| Selena | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Selena Quintanilla[1] |
| Also known as | Selena |
| Born | April 16, 1971 |
| Origin | Lake Jackson, Texas, United States |
| Died | March 31, 1995 (aged 23) Corpus Christi, Texas, United States |
| Genres | Tejano, Mexican cumbia, Ranchera, Latin pop, Spanish pop, R&B, Pop |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter, record producer, actress, dancer, model, designer |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 1982–1995 |
| Labels | Freddie Records, Cara Records, GP Productions, EMI Latin, Q-Productions, SBK Records |
| Associated acts | Selena y Los Dinos, Abraham Quintanilla III, Suzette Quintanilla, Chris Pérez |
| Website | http://www.q-productions.com |
Selena Quintanilla-Pérez (April 16, 1971 – March 31, 1995), known simply as Selena, was a Mexican American singer-songwriter. She was named the "top Latin artist of the '90s" and "Best selling Latin artist of the decade" by Billboard for her fourteen top-ten singles in the Top Latin Songs chart, including seven number-one hits.[2] The singer had the most successful singles of 1994 and 1995, "Amor Prohibido" and "No Me Queda Más".[3] She was called "The Queen of Tejano music"[4] and the Mexican equivalent of Madonna.[5] Selena released her first album, Selena y Los Dinos, at the age of twelve. She won Female Vocalist of the Year at the 1987 Tejano Music Awards and landed a recording contract with EMI a few years later. Her fame grew throughout the early 1990s, especially in Spanish-speaking countries.
Selena was murdered at the age of 23 by Yolanda Saldívar, the president of her fan club. On April 12, 1995, two weeks after her death, George W. Bush, governor of Texas at the time, declared her birthday "Selena Day" in Texas.[6] Warner Bros. produced Selena, a film based on her life starring Jennifer Lopez, in 1997. Selena's life was also the basis of the musical Selena Forever starring Veronica Vazquez as Selena. In June 2006 Selena was commemorated with a life-sized bronze statue (Mirador de la Flor in Corpus Christi, Texas) and a Selena museum opened there. She has sold over 21 million albums worldwide.[7]
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Selena was born in Lake Jackson, Texas,[8] as the youngest child of a Mexican American[9] father, Abraham Quintanilla Jr. and a half-Cherokee Native American mother,[10] Marcella Ofelia Samora,[11] and was raised as a Jehovah's Witness.[12] She began singing at the age of three; when she was nine her father launched a singing group consisting of several of his children, Selena y Los Dinos.[5] They initially performed at the restaurant operated by the family.[6] The family went bankrupt soon thereafter. They relocated to Corpus Christi, Texas, where they performed wherever they could: at street corners, weddings, quinceañeras, and fairs.[13] As Selena grew more popular as a musical performer, the demands of her performance and travel schedule began to interfere with her education. Her father pulled her out of school altogether when she was in eighth grade.[4] Eventually, at seventeen, she earned a high school diploma by correspondence.[14]
The band's efforts at spreading their names and talents paid off in 1985 when the fourteen-year-old Selena recorded her first album for a local record company. The album was not sold in stores and her father bought all of the original copies.[15] It was rereleased in 1995 under the title Mis Primeras Grabaciones.[16] Over the next three years, while not having a recording contract, she released six more albums.
