The self-proclaimed diva was only 43 when a private jet that she and four friends were on crashed in Iturbide, Nuevo León, Mexico. Fans couldn't fathom her loss and had endless unanswered questions. Ultimately, those that suffered the most were her five children.
"Being a mother by far is my favorite and most important career," Rivera told Parade in 2012. "They take priority over anything else."
Much like Selena Quintanilla, Rivera was able to cross musical borders as a Mexican-American who wanted to bring her music to the world. Her talent was undeniable, and the fighter in her was immensely inspiring.
The Long Beach native didn't have it easy, and her story isn't for the faint-hearted. Until her untimely death, Rivera was the sole provider of her five children. She fought through domestic abuse and dealt with some horrific drama with her ex-husband, who sexually molested her daughters and sister.
But not even the darkest of tales could have made Rivera give up on love or her career. After her 1992 divorce, she hit the studio.
"I've been recording since 1993. It was a hobby for six of those years. In 1999, I decided to do it full time and take it seriously. When I started getting so many haters and closed doors, I decided to prove that it could be done. I was a divorced single mother of three at the time and a size 12-not your typical model artist that labels feel work for the music industry," she told Billboard in 2011.
Fast forward to two kids and many years later and Rivera had already sold over 15 million albums worldwide. She was able to prove to the world that there was a place for women in the male-dominated genre of Banda. She refused to be submissive. She was outspoken and a feminist in her own right.
Her loyal fans lived for her music and were inspired by her way of being. They helped her be the first female banda artist to sell out the Gibson Amphitheater in 2006, the first Latin artist to sell out the Nokia Theatre in 2009 and the first female regional Mexican artist to headline the Staples Center in 2011.
By the end of 2012, Rivera's career was at an all-time high. She had her hit show I Love Jenni on Mun2 and just finished filming the movie Filly Brown, alongside Gina Rodriguezand Edward James Olmos. And she was set to star in her own ABC show, Jenni. According to Deadline, the self-titled show was going to showcase Riveras a strong, middle-class, single Latina woman working to raise a family using unique parenting skills, who was struggling to run a family business and navigate her extended, co-dependent relatives. All the while, she'd be fighting the cultural perception that she needs a man to do it.
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