Unbreakable by Jenni Rivera

Author:Jenni Rivera
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atria Books

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Busting Out

Se las voy a dar a otro,

porque tú no las mereces.

(I’ll give my love to another

because you do not deserve it.)

—from “Se las Voy a Dar a Otro”

People often ask about the moment I knew I had “made it.” I don’t know about other artists, but for me there was never a single day or event that I could point to and say, “That was it.” It wasn’t the first time I heard myself on the radio, or that stack of fan mail, or the first time I was recognized on the street. It was a series of events, a collection of small and big moments that built up to make me believe that maybe, just maybe, I had staying power.

In November of 2001 I went to Vicente Fernández’s concert at the Gibson Amphitheatre (which was then called the Universal Amphitheatre). My whole family looks up to Vicente Fernández, and every year we all went to at least one of his concerts. The first time I saw him perform was at the Million Dollar Theater in downtown LA during the 1970s. I was about four or five years old, and my dad and I went to take Polaroids to sell to the crowd. At one point during the concert Vicente saw me and asked me to get onstage for a picture with him. I was so proud. Nobody is bigger in Mexican music than Vicente. I grew up listening to his music and idolizing him. He was huge back in the seventies, and more than two decades later he was still going strong and singing to sold-out Gibson crowds for three nights in a row.

As we walked to our seats that night in 2001, people started to cheer and go nuts. Naturally I thought it was for Vicente. It took me a minute to figure out that they were all looking at me, calling my name, and asking for a picture or autograph. Vicente saw the commotion, and once again he invited me onstage with him, but this time he wanted me to sing. I was so nervous, but kept telling myself to be cool and not to show it. I sang “Por un Amor” as he watched from the stage. I will never forget the words he spoke to the crowd when we were done with the song: “Esta mujer no le pide nada a cualquier artista de aqui o alla,” meaning that this woman does not lack anything that any female artist from here or there (the United States and Mexico) has. I was flying high that night and for many nights to come.

Less than a year later, in 2002, I was nominated for a Latin Grammy for Best Banda Album for Se las Voy a Dar a Otro (I’ll Give It to Another). When I got the news, my mind immediately flashed back to that desperate night at the Compton house when I was watching the 1998 Grammy show with my children, holding baby

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