Tag Archives: La Gran Señora

The Late Rivera Wins Six Trophies at the Billboard Latin Music Awards

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She may be gone… But Jenni Rivera has not been forgotten.

The late Mexican American singer, known as la Diva de la Banda, proved to be one of the big winners at the 2013 Billboard Latin Music Awards.

Jenni Rivera

Rivera, whose influence and sales rose in the wake of her tragic death last December in a plane crash in Mexico, won six awards, including Artist of the Year and Regional Mexican Album of the Year for La Gran Señora, which was coincidentally released the week after her death.

Edward James Olmos, Rivera’s Filly Brown co-star, introduced a tribute segment to the singer, pointing out that just a year before, she had herself performed live on the awards stage.

“We want to remember her a little bit differently — as the woman, the friend, the mother, the daughter,” he said, before a video montage focusing mainly on Rivera’s family life and humanitarian work.

Her parents, Pedro Rivera and Rosa Saavedra, and two eldest  daughters, Janney “Chiquis” Marín and Jacqueline Marín, accepted her posthumous awards.

Meanwhile, Don Omar – who performed his current hit, “Zumba” at the show – had garnered 18 finalist nods — a record tied only by Tito El Bambino in 2010 — and took home 10. They include Songs Artist of the Year, Male and Airplay Song of the year for “Dutty Love,” featuring Natty Natasha.  Don Omar also won Streaming Artist of the Year and Streaming Song of the Year for “Danza Kuduro,” featuring Lucenzo.

Prince Royce, the young urban/bachata singer and soon-to-be La Voz Kids coach who has dominated the charts since his debut in 2011, won four awards, including Albums Artist of the Year, Male.

Romeo Santos, Shakira and La Arrolladora Banda el Limón de René Camacho won three awards each, as did Natty Natasha, who is featured in Don Omar’s “Dutty Love.” Teary-eyed, she dedicated her last win to “all Latinos — those who leave their homelands to pursue their dreams.”

This year’s awards featured a series of premiere performances, including Carlos Vives with Michel Teló (who won Song of the Year for his global hit  “Ai Se Eu Te Pego“).

Mexican rockers Maná, who won Albums Artist of the Year, duo or Group and Latin Pop Albums Artist of the Year, Duo or Group, also received the Billboard Spirit of Hope Award for the philanthropic work of their Selva Negra Foundation, which has worked in environmental causes for nearly 20 years.

The Billboard Latin Music Awards honors the most popular albums, songs, and performers in Latin music, as determined by the actual sales, radio airplay, streaming and social data that informs Billboard’s weekly charts.

The awards were broadcast live on Telemundo from the BankUnited Center in Miami.

Click here to see the full list of winners.

Rivera’s Memorial Service Draws Thousands

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La Diva de La Banda’s family, friends and fans have bid her el último adios at an emotional memorial in Los Angeles…

Thousands on Wednesday morning attended Jenni Rivera’s memorial service, which her family dubbed a celestial graduation,  at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Los Angeles, which hosted a memorial for an artist for the first time ever, to celebrate the Mexican-American singer’s life.

Jenni Rivera Memorial Service

The memorial, a mixture of laughter, tears and celebration, featured Rivera’s fans often singing loudly along to her videos and the live performances by her friends and family.

During the service, Rivera’s five children, her parents and brothers each took the stage to eulogize the singer, including Rivera’s daughter Jacquie Melina Campos, who said, “My mother was perfectly imperfect.”  Rivera’s youngest son, 11-year-old Johnny Lopez, spoke in what he called “the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

Pedro Rivera, the family patriarch and the man who helped Rivera launch her career as an artist and a businesswoman, fought hard to keep tears at bay during the two-hour service, but still managed to perform a corrido in his daughter’s honor, accompanied by a full banda.

The event was hosted by the Rivera’s family, including brother and fellow banda Lupillo Rivera; and brother Juan Rivera, a pastor and singer who often opened Jenni’s shows and who welcomed those in attendance.

 

“She has many plans,” said Juan Rivera, speaking of his sister in the present tense and hinting at possibilities for the Jenni Rivera brand and name. “So we have a lot of work to do. So many times I introduced her in her shows: The queen of queens, the Diva of Banda, La Gran Señora and, because you made it this way, I will proudly say, No. 1: Jenni!”

Although the theater was packed mostly by fans who paid $1 on Ticketmaster to purchase refundable tickets (arranged that way to avoid scalping), there was also a number of executives and celebrities, including Marco Antonio Solís; Joan Sebastian, who performed “Más Allá del Sol;” Ana Gabriel, who performed the ranchera hit “Paloma Negra;” Olga Tañón, who performed “Mirame” and Gloria Trevi.

The ceremony included an impassioned sermon by Juan Rivera, who quoted from Ecclesiastes: “There is a time to be born and a time to die… Jenni passed through many tough situations in her life, and she was able to stand up after each one of them, because she had the power of God and the power in herself. She lived a victorious life. She never gave up.”

 

The service culminated with the band gathered around the coffin and fans filing past, leaving white roses.

Rivera, who will be laid to rest later in a private ceremony, was traveling on a private Learjet the morning of December 9 when her plane crashed in the outskirts of Monterrey, Mexico.

Rivera Feared Dead in Mexico Plane Crash

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The wreckage of the small plane believed to be carrying Banda and ranchera diva Jenni Rivera has been found in northern Mexico with no apparent survivors, according to authorities.

Transportation and Communications Minister Gerardo Ruiz Esparza said that “everything points toward” it being the U.S.-registered Learjet 25 carrying the 43-year-old Mexican-American singer and six other people from Monterrey en route to Toluca, Mexico.

Jenni Rivera

The plane had gone missing after takeoff early Sunday. The plane left Monterrey at about 3:30 am after Rivera performed a concert there and aviation authorities lost contact with the craft about 10 minutes later. It had been scheduled to arrive outside Mexico City, in Toluca, about an hour later.

“There is nothing recognizable, neither material nor human” in the wreckage,” Ruiz Esparza told Televisa.

Authorities had not confirmed that Rivera was among the dead.

Jorge Domene, spokesman for Nuevo Leon’s government, said also aboard the plane were her publicist, lawyer, makeup artist and the flight crew.

Rivera, born and raised in Long Beach, California, is one of the biggest stars of grupero music, which is influenced by the norteno, cumbia and ranchera styles.

Know as la “Diva de la Banda,” Rivera was beloved by fans on both sides of the border for such songs as “De contrabando” and “La Gran Señora.”

She recently won two Billboard Mexican Music Awards: Female Artist of the Year and Banda Album of the Year for Joyas prestadas: Banda.

The successful singer, businesswoman and actress appeared in the indie film Filly Brown, as the title character’s incarcerated mother, and was the star of the mun2 reality show I Love Jenni. And ABC Studios had just announced plans this week to put in development Jenni, a multi-camera family comedy starring Rivera.

Rivera had given a concert before thousands of fans in Monterrey on Saturday night. After the concert she gave a press conference during which she spoke of her emotional state following her recent divorce from former Major League Baseball pitcher Esteban Loaiza, who played for teams including the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers.

“I can’t get caught up in the negative because that destroys you. Perhaps trying to move away from my problems and focus on the positive is the best I can do. I am a woman like any other and ugly things happen to me like any other woman,” Rivera said Saturday night. “The number of times I have fallen down is the number of times I have gotten up.”

The mother of five children and grandmother of two had announced in October that she was divorcing Loaiza after two years of marriage. It was her third marriage. Rivera is the sister of Mexican singer Lupillo Rivera.