Selena Quintanilla Pérez (April 16, 1971 – March 31, 1995), best known as Selena, was a Mexican-American singer, who, at the time of her death, was considered a budding superstar, and had been referred to as the queen of Tejano music. Selena was born as the youngest child of a Mexican immigrant couple, and released her first album by the age of 12. At the Tejano Music Awards in 1987, she took the award for Female Vocalist of the Year, which jump started her career and landed her a contract with EMI. In the early 1990s she rose to stardom in Spanish-speaking countries such as Mexico with albums such as Selena Live! which won her a Grammy award for best Mexican-American album in 1993 and Amor Prohibido, which was released in 1994 and spawned four number one Spanish hits.
Her murder by Yolanda SaldÃÂvar at the age of 23 gave her legendary status in the United States and Mexico. On April 12, 1995, two weeks after her death, George W. Bush, then the governor of Texas, declared her birthday "Selena Day" in Texas. In 1997, a film based on her life starring Jennifer Lopez was made. Selena is currently commemorated with a museum and a bronze life-sized statue, Mirador de la Flor in Corpus Christi, Texas, and is visited by hundreds of fans each week.
Selena Quintanilla was born in Lake Jackson, Texas, as the youngest child of Abraham Quintanilla, a shipping clerk and former singer, and Marcela Quintanilla, both Mexican immigrants. When she was six she started singing and by the age of nine, her father founded the singing group Selena y Los Dinos, which she fronted. The group initially performed at the Quintanilla family's restaurant, "Papagallos," but the restaurant failed not longer after the group's founding. The family soon went bankrupt and was evicted from their home. Taking all their musical equipment and an old bus, the family relocated to Corpus Christi, Texas. There they performed at every opportunity, at street corners, weddings, quinceañeras, and fairs.
These efforts at spreading their name paid off in 1984, when at the age of 12, Selena recorded her first album in under a local record company. This album was not sold in stores, and her father bought all the original copies. The album was later released in 1995 under the title Mis Primeras Grabaciones.
Selena was considered to be a bright student when she was in school but as she grew more popular, the travel demands of her performance schedule began to interfere with her education, so her father pulled her out of school altogether when she was in the eighth grade. Despite this, at age seventeen she earned a high school diploma from The American School of Correspondence in Chicago and was accepted at Louisiana State University and other schools.
In 1986, Selena's career took off with the release of her second album, Alpha. Also in 1986, she was discovered by two important figures in the Tejano music industry: Rick Trevi, founder of the Tejano Music Awards, and Johnny Canales, an entertainer with a popular Spanish-language television show who interviewed Selena also at the age of 12.
At the Tejano Music Awards in 1987, she took the award for Female Vocalist of the Year (and would continue to dominate the Awards for the next seven years). In 1988, Selena released two albums, Preciosa and Dulce Amor. But in 1989, however, witnessed her big break when Jose Behar, the former head of the Sony Latin Music division, signed Selena with Capitol/EMI records, a record company founded by Behar. Behar later said that the reason he signed Selena was because he thought he had the next Gloria Estefan. Selena also signed a contract with Coca-Cola to become one of their spokespersons that year and her concerts were drawing thousands of people.
In 1988, Selena met a guitarist named Chris Perez who had his own band. The Quintanilla family hired him to play in Selena's band in 1990 and they quickly fell in love. At first her father didn't approve of the relationship between Perez and Selena even firing him from the band. He eventually came to accept the relationship, telling Selena that Perez can come back only if they married and moved next door to the family home. Selena accepted and on April 2, 1992, Selena and Perez married in Nueces County, Texas, and Quintanilla added her new husband's surname to her own.
In 1990, Selena released another album, Ven Conmigo, written by her main songwriter and brother Abraham Quintanilla, III. Around the same time, a registered nurse and fan named Yolanda SaldÃÂvar approached Selena's father with the idea of starting a fan club. Her wish was granted, and she became the club's president and manager of her boutiques. Saldivar became a close friend of Quintanilla's, but would later betray that friendship. Another hit album, Entre A Mi Mundo, was released in 1992 and reached gold status. Songs from that album, such as "Como La Flor", helped made Selena a star. Her 1993 Live album won her a Grammy award for Best Mexican American Performance.
