Image Credit: Getty Images

Jenni Rivera’s “celestial graduation” was marked by festive music, heartfelt speeches in Spanish and English and passionate chants of “Jen-ni! Jen-ni!”

Rivera’s children and famed singers Olga Tanon and Joan Sebastian performed during the nearly 2 ½-hour Christian-themed memorial service Wednesday at the Gibson Amphitheatre, where thousands of fans gathered to salute the “Diva de la Banda” who died in a plane crash Dec. 9.

One fan, Veronika Flores, drove nearly eight hours from her home in Woodland, Calif., near Sacramento, to be united with other fans at the service.

“I just came to say goodbye to a Latina woman, La Gran Senora,” she said, invoking the name of one of Rivera’s most beloved songs.

Mexican singers Marco Antonio Solis and Ana Gabriel and actors Lou Diamond Phillips and Kate del Castillo were also among the guests at Wednesday’s service. READ FULL STORY »

Image Credit: AP Images

Sad news from Mexico: Authorities confirmed Sunday that Jenni Rivera, a popular Mexican-American singer and mother of five, was killed in a plane crash early Sunday morning. Rivera was 43. The Learjet’s wreckage was discovered in northern Mexico Sunday afternoon; People reports that there were no survivors among its seven crew members and passengers, including Rivera’s publicist, lawyer, and makeup artist.

Rivera, known as “La Diva de la Banda,” was born in Long Beach, Calif. and released her first studio album in 2003. She has sold over 15 million albums, according to her website, and recently won a pair of Billboard Mexican Music Awards, including Female Artist of the Year. This year, she appeared in Filly Brown, a film about a young Mexican hip-hop artist that played at the Sundance Film Festival. Rivera starred in I Love Jenni, a reality show airing on Telemundo’s mun2, as well. And earlier this month, ABC began developing a multi-camera comedy called Jenni that was to star the fallen singer, according to Deadline.

READ FULL STORY »