Selena Quintanilla was born on April 16, 1971, in Lake Jackson, Texas. She was called the "Queen of Tejano Music", a type of Mexican music that blends several other genres of music including country, German polka & Mexican folk music. She was also sometimes called the "Mexican Madonna" for her alluring outfits and choreography. When she was about 10, Selena became the lead singer in her family's band, Selena y Los Dinos. The group started by playing at the family's Texmex restaurant & as word of the group spread around Texas, the group was also booked to perform at weddings and clubs, all over the state. The band featured her brother, Abraham on bass guitar and her sister, Suzette on drums. Her father, Abraham, a former musician, managed and produced the group. Selena grew up primarily speaking English but her father taught her Spanish, so her music would resonate more with the Latin community and through the production of her music she learned to speak Spanish fluently.
She became very popular with Tejano music fans, performing with a different band her father had put together and at the 1987 Tejano Music Awards, she won both Best Female Vocalist of the Year and Performer of the Year. Her 1990 album, Ven Conmigo, was the first Tejano record to achieve gold record status, meaning it sold over 500,000 copies. In April 1992, Selena took a break from the spotlight and eloped with Chris Perez, the band's lead guitarist. Her records continued selling strong and she won a Grammy for Best Mexican-American Album, in 1994 for her album, Live. The same year her band toured around New York, California, Puerto Rico & Argentina. Amor Prohibido was also released the same year, it also reached gold status.
Soon after the release of Selena's album, Live, she went to work on an English language album that she hoped would put her at the top of the American pop-music charts. Unfortunately she didn't live to see it's success. Selena was shot and killed on March 31, 1995, in Corpus Christi, Texas by Yolanda Saldivar, the founder of the Selena fan club. Yolanda had been managing Selena's boutique in San Antonio and was about to be fired for embezzling money. Selena's murder devastated the Latin community and fans all over the world mourned her passing.
Selena's first English-language album, Dreaming of You, was released posthumously and became a huge hit. A biographical film was released in 1997 called, Selena, commemorating her life and starring Jennifer Lopez as the titular singer. Selena was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on November 3, 2017.
https://www.biography.com/musician/selena
YOU ARE READING
Women in Literature and Music
No FicciónWomen who have changed the world through poetry, books and music.
