Pedro Rivera has been married twice in his lifetime and is a proud father of seven children who are Pedro Rivera Jr., Gustavo Rivera, Lupillo Rivera, Juan Rivera, Jenni Rivera (deceased), Rosie Rivera, and Juan Carlos Rivera.
He had his first six children with his first wife, Rosa Saavedra, before an affair with a woman known as Erika Alonso led to a son in 2002. The Mexican actor, singer, and record producer’s children are best known for their active involvement in the world of music particularly his late daughter Jenni and his son Lupillo.
Pedro Rivera has achieved a lot in the entertainment industry and is one of the most respected record executives in the United States and Mexico, but most people believe his biggest legacy is not his record label, Cintas Acuario, considered to be the biggest Latin Music record label, but the children he had with his first wife and ex-mistress Erika. Here is what we know about them.
Six of Pedro Rivera’s Children Were With His First Wife
Born Pedro Rivera Cervantes on February 23, 1943, the 81-year-old music pioneer spent his formative years in his hometown of La Barca, Jalisco, Mexico under the care of his unidentified parents and alongside as yet unknown siblings.
Pedro Rivera met the mother of his first six children, Rosa Saavedra, sometime in the early 1960s, and they exchanged marital vows in 1963 when the record producer was just 20 years old. The former couple had two of their six children while living in Mexico before relocating to the United States in 1966.
There, Pedro Rivera’s musical career well and truly kicked off and he ended up setting up Cintas Acuario, a record label currently considered to be the biggest Latin record label in the business today. The veteran musician’s business was not the only thing that grew following his move to the United States, he also had the distinct privilege of welcoming four more children, one of whom was the iconic Jenni Rivera, with his ex-wife, Rosa.
The former couple ended their marriage in 2008 after 45 years, and have since moved on with their lives. They will, however, be forever connected by the six children they had, and by the shared grief of untimely losing one of those six children (more on that further on).
Meet Pedro Rivera’s Six Children With His First Wife, Rosa Saavedra
Pedro Rivera Jr. Was Born In Mexico
Just a year into their marriage, Pedro Rivera and Rosa Saavedra welcomed their first child, a son whom they named after his father. Pedro Rivera Jr. might be more recognized these days as Pete Rivera, possibly in a bid to move away from the shadow cast by his illustrious father, but when his parents brought him into the world on April 20, 1964, they named him Pedro Rivera Saavedra.
The junior Pedro Rivera was born in Sonora, Mexico, and spent his first two years there. When he was a few months over two years old, his parents moved to the United States to aid his father’s musical ambition. They eventually settled in Long Beach, California where a young Pete Rivera would go on to complete most aspects of his formal education.
Pedro Rivera Jr. Is A Pastor And A Singer
Details of Pedro Rivera Jr.’s formal educational background have taken a backseat to what he has accomplished since becoming active in the world of entertainment in 2002. At 60 years old, Pedro Jr. has done fairly well in following in his father’s footsteps as a musician, but he has also blazed his own trail as a pastor.
He is currently the lead pastor at First Love Church, Long Beach, California. As a musician, he is credited with the release of several Latino worship albums such as “Yo Te Agradesco” and “Yo Le Alamo de Corazon.”
Pedro Rivera’s First Son Is Happily Married
Pete Rivera or Pedro Rivera Jr., whichever you prefer, has been married to Ramona Rivera, allegedly for over three decades. The timeline of their time as a couple, before and during the marriage, has yet to become public knowledge, but the couple has four children together, three boys, and a girl namely; Jessica, Petey, David, and Alejandro Rivera.
Nothing is known about their exact birthdates or education but we know that the kids live with their parents and they currently make their home in Long Beach, California, United States.
Gustavo Rivera Is Pedro Rivera’s Second Child With Rosa Saavedra
A couple of years after the birth of their first child together, Pedro Rivera and his ex-wife, Rosa Saavedra were blessed with yet another son, this time in the form of Gustavo Rivera. The veteran musician welcomed his second son on March 1, 1966. His full name is Gustavo Lawrence Rivera Saavedra. Like his brother before him, Gustavo was born in Sonora, Mexico.
