Chiquis Rivera - American Singer and Daughter of Jenni Rivera

Chiquis Rivera is an American of Latin descent. She began singing professionally in 2014, two years after losing her mother, Jenni Rivera, a Regional Mexican star. Her popular albums include Ahora, Abeja Reina, and Playlist. She has won two Latin Grammy Awards.

Chiquis Rivera is an American singer

Early Life

Chiquis' real name is Janney Marin Rivera. She was born on June 26, 1985, in Los Angeles, California. She adopted the nickname "Chiquis" later and has been performing under the pseudonym Chiquis Rivera.

She is the grandchild of Rosa Saavedra and Pedro Rivera, Jenni Rivera's parents. The two illegally entered the US from Mexico and settled in Los Angeles. Jenni was born in California in July 1969.

Jenni was always an A-grader in school until her sophomore year when she became pregnant at 15. Her parents chased her from home, and she married Trino Marin, the man responsible for the pregnancy. Jenni was very close to her daughter Chiquis Rivera since she was her firstborn.

Tough Childhood

Chiquis Rivera's childhood was marked by instability and abuse. Although her mother provided for her and her grandparents showed her love, socially, she suffered in silence.

Her mother, Jenni Rivera, went through three unsuccessful marriages. This affected Chiquis emotionally. It was more so because she was the first of five siblings in that unstable family situation.

Over time, Chiquis' father had become emotionally and physically abusive to her mother. Moreover, he and her mother's subsequent husbands had criminal charges at one time or another. Inevitably, Chiquis registered her mother's agony and sadness and empathized with her.

What made the situation worse was sexual molestation from her biological father. After Jenni and Trino's divorce, they agreed to co-parent. During this time, Marin groomed young Chiquis and eventually molested her sexually.

Chiquis was too traumatized to speak about it and disclosed it only in her memoirs after her mother had passed away. Trino Marin ended up being jailed for 31 years for having molested his daughter, Jacqueline, and Chiquis' aunt – her mother's younger sister – Rosie.

Career

In 2015, Chiquis Rivera released her debut album, "Ahora," which catapulted her to world fame. The album came at the top of the Latin Albums chart. 7,000 copies of the album had been sold by the end of the first week of release.

This feat was only second to that of her late mother, Jenni Rivera, although she never witnessed that success. Chiquis' mother had one album at the top of the charts after her death. It was "Vida-3 Historias: Matamorfosis — Despedida de Culican", Jenni's first album released posthumously.

Chiquis is fluent in Spanish and English but prefers to sing in Mexican, following the Banda and Mariachi styles, and even Norteno. She is still actively involved in music and has produced several albums. Among Chiquis' popular albums are Ahora, Abeja Reina, Playlist, Baila Asi, Paloma Blanca, and others.

Chiquis Rivera is a singer and television actress

She has won two Latin Grammy Awards, one of them for the album Abeja Reina. She is signed to Fonofisa Records, a music label that is based in the US but produces regional Mexican music. The label is part of the Universal Music Latin Entertainment.

Chiquis' television debut was with "Jenni Rivera Presents: Chiquis & Raq-C, Chiquis 'n Control," a reality show. She also appeared in "I Love Jenni," her mother's spin-off reality show.

Chiquis then did a mini web series called "Chiquis Confidential." Together with her siblings, she started "The Riveras," a spin-off of I Love Jenni. The series aired on NBC Universo. It had four seasons and ended on August 11.

Chiquis has authored the books "Forgiveness: A Memoir" and "Unstoppable: How I Found My Strength Through Love and Loss."

Chiquis Rivera has authored the book Unstoppable

Her net worth is reported to be between $3 million and $5 million. She earns from her songs, the sale of her book, and the viewership of her reality shows, such as "The Riveras."

The Rivera Family

After Chiquis Rivera, Jenni and her husband gave birth to two more children. Jacqueline Campos was born in November 1989, and Michael Marin was born in September 1991.

Chiquis' sister and brother are in show business. Jacqui Campos is a singer and actress, and Michael Marin is an actor. Michael has also been greatly involved in running their late mother's businesses.

Chiquis Rivera with mother Jenni Rivera

Chiquis also has step-siblings. Jenni divorced Marin in 1992 and entered into another marriage in 1997. She and her second husband, Juan Lopez, met in 1995 at an entertainment club and dated for two years.

From this marriage, Jenni had two more children, Jenicka and Johnny Lopez. Chiquis' step-sister, Jenicka Priscilla Lopez, is a social media influencer famous for her massive YouTube and Instagram following.

Johnny Lopez, whose original name is Juan Angel Lopez, was born in February 2001. This makes him 16 years younger than Chiquis. Johnny is the youngest of Chiquis' siblings. He is an actor and once had a following of half a million fans on his Instagram account.

Life with Stepfathers

Within the first month into Jenni's second marriage, her husband, Juan Lopez, was accused of smuggling immigrants into the US. He was convicted and served six months in jail for the offense.

Although Chiquis' mother stood by her husband even after the conviction, their marriage soon underwent trouble, with accusations of infidelity. Unfortunately, they divorced in 2003.

Thereafter, Chiquis and her siblings spent time with their mother and her stepfather separately, according to the co-parenting arrangement. However, the arrangement came to an end in 2007 when Juan Lopez was convicted of drug peddling. He died in jail of the disease.

Chiquis' mother entered her third marriage in 2010 when she married Esteban Loaiza. Loaiza had just retired from professional baseball.

However, the marriage had its serious problems, and in 2012, Jenni filed for a divorce, and the two separated. A few months later, Jenni died in a plane crash in Mexico.

Following her mother's death, Chiquis assumed the responsibility of her siblings.

Chiquis had had a fallout with her mother after Jenni suspected Chiquis of having been romantically involved with Esteban. Chiquis has strongly insisted her mother was wrong. Jenni's suspicions emanated from a video cam recording where Chiquis was seen walking out of their bedroom.

According to Chiquis, it was a normal thing for her to bid her stepfather goodnight, but her mother's paranoia got the better of her. Chiquis bears no ill feelings against her mother because she understands the cheating experiences Jenni had had in her relationships.

Weight Loss Journey

Chiquis had to deal with unhealthy weight for a good part of her life. In her memoirs, she narrates how, in her adolescence, her mother had forced her to shed weight. Chiquis would do dance exercises from the garage while donning a trash bag to sweat out the excess weight.

Chiquis has even gone through a weight loss program publicly. In 2014, after losing 30 pounds within eight weeks, she got many people seeking to try out the Chiquis Rivera weight loss gummies.

She has co-authored the book "Chiquis Keto: The 21-Day Starter Kit for Taco, Tortilla, and Tequila Lovers" with Sarah Koudouzian.

Chiquis is 39 years old as of May 2024. She is 5'5" tall.

Marriage

Chiquis Rivera tied the knot with Lorenzo Mendez in 2019. Lorenzo was a vocalist for the band, "La Original Banda El Limon." He was also an actor. However, they ended up divorcing a year later.

Chiquis Rivera with husband Lorenzo Mendez

Chiquis does not have children. In an interview, she told People CHICA, who also confirmed it with her fertility doctor, Shahin Ghadir, that she has frozen her eggs for future use.