Jenni Rivera Dies In Mexican Plane Crash

Singer Jenni Rivera, renowned for her Banda style, was killed in a plane crash over the weekend in Mexico. She was 43.

Rivera was headed to Monterrey for a performance, which she’d posted about on Twitter on Friday. The plane she was aboard–along with her makeup artist, lawyer, publicist, and a two-person flight crew–vanished off the radar about 60 miles from their destination on Saturday. Police are investigating the crash site for answers, but for now, the family of the mother of five searches for their own peace.

Rivera’s mother issued a statement on the news of her daughter’s death, while her father lamented his loss by sharing fond memories.

“She never gave up and she was good to everyone,” Don Pedro Rivera said. “Remember her with your heart the way she was. She never looked back. She was a beautiful person with the whole world.”

Rivera was revered for her commanding presence in a field dominated by testosterone. Having come into the music business a little later in life than many stars–she didn’t release her first album until she was 34–she wove life experiences and her views on everything from being a single mother to drug trafficking into her lyrics.

“She was the Diana Ross of Mexican music,” said Gustavo Lopez, an executive vice president at Universal Music Latin Entertainment, adding that she was the top-grossing female artist in Mexico.

The plane Rivera was aboard is now scattered in many pieces over a huge area, so it will take a while for investigators to identify the victims and to glean any answers as to what might have happened to cause the crash. For now, friends and fans are sharing their grief on social media sites like Twitter, where the news has spread over the weekend.