In 1994, Selena released another album, Amor Prohibido which captured Quintanilla's spirited and professional onstage presence, and won her another Grammy award for Mexican-American Album of the Year. Quintanilla also began designing and manufacturing her own clothing line in 1994. She opened two boutiques called Selena Inc., one in Corpus Christi and the other in San Antonio, each equipped with its own in-house beauty salon. Hispanic Business magazine reported that the singer earned over five million dollars from these boutiques, making her one of the twenty wealthiest Hispanic entertainers in the world, and the only Tejana among that number. Selena was featured along side Erik Estrada in a Latin soap opera titled Dos Mujeres, Un Camino. When she appeared on the show, the ratings skyrocketed. She was asked to make a second appearance but declined on account of schedule conflicts.
Meanwhile, Selena and her band continued to receive accolades; Billboard's Premio Lo Nuestro awarded them a total of six prestigious awards, including Best Latin artist and song of the year for "Como La Flor," and Coca-Cola released a commemorative bottle in her honor to celebrate their five-year relationship together. Meanwhile, her duet with the Barrio Boys, "Dondequiera Que Estes" raced to the top of the Latin charts. This prompted Selena to tour in New York City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, and Central America where she was in growing demand. The duet with Salvadorian singer Alvaro Torres "Buenos Amigos" was also a hit.
By fall of 1994, Amor Prohibido was a commercial success in Mexico and made four number one Latin hits. Knocking Gloria Estefan's "Mi Tierra" from the number one spot on the charts, it sold over 400,000 copies by March of 1995 and reached gold status. At this point, Quintanilla developed plans to record an English-language album. She continued touring for Amor Prohibido, while beginning preparations for this album.
In 1995, Selena made a cameo appearance in the romantic comedy Don Juan DeMarco, which starred Marlon Brando, Johnny Depp, and Faye Dunaway. She appeared as a background mariachi singer during the first scene. Also in February 1995, Selena made a concert at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in the Houston Astrodome which attracted over 60,000 fans more than country stars such as George Strait, Vince Gill, and Reba McIntire Despite her busy schedule, Selena continued to visit local schools to talk to students about the importance of education. She gave time to civic organizations such as D.A.R.E., and planned a fundraising concert to help AIDS sufferers. These demonstrations of community involvement won her loyalty from her fan base. Selena's English album was set to be released in summer of 1995. Afraid that her loyal fans would think she was turning her back on them, she also was recording a new Tejano Album as well. Meanwhile, she was planning to open two more boutiques, including one in Monterrey, Mexico.
In early 1995, the Quintanillas discovered that Yolanda SaldÃÂvar, the president of Selena's fanclub and the manager of her boutiques, was stealing money from boutiques, and accordingly decided to fire her. Soon after, Selena agreed to meet SaldÃÂvar in a Days Inn hotel in Corpus Christi, Texas on the morning of March 31, 1995, in order to retrieve paperwork for tax purposes. At the motel, she demanded the missing financial papers. SaldÃÂvar, however, delayed the handover by claiming she had been raped in Mexico. The singer drove SaldÃÂvar to a local hospital, where doctors found no evidence of rape. The women returned to the motel, where Selena again demanded the missing financial papers.
There, an argument ensued over the embezzlement, and SaldÃÂvar drew a gun from her purse, pointing it first at her own head, then at Selena. Then, as the singer left the room, SaldÃÂvar shot her once in the back. Selena fled to the manager's office in the lobby for help with Saldivar chasing her behind, calling Selena a bitch. Before collapsing to the floor, she named SaldÃÂvar as her assailant and the room number of the hotel room where she got shot. The ambulance and police arrived on scene to escort Selena to the hospital, but she died from loss of blood at a local hospital at 1:05 P.M., at the age of 23, sixteen days shy of her 24th birthday. The gun used to kill Selena was later destroyed and its remains was thrown into Corpus Christi Bay.
