Chiquis Rivera Husband: From Lorenzo Méndez To Emilio Sánchez
If you’ve typed “Chiquis Rivera husband” into Google and ended up confused, that’s understandable. Chiquis has lived two very public love stories: first with banda singer Lorenzo Méndez, and now with photographer Emilio Sánchez, whom she quietly married in Las Vegas in 2024.
To really get what’s going on now, it helps to walk through both relationships and how they changed her.
Who Chiquis Rivera Is Today
Chiquis Rivera was born Janney Marín Rivera on June 26, 1985, in Los Angeles. She’s the eldest daughter of regional Mexican icon Jenni Rivera, which meant her life was under a spotlight long before she ever released music of her own.
People first got to know her through reality shows like I Love Jenni and The Riveras. Then she stepped out as a singer, leaning into banda and regional Mexican sounds and building a career that earned her a Latin Grammy and a loyal fan base.
Her songs and interviews often circle around themes of heartbreak, healing, complicated family ties, and learning to value herself. That’s part of why so many people are invested in who she marries: her love life has never really been separate from her public story.
The First Husband: Singer Lorenzo Méndez
For a while, “Chiquis Rivera husband” meant Lorenzo Méndez.
Lorenzo is a Mexican-American singer known for his time as lead vocalist with La Original Banda El Limón, one of the big names in banda music. He and Chiquis moved in the same musical circles and were friends before they ever went public as a couple. By around 2016–2017, fans were seeing them together more and more—on stage, in photos, on reality TV—and it felt like a natural match.
On June 29, 2019, they got married in a church in Pasadena, California, surrounded by family, cameras and a lot of expectations. Chiquis became stepmom to Lorenzo’s daughters from a previous relationship, and for a moment, it all looked like a perfect banda fairy tale.
But even while they were posting romantic photos and performing together, cracks were forming behind the scenes.
Why Their Marriage Fell Apart
By 2020, the ups and downs in their relationship were hard to hide. There were periods where they separated, got back together, and then pulled apart again. In September 2020, Chiquis announced on Instagram that they were separating “by mutual agreement,” saying she loved him but they hadn’t been able to break unhealthy cycles between them.
Later on, both spoke more openly about what went wrong. Lorenzo admitted in interviews that he struggled with drinking, jealousy and insecurity, and that those things took a toll on the marriage. In her book Invencible, Chiquis wrote about dealing with addiction, emotional volatility and feeling like she was losing herself by trying to keep the relationship alive.
The legal side moved slowly, but by mid-2022 a judge had officially granted the divorce. After that, Lorenzo was no longer “Chiquis Rivera husband,” but an ex—someone she clearly cared about at one time, and also someone whose chapter in her life had closed.
Meeting Emilio Sánchez
Enter Emilio Sánchez, and a very different kind of love story.
Emilio is a Mexican-Filipino photographer and creative who’s worked behind the scenes with artists like Becky G, shooting concerts, videos and campaigns. He and Chiquis had crossed paths in the industry before, but the turning point came at Becky G’s birthday party in March 2021. They talked more, started spending time together and, little by little, friendship turned into something more.
At that point, Chiquis was still healing from her divorce. She’s said in interviews that she was hesitant at first—she didn’t want to rush into another relationship just because she was lonely. But with Emilio, she felt something different: calm, support, a sense that she could be herself without constantly walking on eggshells.
By later in 2021, they were publicly together and sharing moments on social media, but the energy was noticeably different from her first marriage—less whirlwind, more steady.
The Proposal In The Mountains
In May 2023, while they were on a trip to a national park in southwestern Utah, Emilio proposed. He chose his own birthday to ask, which made the moment feel like a double celebration.
Chiquis said yes and later shared the news with fans, posting photos of her ring and writing about how grateful she felt for the man who stood beside her through everything: the pressures of her career, the grief she still carried for her mother, and even a miscarriage she’s since spoken about that happened while they were preparing for one of her shows.
It wasn’t a giant made-for-TV spectacle. It was two people out in nature, deciding they wanted to keep choosing each other.
A Quiet Las Vegas “I Do”
On July 5, 2024, Chiquis and Emilio took the next step and got married in Las Vegas. It sounds like the beginning of a cliché, but their wedding was surprisingly intimate and thoughtful.
According to outlets that covered it afterwards, they said their vows at a Vegas hotel with only close friends and family watching. She wore a white gown that was glamorous but very her—fitted, confident, unapologetically feminine—while Emilio went classic in a tux. The two of them looked more relaxed than anything else, like they’d finally arrived somewhere they’d been walking toward for a long time.
They didn’t blast the news in real time. Photos leaked, rumors bounced around, and only after the ceremony did they confirm it themselves, sharing their own images and words.
There was another emotional layer too: Chiquis made sure her mother’s presence was felt. She’s talked about incorporating Jenni Rivera into the moment—through music, imagery and symbolism—so that, in spirit at least, her mom could walk with her down the aisle one more time.
Asked afterwards how she felt as a newlywed, she summed it up simply: more in love, and more at ease.
Who Is Chiquis Rivera’s Husband Now?
So, to put it plainly: right now, Chiquis Rivera’s husband is Emilio Sánchez. He’s not a singer sharing the same spotlight, but a photographer and creative who usually stands behind the camera.
Their life together looks different from what she had with Lorenzo. Her siblings have hinted that the dynamic feels calmer and healthier; even her brother Johnny has said he gets along better with Emilio than with her previous partner.
Lorenzo, meanwhile, is very much in the past tense when it comes to marriage. He’s her ex-husband: someone who shared a big, messy, important chapter with her between 2019 and 2020, with the legal end arriving in 2022.
Love, Lessons And Second Chances
Chiquis has never pretended the journey from one “chiquis rivera husband” to another was easy. In her book and interviews, she’s been open about how much she had to learn from that first marriage—about boundaries, self-respect, and the difference between trying to fix someone and trying to build something together.
With Emilio, her language changes. She talks about feeling supported instead of drained, seen instead of doubted, and genuinely at peace. That doesn’t mean their relationship is perfect—it just means it’s not built on chaos. It’s built on friendship, mutual work, and the kind of love that doesn’t need constant defending.
So when you search “chiquis rivera husband” now, you’re seeing a continuation of her story, not just a trivia answer. You’re seeing where she’s been—the whirlwind banda romance that burned out—and where she’s landed: a quieter, sturdier partnership with a man who was there to help her put the pieces back together.