Jennifer Peña

For the first phase of her career, Jennifer Peña was constantly compared to Selena, with whom she had professional ties, but with time she came into her own stylistically and became one of the more accomplished young singers in popular Latin music. Peña's ties to Selena go back to 1995, when she performed on-stage at the latter's Houston Astrodome tribute concert. This was the performance that launched Peña's career, as she subsequently was taken under the wing of Selena's family, the Quintanillas, who would manage and produce her EMI Latin recordings as part of the tejano group Jennifer y los Jetz. As part of this group, Peña, barely a teenager at the time, enjoyed a favorable amount of success on the regional Mexican circuit with hits like "Ven a Mi," "Tengo Miedo," and "Abrázame y Bésame." When she turned 18, she signed a new recording contract and embarked on a solo career with Univision as a Latin pop singer, beginning with Libre (2002). Peña shot to fame at this point, as her debut solo single, "El Dolor de Tu Presencia," spent eight straight weeks atop the Hot Latin Tracks chart. Her second album, Seducción (2004), followed suit with another chart-topping ballad, "Vivo y Muero en Tu Piel." Both of these albums were number ones, each selling over 300,000 units. Peña's career took a slight turn in the years that followed. She entered the world of film, for instance, and dated fellow Latin pop star Obie Bermúdez, with whom she co-wrote her third album, Dicen Que el Tiempo (2007), which she also co-produced. Born on September 17, 1983, in San Antonio and raised in Corpus Christi, Jennifer Marcella Peña Cantú began her professional career at age 11, when she performed on-stage at a Selena tribute concert held at the Houston Astrodome. Her recording career commenced...