It is challenging to say exactly how old the baby Gustavo was before his parents moved to the United States in 1966, but the logical answer to that would be that he couldn’t have been more than a few years old when his parents decided to leave Mexico for the greener pastures that America could provide and ultimately provided for the family.
Gustavo Rivera Is An Accomplished Musician
As pointed out earlier on, almost all of Pedro Rivera’s children followed in his musical footsteps in one way or the other, and the musician’s second son, Gustavo is one of those. His father’s influence on him was quite a strong one and he went on to release several critically acclaimed albums and singles, including Put My Head On My Shoulder, La Balanza, Amigo Mio, and El Billete, among several others.
Gustavo Rivera Got Married In The Late 1980s
Pedro Rivera also enjoys the privilege of being a grandfather to the twin children born to his second son. The 58-year-old tied the knot with Martha Duarte in 1989. While they have been married for well over three decades now, the real gist of the matter remains that the couple had their twin children within a year of their time as a married couple.
Gustav Rivera Jr. and Karina Rivera came into the world together in 1990. The exact date and month of their birth in 1990 are yet to be established. The musician, alongside his wife, has also done a good job of keeping the details of their children’s lives away from the public and the media.
Jenni Rivera Was Pedro Rivera’s First Child In The United States
Jenni Rivera was born Dolores Janney Rivera Saavedra on July 2, 1969, in Long Beach, California, United States. She was her parents’ first child on what for a long time was foreign soil. In the larger scheme of things though, Jenni Rivera was her parents’ third child, and she was born only just over three years after her older brother, Gustavo.
The No Llega el Olvido singer spent most of her formative years in her hometown of Long Beach, California, where she attended both high school and college. Jenni was a very smart young woman and her excellent straight-A grades proved she was more than just a pretty face.
Unfortunately, though, she became pregnant at 15 and had to drop out of school briefly. To provide for herself and her young baby girl, Jenni sold CDs at flea markets. She revealed in a 2003 interview that she had considered giving up on her formal education but soldiered on, thanks to the advice of her teachers who felt she had too much promise to give up.
In the end, she got her GED at a continuation school where she was the class valedictorian before going on to bag a Business Administration degree at Long Beach City College.
Jenni Rivera Was The Most Famous Of All The Rivera Musicians
Every musical genre has its king or queen, and Latin music had Jenni Rivera for a very long time even though she did not start singing from the off. Before venturing into the world of music, Jenni Rivera worked at a real estate company as well as for her father’s record label before launching her musical career in 1992 with a Father’s Day musical recording she made for her father.
Despite naysayers who felt she would not cut it in the world of music, Jenni Rivera dropped her first album, Somos Rivera (We Are Rivera) in 1992. The challenges notwithstanding, the talented songstress would go on to release a plethora of albums including;
- Si Quieres Verme Llorar (1999)
- Reyna de Reynas (1999)
- Que Me Entierren Con la Band (2000)
- Déjate Amar (2001)
- Se las Voy a Dar a Otro (2001)
- Homenaje a Las Grandes (2003)
- Parrandera, Rebelde y Atrevida (2005)
- Mi Vida Loca (2007)
- Jenni (2008)
- La Gran Señora (2009)
- Joyas Prestadas: Pop (2011), and
- Joyas Prestadas: Banda (2011)
Jenni Rivera was considered one of the most iconic Mexican and Latin performers of her time. She was also an actress who appeared in a lot of reality TV shows, including I Love Jenni.
Jenni Rivera Was Married Three Times
With Jenni Rivera, nothing was ever simple, not even her relatively chaotic personal life which saw her spend her life being married to three different men at different periods. The aforementioned figure does not include other romantic relationships she had outside the confines of marriage.
Recall that Jenni Rivera had her first child, a daughter named Janney Marín Chiquis Rivera, in 1985. At the time she was still in high school and was only 15 years old. Some years later she married the baby’s father, José Trinidad Marín and they had 2 more children, Jacqueline “Jacqie” Campos Marín Rivera, who was born in 1989, and Michael Marín Rivera, born in 1991.
