Rivera was born and raised in Long Beach, California, to Rosa Saavedra and Pedro Rivera, who were from Mexico. Her parents raised Rivera and her sister and four brothers in a tight-knit, musical household; her brother Lupillo is also a regional Mexican musician. Rivera spoke both English and Spanish fluently. Her family introduced her to traditional Mexican music, including the genres of banda, nortena, and ranchera.

She began to attain more substantial success with the record Parrandera, Rebelde y Atrevida, released in 2005, which peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart, since its release it has been certified double-platinum in the Latin field by the Recording Industry Association of America. The second single released from the album, "De Contrabando" became her first and only number--one song to hit the Latin Regional Mexican Airplay in the United States. It is also said to be one of her most known songs.  In 2007, she released Mi Vida Loca, which debuted at number 1 on the Regional Mexican Albums chart and number 2 on the Top Latin Albums chart in the United States, the album garnered an award for Regional Mexican Album of the Year at the 2008 Latin Billboard Music Awards. In a 2011 interview with Billboard magazine she stated, "That was more of Jenni telling her story through music. My life has been so put out there by the media that I figured I might as well put it out there myself, in my own words and through my music. I wanted to clear up speculations about my private life." The album also garnered Rivera her first Lo Nuestro Award for Regional Mexican Female Artist of the Year, an award she would dominate for the rest of her life. The same year she released La Diva en Vivo, a live album that consisted of songs recorded with a mariachi band, which garnered her, her second Latin Grammy nomination for Best Ranchero Album. That year she was the only female singer nominated in that category. The album was recorded at The Gibson Amphitheater in Universal City, California, Rivera sold out the concert which led her to become the first female banda singer to do so. Her tenth studio album, Jenni released in 2008, became her first No. 1 record on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart in the United States. The album led Rivera to win her second Lo Nuestro Award for Banda Artist of the Year, becoming the first female act to win the accolade. A feat that currently stands to date.  In 2009, she changed course and recorded her first full mariachi studio album titled La Gran Senora, which garnered a Latin Grammy nomination for Best Ranchero Album, it peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart in the United States. In an interview Rivera said that releasing the album was very daring and marked her career in a positive way, she said she wanted to grow as an artist and the people that listen to banda will listen to mariachi if they find a good album that they feel is worth buying. She went on to say there are certain nationalities that will listen to mariachi and not banda. Those were the people that she was going after. She also stated, "Commercializing a ranchera album is much harder. There had not been a successful female mariachi artist in a long time. It was a big risk, but it was a risk that I was willing to take. La Gran Senora ended up being the biggest-selling [regional Mexican] album of 2010."

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