GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Jenni Rivera was a mega-star in the world of Mexican-American music for her norteno and banda music songs, but the 43-year-old singer’s fame was spreading beyond language and cultural borders, after some 20 million albums were sold. She was born in Long Beach, California to Mexican parents and she married young, then used her music to champion the often-difficult lives of ordinary people, drawing attention to the problem of domestic violence in particular. Sunday night 9 December she died when the small plane crashed in which she and seven others were traveling from Monterrey, after a soldout concert, to Mexico City.
She leaves a close extended family, including five children and two grandchildren.