Selena's death shocked and saddened Latinos and non-Latinos alike across the United States. Major networks interrupted their regular programming to break the news; Tom Brokaw referred to Selena as "The Mexican Madonna". Numerous vigils and memorials were held in the singer's honor, and radio stations in Texas played her music non-stop. Her funeral drew approximately 60,000 mourners, many of whom came from outside the United States. Among the celebrities who were reported to have immediately phoned the Quintanilla family to express their condolences were Gloria Estefan, Julio Iglesias, and Madonna. People Magazine put out a commemorative issue in Selena's honor, this being only the third occasion on which People had released such an issue. A few days afterwards, Howard Stern made fun of Selena's burial by poking fun of her mourners and making comments about her music including This music does absolutely nothing for me. Alvin and the Chipmunks have more soul, Spanish people have the worst taste in music. They have no depth. Those comments outraged the Hispanic community all across Texas.
Two weeks after her death, on April 12, 1995, George W. Bush, then the Governor of Texas, declared April 16 her birthday "Selena Day," in Texas. Bush said of Selena that day:
The loss of this talented young singer will be felt by millions who saw her not only as a singer, but also as a friend. Her music and special contributions to Texas, the United States, Mexico, and the world will continue to inspire people of all ages and cultures.
That summer, Selena's album Dreaming of You, a combination of Spanish language songs and several new English language tracks, debuted at number one on the Billboard music charts in the US, making her the first Hispanic singer to accomplish this feat and the second highest debut ever after Michael Jackson HIStory. On its release date, the album sold over 175,000 copies, a record for a female pop singer, and sold two million copies in its first year. Songs such as "I Could Fall In Love" and "Dreaming Of You" were widely played on mainstream English language radio, with the latter reaching #25 on the Billboard Hot 100. "I Could Fall In Love", meanwhile, while ineligible for the Hot 100 at the time, since it was not released as a commercial single, did reach #12 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart, and the top 10 on the Adult Contemporary Chart. To date, "Dreaming of You" has sold approximately four million copies in the USA.
In October of 1995 a Houston jury convicted SaldÃÂvar of first degree murder and sentenced her to life in prison, with the possibility of parole in thirty years.
In 1997, Jennifer Lopez played Selena in the movie of the same name directed by Gregory Nava which opened with mostly positive reviews. Over 12,000 people tried out for a role in the film. This film stirred some controversy in the Mexican-American community since Lopez is Puerto Rican and was playing the role of a singer who was of Mexican descent. But Selena's fans embraced the touching biography, and Lopez's role in the film catapulted her to stardom. Although Lopez would succeed as a pop star herself a few years later, Selena's voice was dubbed in for all the songs in the movie. Lopez gave a strong performance in her role, and was nominated for a Golden Globe award for Best Actress.
Selena's enduring popularity is demonstrated by the fact that she continues to outsell many living artists. In fact, the Guinness Book of World Records, in 2003 (she had previously graced the book's pages as the "most dominating artist"), considered adding her to their pages as being the only deceased celebrity who continues to compete with today's top pop stars.
Selena was named by Billboard Magazine as the Best Selling Latin Artist of the Decade for the 1990s, selling approximately 18,000,000 albums. Selena is both the only Latin and the only female artist ever to place five consecutive albums in Billboard 200 Top Selling Albums in the U.S., an accomplishment shared by Elvis Presley, The Beatles, and Garth Brooks. Billboard Magazine declared the release and success of "Dreaming of You" a historic day in Latin music history. The People Magazine Tribute Issue to Selena sold 1,000,000 copies its day of release, spawning People en Español. Selena was the only female Latina to receive a Golden Eagle Award in 2001, to honor her positive impact on millions of Latinos. In 1998, People Magazine chose Selena as one of "The Most Intriguing People Of The Century".
A massive tribute concert, "Selena ¡VIVE!", attended by over 50,000 fans, was given on April 7, 2005, a week after the 10th anniversary of the star's death. Reliant Stadium in Houston hosted the event, which featured many high-profile artists, including Gloria Estefan, Pepe Aguilar, ThalÃÂa, Paulina Rubio, Ana Barbara, Alejandra Guzmán, Ana Gabriel, and Fey. All performed renditions of Selena's music, as did her brother, A.B. Quintanilla, who performed along with his band Kumbia Kings, backed with footage of Selena singing "Baila Esta Cumbia". Broadcast live on the Univision network, "Selena ¡VIVE!" now holds the record for the highest-rated and most-viewed Spanish-language show in American television history. The show, which was over three hours long, scored a 35.9 household rating.
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