Selena Quintanilla is one of the most memorable Mexican-American singers of all time. She has cemented herself as the “Tejano Queen” and her music continues to bring people together. Selena was also a very incredible woman who defied the odds and proved that she was just as amazing as any white man could be. To honor her as we approach the 29th anniversary of her murder, I want to share how she became the Latina icon that is still remembered to this day.
More commonly known by her stage name Selena, she was the youngest child of Abraham Quintanilla Jr. and Marcella Ofelia Samora. Born on April 16, 1971, Selena was thrust into the world of music from a very early age due to the fact that her father was a musician himself. By the age of 10, Selena was the lead singer of her family band, Selena y Los Dinos, which also starred her older siblings as well — Abraham III on bass and Suzette on the drums. The band started out playing small gigs, weddings, and clubs in Texas, playing Tejano music, which is a type of music that is very popular in central and south Texas and northeastern Mexico. It pulls from norteño, a style of music from northern Mexico, and the brass music of German and Czech immigrants who settled in Texas during the nineteenth century.
Selena y Los Dinos gained popularity as they traveled throughout Texas playing various gigs as openers for other Tejano bands. The band became so popular that Selena actually had to drop out of school in the eighth grade to keep up. In 1984, the band recorded their first album which was titled “Mis Primeras Grabaciones” and it was followed by the albums “Alpha” and “Muñequito de Trapo”, which both released in 1986. That same year, at just 15 years old, Selena won the Female Entertainer of the Year award at the Tejano Music Awards and this was truly only the beginning of her success.
In 1989, Selena had signed a record deal with Capitol Latin EMI and released the debut album, “Selena” that very same year. If you’re keeping track, that means that Selena was only 18 years old when she signed this major record deal, she was proving her worth in real time, despite her age and her heritage. Selena kept releasing albums including “Ven Conmigo” (1990) and “Entre a Mi Mundo” (1992), which was the album that made Selena the first Tejana to sell over 300,000 albums. 1992 was also a big year for the singer because this was also the year that she got married to Chris Perez, a member of her band, in secret due to her father’s disapproval of the relationship, but many still believe that Perez was her soulmate.
Then in 1993, Selena released her Grammy winning album “Selena Live!”. This album won the Grammy for Best Mexican-American Album at the 1994 award ceremony. Selena winning this award is what then pushed her popularity into mainstream society, which had basically ignored her until this point. In 1994, Texas Monthly named her one of twenty influential Texans and the Los Angeles Times magazine interviewed her.
1994 also saw the release of Selena’s double-platinum album “Amor Prohibido” which included many of her most popular songs including “Amor Prohibido”, “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom” and “El Chico de Apartamento 512”. This album was also nominated for the 1995 Grammy for Best Mexican-American Album but unfortunately did not win. Selena also opened two boutiques/ salons which carried her very own clothing line in 1994, called “Selena Etc.” She manufactured clothing along with designer Martin Gomez with designs and styles of Latin American texture and exotic clothing styles which became her trademark on stage.
Tragically, Selena lost her life on March 31, 1995 at the age of only 23 years old. She was murdered by Yolanda Saldivar, who was the president of Selena’s fan club and the manager for both of Selena’s boutiques. Saldivar was completely obsessed with Selena, she had begged the family to allow her to start a fan club which she did in 1991. Then, over the years, the Quintanillas grew close to Saldivar, which is what led to Selena’s decision to make her the manager of the boutiques. However, one day, Selena and her father discovered that Saldivar was embezzling money from the boutiques and several fans had complained that they paid for merchandise from the fan club and hadn’t received anything. The two then confronted Saldivar, and that same day she bought the gun that she would end Selena’s life with.
Selena was working on her first English album at the time of her death, “Dreaming of You” and it was released a few months after her death in 1995 by her family. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, the first album by a Latina artist to achieve that goal. In 1997, “Selena” the film starring Jennifer Lopez as the late singer was released to tell the beautiful story about her life. And then in 2020, a Netflix show titled “Selena: The Series” was released as a more detailed way to share Selena’s life.
Fans continue to show enormous support to the singer, rallying behind her as Saldivar continues to attempt to change her story to make herself the victim. In 2024, Saldivar released her own documentary titled, “Selena & Yolanda: The Secrets Between Them”. Thankfully, Saldivar has received only backlash for making this film, as many believe it is only a cry for the Quintanilla family to not appeal her parole which is set to begin in March 2025.
Selena continues to be supported and celebrated, especially in her hometown of Corpus Cristi, Texas. The community has built a memorial statue for her as well as her very own museum, both of which are visited by Selena fans every day.
For me personally, I grew up with Selena constantly being played in my house. My mom is a huge fan of hers and was even fortunate enough to see her in concert in the 90s. I will alway grieve for a woman I have never met, one that had her life so tragically taken from her at such a young age, especially as I approach that age. But what I like to remember about Selena more than anything is how proud she was to be Mexican. She never shied away from her heritage and more than anything wanted people to see that as an integral part of who she was. Selena was not only a singer, she was a light, a guidance to those to see that Mexicans were just as capable as everyone else. I hope that one day, I am able to share the story of Selena to more little Mexican girls, to show them that if she could make her dreams come true, so could they.