Mexico’s music world is mourning US-born singer Jenni Rivera, who is presumed dead after a plane crash.

Her openness about her personal troubles endeared her to millions in the US and Mexico

The 43-year-old’s soulful voice and openness about her personal troubles had made her a Mexican-American superstar.

Authorities have not confirmed her death, but relatives in the US said they have few doubts that she was on a Learjet 25 which disintegrated on impact in rugged territory in Nuevo Leon state in northern Mexico yesterday.

“My son Lupillo told me that effectively it was Jenni’s plane that crashed and that everyone on board died,” her father, Pedro Rivera, told dozens of reporters gathered in front of his Los Angeles-area home. “I believe my daughter’s body is unrecognisable.”

Messages of condolence poured in from fellow musicians and celebrities.

Mexican songstress and actress Lucero wrote on her Twitter account: “What terrible news! Rest in peace... My deepest condolences for her family and friends.”

Rivera’s colleague on the Mexican show The Voice of Mexico, pop star Paulina Rubio, said on her Twitter account: “My friend! Why? There is no consolation. God, please help me!”

Born in Long Beach, California, Rivera was at the peak of her career as perhaps the most successful female singer in grupero, a male-dominated regional style influenced by the norteno, cumbia and ranchero styles.

A mother of five children and grandmother of two, the woman called the Diva de la Banda was known for her frank talk about her struggles to give a good life to her family despite a series of setbacks.

She was recently divorced from her third husband, was once detained at a Mexico City airport with tens of thousands of dollars in cash, and publicly apologised after her brother assaulted a drunken fan who verbally attacked her in 2011.

Her openness about her personal troubles endeared her to millions in the US and Mexico.

“I am the same as the public, as my fans,” she said in an interview last March.

Rivera sold 15 million records, and recently won two Billboard Mexican Music Awards: female artist of the year and banda album of the year for Joyas Prestadas: Banda. She was nominated for Latin Grammys in 2002, 2008 and 2011.

The impact was so powerful that the remains of the plane were scattered over an area of 250 to 300 metres. A mangled California driver’s licence with Rivera’s name and photograph was found in the crash site debris.

No cause was given for the plane’s crash but its wreckage was found near the town of Iturbide in Mexico’s Sierra Madre Oriental, where the terrain is very rough.

The Learjet 25, number N345MC, took off from Monterrey at 3.30am local time and was reported missing about 10 minutes later. It was registered to Starwood Management of Las Vegas, Nevada, according to FAA records. It was built in 1969 and had a current registration through 2015.

Also believed to be on board the plane were her publicist, Arturo Rivera, her lawyer, make-up artist and the flight crew.

Her parents were Mexicans who migrated to the US. Two of her five brothers, Lupillo and Juan Rivera, are also well-known singers of grupero music.

She studied business administration and formally debuted on the music scene in 1995 with the release of her album Chacalosa. Due to its success, she recorded two more independent albums, We Are Rivera and Farewell to Selena, a tribute album to murdered singer Selena which helped enlarge her following. At the end of the 1990s, Rivera was signed by Sony Music and released two more albums.

But widespread success came for her when she joined Fonovisa and released her 2005 album titled Partier, Rebellious and Daring.

Besides being a singer, she was also a businesswoman and actress, appearing in the indie film Filly Brown, which was shown at the Sundance Film Festival, as the incarcerated mother of Filly Brown.

She was filming the third season of I Love Jenni, which followed her as she shared special moments with her children and as she toured through Mexico and the US. She also has the reality shows Jenni Rivera Presents: Chiquis and Raq-C and her daughter’s Chiquis ’n Control.