Latin superstar Jenni Rivera died in a plane crash Sunday, Dec. 9 near Monterrey, Mexico. The Mexican-American singer, 42, was traveling on a private jet early Sunday with six others when the aircraft went missing. Rivera was presumed dead when the wreckage was discovered Sunday afternoon with no survivors.
"We are feeling devastated. It's a devastation to the family," Rivera's brother, Pedro Rivera Jr., told E! News. "We don't know how to thank you for all the love you gave to Jenni and to all the family. It is just so special to have you guys as fans."
As family, celebs and fans are mourning her death, Us Weekly remembers the late singer's life and career with five facts.
1. She sold over 15 million albums worldwide. The singer was nominated in 2003, 2008 and 2010 at the Latin Grammys. Rivera was the first female Banda singer (a brass-based form of traditional Mexican music) to sell out at the Gibson Amphitheater in Universal City, Calif. "I'm happy, I'm very happy for the success that I've had, but I've worked so hard at it," Rivera said in April at Billboard's Latin Music Conference (via CNN).
2. The daughter of Mexican immigrants, she was born and raised in Long Beach, Calif. Rivera, with one sister and and four brothers.
3. She is survived by five children. Rivera became pregnant with her first child in high school. She had three children with first husband Jose Trinidad Marin: Janney, Jacqueline and Michael. After the couple divorced in 1992, she remarried in 1997 and had two children with second husband Juan Lopez: Jenicka and Johnny. "Being a mother by far is my favorite and most important career," she told Parade in August 2012. "They take priority over anything else."
4. She was a reality television star. Rivera appeared in and produced mun2's Jenni Rivera Presents: Chiquis & Raq-C in 2010, I Love Jenni in 2011 and Chiquis 'n Control in 2012. "People kind of connect and identify with us because we are normal," Rivera told Parade in August 2012 of her reality show. "We're just like another other Mexican-American family. We are kind of nutty and silly."
5. She was set to star in her own ABC show, Jenni. According to Deadline, she was going to star in the self-titled family comedy as a middle-class, single woman raising a family with unique parenting skills.
