was given names such as "La Diva de la Banda" and "La Primera Dama del Corrido" for her work in the banda and corrido genre.[7][75]
Although banda was her main focus, she also released albums in norteño and mariachi.[60][76][77][78][79]
Personal life[edit]
Marriages and children[edit]
Rivera was married three times and had five children. She gave birth to her first child, Janney, better known as Chiquis (born 1985), while still in high school. She later married the baby's father, José Trinidad Marín, and they had two more children: Jacqueline (born 1989) and Michael (born 1991), but she ended the marriage in 1992 citing physical and emotional abuse.[80] In 1997 her younger sister Rosie confessed that Jenni's ex-husband (Marín) used to sexually abuse her, and was now doing the same to Chiquis. Physical examination showed he had done the same with Jacqie. The molestation case was opened in 1997 and Marín spent 9 years as a fugitive before he was apprehended in April 2006, convicted of sexual assault and rape and sentenced to more than 31 years in prison without parole.[81][82]
Rivera married her second husband, Juan López, in 1997. They had daughter Jenicka in 1997 and son Juan Angel in 2001 before they divorced in 2003.[83] In 2007, López was convicted of selling drugs. He died from complications of pneumonia while in prison in 2009.[84]
Cultural impact[edit]
Jenni Rivera was one of the early women in the industry to sing narcocorridos. Her music centered on testimonies of gender nonconformity.[112] She was also one of the few women, at the time, who openly sang about “non-traditional” behaviors among women. Feminist media scholar, Yessica Garcia Hernandez, describes the way Latinas party, celebrate, sing, undress, and mourn Jenni’s music are ways they are rejecting the “obedient womanhood”. Hernandez further argues how Jenni's music allows Latina women express a different way of love and pleasure for themselves.[113]
For instance, her song “La Chacalosa” led to a rise in popular online social groups for women who self-identified as behaving in non-traditional modes.[114] This gave women a space to express their anti-patriarchal forms of femininity through a more progressive lens.[114] In another example, Jenni said in an interview that her song “Las Malandrinas” “...paid homage to her female fans… The type of girls that go clubbing, drink lots of tequila and stand up for themselves.”[115]
Rivera's music was a source of empowerment for young Latinas and Chicanas who saw their stories reflected in her music.[34] Through songs such as “La Gran Senora” girls can reflect on their relationships with their mothers who may have gone through relationship problems such as infidelity, single parenthood, social stigma.[34]
Additionally, Rivera's fans, as reported by Arlen Davila in Contemporary Latina/o Media: Production, Circulation, Politics, “played her music to transmit undisciplined desires, endorse immigrants civil rights, and protest women’s abuse.”[116]
Posthumous honors[edit]
Books[edit]
On July 2, 2013, Rivera's family released Unbreakable: My Story, My Way by Rivera. A New York Times bestseller, the Spanish-language paperback sold over 9,000 copies in its first week with the English-language hardcover and paperback editions selling over 10,000 copies combined.[117]
Award ceremonies[edit]
On the 25th anniversary of Premio Lo Nuestro, Univision dedicated the awards ceremony to her. She received a tribute by various artists singing the songs that she performed. She was awarded five awards, including Artist of the Year. At the 2013 Latin Billboard Music Awards she was posthumously awarded seven awards, including Artist of the Year. Her brother, Juan Rivera, performed one of her songs titled "No Llega el Olvido" at the ceremony.[118][119]
The Grammy Museum[edit]
On May 12, 2013, The Grammy Museum opened new exhibits dedicated to her.[120] On display were a broad array of items including stage costumes she had worn, her personal bible, her driver's license, credit cards, rare photographs of her both on and off stage, handwritten notes, award trophies, ticket stubs, concert posters, tour books, fan memorabilia, and video footage from live performances and television appearances. A spokesman from The Grammy Museum told The Los Angeles Times that the exhibit had become one of the most popular attractions in the museum's five-year history. The spokesman also stated that this was the first exhibition that the museum has devoted entirely to a Latino or Latin American artist.[121][122] The exhibit was closed on May 11, 2014.[120]
Legacy[edit]
Love Foundation[edit]
Rivera was known for giving back to the community. She used her Love Foundation to help women and children that went through domestic violence, sexual, physical, or emotional abuse.[129]
In 2012, 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.[86] After her death, the foundation continues to help women and children in need through refuge centers, fundraisers, and more.
Jenni Vive[edit]
Jenni Vive is an annual fundraiser and tribute concert hosted by the Jenni Rivera Love Foundation.[130] The first Jenni Vive event was held on December 9, 2013, in Arena Monterrey, the same arena Rivera had sold out in her last concert exactly a year before. Performers included Rivera's family and friends, such as Larry Hernandez, Tito El Bambino, Diana Reyes and La Original Banda Limon.[131] The second event was held on July 2, 2015, in Long Beach, California. Performers included the singer's daughters, Chiquis and Jacqie, Latin pop artist Becky G, Banda Los Recoditos, Los Tucanes de Tijuana, Los Horóscopos de Durango, and Regulo Caro.[132] All earnings from Jenni Vive events go to the Jenni Rivera Love Foundation.
