Whether you like her or not, Jenni Rivera was a pop music icon in Spanish. Her lyrics, often raw and sorrowful, have empowered Hispanic women all across North America. An advocate, singer, and public personality, Jenni Rivera, “La Gran Señora,” was a fascinating figure in pop culture, one who saw, came, and conquered a male-dominated industry. And now, 20 years since the Selena biopic was released, Jenni Rivera becomes the second Mexican-American singer to be paid tribute to on the big screen.
The California-born Mexican-American singer passed away 7 years ago in a plane accident in Mexico. She was one of the most popular and recognized singers in banda, a regional musical style, selling 15 million records and winning two Latin Billboards Awards and 4 Latin Grammy nominations. Also known as “La Diva de la Banda,” Jenni Rivera took a strong stand against domestic abuse, as she experienced it first-hand and became a spokesperson for the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Through her music, she found catharsis and, though controversial for the way she addressed how to overcome heartache, infidelity, and mistreatment of women, specially now in the Me Too era, Rivera’s lyrics earned her a primarily female fanbase in the mid 2000’s.
@jennirivera
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZhpkBcML_g
Seven years after her passing, which led to a fascination about her legacy with TV shows such as Telemundo’s successful telenovela Mariposa de Barrio, Jenni Rivera’s life joins the biopic era. So, the cultural impact her music had in Mexican and American audiences is undeniable, and she really had a fascinating life and career.
De Line Pictures, the studio in charge of Spielberg’s Ready Player One, along with Jenni Rivera Enterprises, will bring the life of the singer to the big screen. Kate Lanier is the screenwriter for the project. She wrote the script for Tina Turner’s What’s Love Got To Do With It (1993), which earned Angela Bassett a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress and a Best Actress nomination at the Academy Awards. So one question remains: who will take on the challenge to portray someone with such a strong character?
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