Jenni Rivera’s youngest son, Johnny López, always wanted to revive La Gran Señora with a full banda reimagining. But when Rolling Stone named the 2009 album one of the Best Albums of the 21st Century earlier this year, he knew it was time to give it to the people.
On Thursday night, Rivera’s estate will release the 2025 banda edition of La Gran Señora, featuring hits like “Ya Lo Sé” and “No Llega El Olvido” — this time backed by full banda arrangements on every track, just as she performed them live. The release arrives ahead of the 13th anniversary of Rivera’s tragic death on Dec. 9, 2012, in a plane accident.
“Over the last two years of her life, she performed many of the songs from that album live with a banda, but she never had the chance to record them in the studio,” López tells Rolling Stone. “They carried a different impact and allowed her to sing them in the style she felt most comfortable with. Now, 16 years later, we have her full Banda version of the album for listeners to enjoy and experience.”
López served as the creative director for the album, aiming to honor the essence of his mom’s original recordings while incorporating new production and instrumentation that felt more aligned with her style of performing them.
“I want to make it clear we never have the intention of ever releasing anything musically using AI,” López wrote on X ahead of the album’s release. “Any Jenni recordings that are released by us will always be 100% authentic.”
He tapped Luciano Luna as a producer for the project and even added small tidbits — like her iconic phrases “¿Y me estás oyendo, vieja pioja?” on “La Gran Señora” — that weren’t on the original recording. López also added “Yo Soy Una Mujer,” featuring previously unreleased audio recorded by Rivera back in 2008. The album also includes Rivera’s Spanglish cover of Latino country star Freddy Fender’s “Before the Next Teardrop Falls,” mixing both banda with the country essence of the original song with the sound of steel guitar.
“Many thanks to my brother Johnny López, who believed in this project from the very beginning,” says Jacqie Rivera, who heads Jenni’s estate. “He is, without a doubt, her number one fan, and his dedication has been invaluable every step of the way.”
López says he approached the album in the same way Rivera did her last album, Joyas Prestadas, which she released as both a “Pop” and “Banda” version. The album also follows 2023’s Misión Cumplida, which included Rivera’s unreleased covers and a collaboration with her daughters Chiquis and Jacque on “Pedacito de Mi,” one of her unfinished recordings.
“My biggest dream for it is that it causes another Banda wave. It has that potential,” López told Rolling Stone at the time, with Chiquis adding: “The banda queen is back, baby!”
