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Mexican singer Jenni Rivera died in plane crash, US board confirms Jenni Rivera, Mexican music star, dies in plane crash
(about 2 hours later)
The US National Transportation Safety Board has confirmed that the Mexican-American singer Jenni Rivera died in a plane crash in northern Mexico. The death in a plane crash of Jenni Rivera, the US-born singer whose soulful voice and openness about her personal troubles made her a Mexican-American superstar, was confirmed on Monday.
It is the first official confirmation of Rivera's death, although she has been widely presumed dead since the wreckage of her plane was found on Sunday. The US National Transportation Safety Board said that Rivera was on a Learjet 25 that disintegrated on impact in rugged territory in Nuevo Leon state in northern Mexico on Sunday. The cause of the crash is not yet known.
The NTSB is sending a team to assist Mexican authorities with the investigation. NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway saud Mexican aviation authorities had confirmed Rivera's death to the NTSB. "My son Lupillo told me that effectively it was Jenni's plane that crashed and that everyone on board died," her father, Pedro Rivera, told reporters from his Los Angeles home. "I believe my daughter's body is unrecognisable."
Her he plane left Monterrey, Califronia about 3.30am on Sunday after Rivera gave a concert there. Aviation authorities lost contact about 10 minutes later. It had been scheduled to arrive in Toluca, outside Mexico City, about an hour later. Also on board the plane were her publicist, lawyer, makeup artist and the flight crew. Messages of condolence poured in from fellow musicians and celebrities. Mexican singer and actor Lucero tweeted: "What terrible news! Rest in peace … My deepest condolences for her family and friends." Rivera's colleague on the Mexican show "The Voice of Mexico", pop star Paulina Rubio, said: "My friend! Why? There is no consolation. God, please help me!"
The 43-year-old, who was born and raised in Long Beach, California, is one of the biggest stars of the Mexican regional music style known as grupero, which is influenced by the norteno, cumbia and ranchera styles. Born in Long Beach, California, Rivera, aged 43 and the mother of five children, was at the peak of her career as perhaps the most successful female singer in grupero, a male-dominated regional style influenced by the norteno, cumbia and ranchero styles.
Also known as 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. Rivera, known as the "Diva de la Banda", was known for frank talk about her struggles to give a good life to her children in spite of a series of setbacks.
She recently won two Billboard Mexican music awards: female artist of the year and band album of the year for Joyas Prestadas.The singer, businesswoman and actor appeared in the indie film Filly Brown, as the incarcerated mother of Filly Brown, and has her own reality shows including I Love Jenni and Jenni Rivera Presents: Chiquis & Raq-C and her daughter's Chiquis 'n Control. She was recently divorced from her third husband, who was once detained at a Mexico City airport with tens of thousands of dollars in cash, and publicly apologised after her brother assaulted a drunken fan who verbally attacked her in 2011.
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. Her openness about her personal troubles endeared her to millions in the US and Mexico.
"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," she said on Saturday night. "The number of times I have fallen down is the number of times I have gotten up." "I am the same as the public, as my fans," she told The Associated Press in an interview last March.
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. Rivera sold 15m records, and recently won two Billboard Mexican Music Awards: female artist of the year and banda album of the year for Joyas Prestadas: Banda. She was nominated for Latin Grammys in 2002, 2008 and 2011.
No cause was given for the plane's crash, but its wreckage was found near the town of Iturbide in Mexico's Sierra Madre Oriental, where the terrain is very rough.
The Learjet 25, number N345MC, took off from Monterrey at 3.30am local time and was reported missing about 10 minutes later. It was registered to Starwood Management of Las Vegas, Nevada, according to FAA records. It was built in 1969 and had a current registration through 2015.
Also believed to have been aboard the plane were her publicist, Arturo Rivera, her lawyer, makeup artist and the flight crew.
Rivero's parents were Mexicans who had migrated to the US. Two of her five brothers, Lupillo and Juan Rivera, are also well-known singers of grupero music.
She studied business administration and formally debuted on the music scene in 1995 with the release of her album Chacalosa. Due to its success, she recorded two more independent albums, We Are Rivera and Farewell to Selena, a tribute album to murdered singer Selena that helped expand her following.
At the end of the 1990s, Rivera was signed by Sony Music and released two more albums. But widespread success came for her when she joined Fonovisa and released her 2005 album titled Partier, Rebellious and Daring.
Besides being a singer, she was also a businesswoman and actor, appearing in the indie film Filly Brown, which was shown at the Sundance film festival, as the incarcerated mother of Filly Brown.
She was filming the third season of I Love Jenni, which followed her and her children and as she toured through Mexico and the US.