____Today would have marked Jenni Rivera's 46th birthday. The day is bitter sweet for La Diva De La Banda's family and children: Chiquis, Michael, Johnny, Jenicka, and Jacquie. The Rivera family plans on putting aside their pain by honoring Jenni with a local celebration in her native Long Beach, which will feature music, carnival rides and a 500-person birthday cake for fans to share.
Chiquis, who was estranged from Jenni before her death, wrote an emotional message along with a photo dedicated to her mom. A day like today must be especially difficult for Chiquis, who had an estranged relationship with Jenni before her tragic death. You have to read Chiquis' tearful dedication and take a look back at this mother and daughter's rocky relationship.
Read more ¿Qué más?: The 12 most shocking revelations in Chiquis Rivera's book
–With additional reporting by Michelle Regalado
Image via Getty
Jenni Rivera's mural
In honor of La Diva de la Banda's 46th birthday, her children–Chiquis, Michael, Johnny, Jenicka, Jacquie–and her granddaughter, posed in front of her mural in Long Beach, California. Chiquis wrote, "With our queen."
Chiquis' emotional message
"Today a QUEEN was born and I'm so blessed to call her MY momma. Happy Birthday my beautiful mommy. Today we'll be celebrating your life, your legacy and the woman that has left such a HUGE imprint in this world and in so many hearts around the world," Chiquis wrote along with this photo. Jenni deserves all of those words!
Pregnancy, marriage & birth
Rivera became pregnant with her first of five children, Janney "Chiquis" Marin Rivera, at the age of 15 when she was still in high school. In 1984, she married Chiquis’ father, Jose Trinidad Marin and in 1985, she gave birth to Chiquis, beginning a lifelong struggle of balancing marriage, motherhood, and a professional career
Divorce
In 1992, Jenni divorced Marin for being abusive. The following year, she found out he had sexually abused Chiquis and Jenni's younger sister, Rosie. After evading the police for years, Marin was caught in 2006 and sentenced to more than 30 years in prison.
Single Motherhood
Soon after their split, Jenni was on welfare, struggling to support her three kids: Chiquis and her younger siblings, Jacqueline and Michael.
Second marriage & divorce
In 1997, she married and had two children, Chiquis’ youngest siblings, Jenicka and Johnny, with Juan Lopez. Jenni and Lopez got divorced in 2003.
Career highs
Throughout this time, Jenni fought to keep her professional career on track. With the great success of her 2007 and 2008 albums Mi Vida Loca and Jenni (which reached number one on the Billboard charts), Rivera reached a new level of fame and in 2008, Mun2, a division of Telemundo, launched reality show I Love Jenni. The show which followed the singer in her everyday life with her five children was a hit.
Reality TV
The success of I Love Jenni allowed Jenni to help Chiquis get her own spinoff reality show on Mun 2 called Jenni Rivera Presents Chiquis & Raq-C. It also did very well and was followed by a third spin-off for Jenni’s oldest daughter, Chiquis N’ Control, which showed Chiquis getting her own place.
Third marriage & divorce
In 2010, in the midst a growing media spotlight, Jenni got married for the third time to Esteban Loaiza. They filed for divorce in October of 2012, amongst rumors that Loaiza had an affair with Chiquis. Chiquis herself took to Twitter to deny the allegations, saying, "Don’t believe everything you read. I would NEVER do that! Never! That’s a terrible accusation." She also spoke out about the situation on TV and in her recently released memoir, Forgiveness.
Twitter Feud
In early November 2012, Jenni said that Chiquis’ boyfriend, Angel del Villar, insulted her in the parking lot of her recording studio. The singer tweeted about the confrontation, asking “What kind of man are you?” Meanwhile, Chiquis tried to make amends with her mom (whom she reportedly hadn’t spoken to in over a month) by also taking to Twitter. “Twitter off!” she wrote. “I gotta go pray. This is too much. So sad and heartbreaking. I can’t even believe it. Mom @jennirivera you know how to get a hold of me.”
Tragedy
Jenni tragically passed away in December 2012. In her tell-all book titled Forgiveness, Chiquis reveals that she and her mother remained estranged up until the day of her death and that she felt disowned.
