Selena Quintanilla-Pérez (April 16, 1971 – March 31, 1995), known simply as Selena, was an 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.[1] Selena had the most successful singles of 1994 and 1995, "Amor Prohibido" and "No Me Queda Más".[2] She was called "The Queen of Tejano music"[3] and the Mexican equivalent of Madonna.[4] 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, and she had begun recording in English as well.

Selena was murdered at the age of 23 on March 31, 1995 by Yolanda Saldívar, the former 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.[5] 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 60 million albums worldwide.[6]


Early lifeSelena was born in Lake Jackson, Texas,[7] as the youngest of three children born to a Mexican American[8] father, Abraham Quintanilla Jr. and a half-Cherokee Native American mother,[9] Marcella Ofelia (née Samora).[10] She was raised as a Jehovah's Witness.[11] Selena began singing at age three. When she was nine years old, her father launched a vocal group consisting of several of his children, Selena y Los Dinos.[4] They initially performed at a restaurant the family operated,[5] but went bankrupt soon thereafter. They moved to Corpus Christi, Texas, where they performed wherever they could - street corners, weddings, quinceañeras, and fairs.[12] As Selena grew more popular, the demands of her performance and travel schedule began to interfere with her education. Her father took her out of school when she was in the eighth grade.[3] At seventeen, she earned a high school diploma by the American School Program.[13]

The band's efforts paid off in 1985, when fourteen-year-old Selena recorded her first album for a record company. Her father bought all of the original copies.[14] It was re-released in 1995 as Mis Primeras Grabaciones.[15] Over the next three years, not under a recording contract, she released six more albums.

Success
Selena performing in San Antonio, Texas in March 1994.At the 1987 Tejano Music Awards, Selena won Best Female Vocalist, an award she would dominate for the rest of her life.[3][16] In 1989, José Behar, the former head of Sony Music Latin, signed Selena with Capitol/EMI. Behar later explained signed her because he thought he had discovered the next Gloria Estefan.[3] 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 began dating. At first her father opposed their relationship and went as far as firing Pérez from the band. He eventually came to accept the relationship.[17] On April 2, 1992, Selena and Pérez were married in Nueces County, Texas.[4]

In 1990, her debut 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. He approved and Saldívar became the club's president; later, she worked as the manager of Selena's retail enterprises.[4] 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.[4]

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