At the 1987 Tejano Music Awards, Selena won Best Female Vocalist, an award she would dominate for the rest of her life.[4][17] In 1989, José Behar, the former head of Sony Music Latin, signed Selena with Capitol/EMI. He later said that he signed her because he thought he had discovered the next Gloria Estefan.[4] In 1988, she met Chris Pérez, who had his own band. Two years later, the Quintanilla family hired him to play in Selena's band and they quickly fell in love. At first her father opposed their relationship and went as far as firing Pérez from the band. He eventually came to accept the relationship.[18] On April 2, 1992, Selena and Pérez were married in Nueces County, Texas.[5]
In 1990 the album, Ven Conmigo was released, written by her brother and main songwriter Abraham Quintanilla III. This recording was the first Tejano album recorded by a female artist to achieve gold status. Around the same time, a registered nurse and fan named Yolanda Saldívar approached Selena's father with the idea of starting a fan club. Her wish was granted and she became the club's president; later she became the manager of Selena's retail enterprises.[5] In 1992, Selena’s stardom got a big boost with the song, "Como La Flor" off a new album, Entre a Mi Mundo. The next album, Selena Live! won Best Mexican-American Album at the 36th Grammy Awards.[5] The album Amor Prohibido was released in 1994. It was nominated for a Grammy award for Mexican-American Album of the Year. Selena and her band received yet more accolades in 1994. Billboard's Premio Lo Nuestro awarded them six awards, including Best Latin Artist and Song of the Year for "Como La Flor". Meanwhile, her duet with the Barrio Boyzz, "Donde Quiera Que Estés", reached number one in the Billboard Latin Charts. This prompted Selena to tour in Latin America.[19] She performed a duet with Salvadoran singer Álvaro Torres, "Buenos Amigos". By fall of 1994, Amor Prohibido was a commercial success in Mexico and made four number one Latin hits, replacing Gloria Estefan's Mi Tierra on the chart's number one spot. It sold over 400,000 copies by late 1994 in the U.S. and another 50,000 copies in Mexico, reaching gold status.[5]
Aside from music, she began designing and manufacturing a clothing line in 1994 and opened two boutiques called Selena Etc., one in Corpus Christi and the other in San Antonio. Both were equipped with in-house beauty salons.[20] Hispanic Business magazine reported that the singer earned over five million dollars from these boutiques.[21] Selena briefly played opposite Erik Estrada in a Mexican telenovela titled Dos Mujeres, Un Camino.[22] In 1995 she entered negotiations to star in another telenovela produced by Emilio Larrosa.[22]
At the peak of her career, Selena visited local schools to talk to students about the importance of education. She also donated her time to civic organizations such as D.A.R.E.. These demonstrations of community involvement won her loyalty from her fan base.[23] Selena scheduled her English album for release in the summer of 1995.
In early 1995, the Quintanillas discovered that Saldívar was embezzling money from the fan club, and they decided to fire her.[5] Three weeks later, Selena agreed to meet Saldívar in a Days Inn hotel in Corpus Christi[24] on the morning of March 31, 1995, to retrieve financial records Saldívar had been refusing to turn over. At the hotel, Saldívar once again delayed the handover by claiming she had been raped in Mexico.[4] The singer drove Saldívar to a local hospital, where doctors found no evidence of rape.[25] The two returned to the motel, where Selena again demanded the missing financial papers.[5] Saldívar drew a gun and aimed at Selena. As Selena tried to flee, Saldívar shot her once in her right shoulder, severing an artery. Critically wounded, Selena ran towards the lobby to get help. She collapsed on the floor as the clerk called 911, with Saldívar chasing her, calling her a "bitch".[26] Selena died in a hospital there from loss of blood at 1:05 p.m., two weeks before her 24th birthday.[27] Saldívar was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison, with the possibility of parole in thirty years.[28]
Two weeks after her death, on April 12, the Governor of Texas, George W. Bush, declared Selena's birthday "Selena Day" in Texas.[6] The same year, Selena was inducted into the "Latin Music Hall of Fame". That summer, Selena's album Dreaming of You, a combination of Spanish-language songs and new English-language tracks, debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200, making her the first Hispanic singer to accomplish this feat.[29] and the second highest debut after Michael Jackson's HIStory. On its release date, the album sold over 175,000 copies, a record for a female pop singer, and it sold two million copies in its first year.[30] The album was number 75 in the List of BMG Music Club's top selling albums in the United States.[31]
Jennifer Lopez played Selena in a film about Selena's life.
Selena was among two other Latin artists who had the best sales of records for the year 2001.[32]
On March 16, 2011, the United States Post Office released a "Latin Legends" memorial stamp to honor Selena, Carlos Gardel, Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, and Carmen Miranda.[33]
| Title | Year | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Don Juan DeMarco | 1995 | Ranchera singer | Minor role |
| Title | Year | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Johnny Canales Show | 1985–1995 | herself | |
| Tejano Music Awards | 1987–1995 | herself | |
| Dos mujeres, un camino | 1993 | herself | |
| The Making of Selena the Movie | 1997 | ||
| Por Siempre Selena | 1998 | ||
| E! True Hollywood Story: The Murder Trial of Selena | 1998 | ||
| VH1 All Access: Selena | 1999 | ||
| Para Siempre Selena | 2000 | ||
| Por Siempre... Selena | 2001–present | ||
| Selena !VIVE! | 2005 | herself | honoree |
| Biography | 2008 | TV series (2 episodes) | |
| Top Trece | 2009 | TV series (1 episode) | |
| Historia de una Leyenda | 2009 | TV series (1 episode) | |
| Famous Crime Scene: Selena | 2010 | TV series (1 episode) | featured |
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