That marriage ended in 1992, with the late singer citing all kinds of abuse, including the physical and the emotional kind. It was later revealed that her ex had sexually molested her and their first daughter, Chiquis. He was apprehended in 2006 after spending nine years as a fugitive and sentenced to over 31 years in prison without the possibility of parole.
Jenni Rivera found love again, this time in the arms of Juan López. They exchanged marital vows in 1997 but he too was no better than her first husband. They had two children together, a daughter Jenicka López Rivera, born in 1997, and a son Juan Johnny Angel López Rivera, born in 2001. López’s drug abuse and illegal dealings led to their divorce in 2003.
He was convicted of selling drugs in 2007 and sentenced to prison, however, he only spent two years as an inmate before dying of pneumonia complications in 2009. Shortly before her divorce from Juan López, Jenni began a torrid affair with Mexican-American singer Fernando “Fernie” Ramirez in 2002. They dated for five years before calling it quits in 2007 and unlike her other relationships, they had no children.
Jenni Rivera married her third and final husband, Esteban Loaiza, in 2010. The late musician’s last husband was a baseball player. Their marriage hit the rocks just two years in and they were in the process of getting a divorce before the singer’s death in December 2012.
Jenni Rivera Was Killed In A Plane Crash
Tragedy struck in the Rivera family on December 9, 2012, when it was confirmed that the Mexican-American singer, songwriter, actress, TV producer, entrepreneur, spokesperson, and philanthropist, Jenni Rivera had lost her life in a Learjet 25 crash alongside 6 other passengers.
The crash site was Iturbide, Nuevo León, near Monterrey, Mexico, after she was done performing at the Monterrey Arena the day before. Jenni Rivera was buried weeks later on the 31st of December 2012 at All Souls Cemetery.
Lupillo Rivera Is Pedro Rivera’s Third Son
Pedro Rivera welcomed a third son with Rosa Saavedra on January 31, 1972, in Long Beach, California, United States. His parents had moved to the US with his two older brothers in 1966, six years before he was born. He is also the ex-couple’s US-born offspring after the late Jenni Rivera.
Lupillo Rivera’s birth name is Guadalupe Rivera Saavedra and he is currently 52 years old. Details of his formal educational background include the fact that he graduated from Long Beach Polytechnic High School in 1990. No further information is available on that aspect of his life.
Lupillo Rivera Is A Musician Too
We have established the fact that Pedro Rivera did a good job of influencing his kids to choose music as a career path and Lupillo definitely got the memo on that, despite his initial plans to be a restaurateur. Except for the late Jenni, one could argue that Lupillo Rivera has had the most impact musically of all the Rivera children.
He began his musical career in 1995 and has over a dozen musical albums to date including;
- Selena la Estrella (1995)
- El Moreno (1999)
- Veinte Mujeres (2001)
- Despreciado (2001)
- Los Hermanos Más Buscados (2002)
- De Bohemia con Lupillo Rivera (2003)
- Pa’ Corridos (2004)
- En Acústico (2008)
- Tu Esclavo y Amo (2009) – His efforts in Tu Esclavo y Amo (2009) earned him a Grammy award.
- 24 Horas (2010)
Lupillo Rivera Has Been Married Twice
Lupillo Rivera has been married twice in his lifetime. He was married to María Gurrola for 15 years from 1987 before divorcing in 2002. They had four daughters together namely Arena Rivera Gurrola, Abigail Rivera Gurrola, Angélica Marin Rivera Gurrola, and Ayana Rivera Gurrola.
His second marriage was to Mayeli Alonso in 2006. This one too ended in divorce after 12 years (in 2018). He had a fifth daughter named Lupita Rivera Alonso, and a son named Rey Rivera Alonso, with Mayeli Alonso.
Juan Rivera Is Pedro Rivera’s Last Son With Rosa Saavedra
Juan Rivers was born Juancho Manuel Rivera on February 22, 1978, in Long Beach, California, United States. He is Pedro Rivera’s last son with Rosa Saavedra. He is currently 46 years old.
Like most of his siblings who were born in the United States, Juan Rivera spent most of his early years in Long Beach but not much is known about his formal educational background.
Juan Rivera Began His Musical Career At Age 16
Following steadfastly in the family music legacy, Juan Rivera started his musical career at the age of 16 before releasing his first record El Atizador in 1996. He is also an actor who appeared in the 1994 film La dinastía de Los Pérez as José Luis Perez.
Juan Rivera Became A Father At A Young Age
Details of his personal life and immediate family revolve around the fact that the musician and actor allegedly became a father at a very young age. He has four children, two daughters, Marina Rivera and Divine Rivera, and two sons Frido Rivera and Johnny Rivera, with his wife Brenda Rivera. They got married in August 1995.
Rosie Rivera Is Pedro Rivera’s Last Child With Rosa Saavedra
Born Rosa Amelia Rivera Saavedra on July 3, 1981, Rosie Rivera is the veteran musician’s second daughter and last child with ex-wife, Rosa Saavedra. She is also her father’s only surviving daughter following the death of her older sister, Jenni Rivera, in 2012.
Rosie Rivera was born in Long Beach, California, and became the fourth child born to the singer, Pedro Rivera, in the United States. So far though, we know nothing of her academic background but it would only be logical to assume that she got the very best.
Rosie Rivera Is A TV Personality And Business Executive
It’s fair to say that Rosie Rivera bucked the trend of musicians in her family by choosing an unrelated career path. Still, she fulfills her career responsibilities in the limelight by being a TV reality star with appearances in several reality TV shows, including I Love Jenni.
Following the death of her sister, Rosie served as Chief Executive Officer of Jenni Rivera Enterprises. She ultimately resigned from that position in June 2021 following allegations of misappropriation of funds by Jenni’s children.
Rosie Rivera is also an author who published her first book in February 2016. The book titled My Broken Pieces: Mending the Wounds From Sexual Abuse Through Faith, Family, and Love, sheds a lot of light on the tragic and traumatic sexual abuse she experienced at a very young age.
It also showcases how she received wholesome healing from the experience through the measures put in place by members of her family such as the immense love and support she got from them.
Following the publishing of the book, the TV personality has remained a spokesperson and role model for other women like herself who do not know how to deal with the trauma of sexual abuse.
Rosie Rivera Is Happily Married
Rosie Rivera became Rosie Flores in 2011 following her marriage to Abel Flores. They have two children together, a daughter named Samantha Chay Flores Rivera (born in 2013), and a son named Elias Melek Flores Rivera (born in October 2015).
Long before she dated and married Abel Flores, Rosie was in a relationship with Chief. They dated from 2000 to 2003. That relationship produced a daughter named Kassandra Rivera, who was born in 2003.
Pedro Rivera Had A Son Out Of Wedlock
Undoubtedly, most people are steadfastly aware of Pedro Rivera’s six children from his first marriage to Rosa Saavedra. However, few are aware of the fact that the veteran music producer stepped out on Rosa when they were married. While they simply summarized the reason for their divorce as irreconcilable differences, in truth, Pedro’s infidelity could most likely be responsible for it.
We have it on good authority that seven years before his marriage to the mother of his first six children ended, Pedro Rivera was in a relationship with a woman named Erika Alonso. They began dating in 2001 but called it quits in 2007. Their 6-year relationship produced a son.
Juan Carlos Rivera Alonso Is Pedro Rivera’s Illegitimate Son
As previously stated, Pedro Rivera’s marital indiscretions with Erika Alonso led to the birth of a love child. That child was born in 2002 and named Juan Carlos Rivera Alonso. Beyond the fact that he was born in 2002, other particulars of his birth such as the date and month of birth have yet to be revealed to the public.
Juan Carlos is more than 20 years younger than his immediate older half-sister, Rosie, and not much is known about him at the moment, including his academic background, and whether he has started a family of his own.
Pedro Rivera has a semblance of a good relationship with all his children but we have not yet ascertained the depth of the relationship he has with them. One can only presume that it is full of love and respect for each other.
