SELENA QUINTANILLA PEREZ
Name: Selena Quintanilla-Perez
Born: 16 April 1971 Lake Jackson, Texas, U.S.
Died: 31 March 1995 Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S.
Selena Quintanilla-Pérez (April 16, 1971 - March 31, 1995), best known as Selena,
was a Mexican American singer who has been called "the queen of Tejano music".
The youngest child of a Mexican-American couple, Selena released her first album
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.
Her album Selena Live! won Best Mexican-American Album at the 36th Grammy Awards
and her 1994 album Amor Prohibido, which was nominated for another Grammy,
produced four number one Spanish hits.
Selena attained further notability in North America after Yolanda Saldivar, the
president of her fan club, murdered her at the age of 23. On April 12, 1995, two
weeks after her death, George W. Bush, then the governor of Texas, declared her
birthday "Selena Day" in Texas. Warner Brothers made a film based on her life
starring Jennifer Lopez in 1997. As of June 2006, Selena was commemorated with a
museum and a bronze life-sized statue (Mirador de la Flor in Corpus Christi,
Texas). The statue and museum are visited by hundreds of fans each week.
Selena was born in Lake Jackson, Texas to a Mexican-American father, Abraham
Quintanilla and a Mexican/Native American mother, Marcella Ophelia Zamora,
and was raised as a Jehovah's Witness. She began singing at the age of six; when
she was nine her father founded the singing group Selena y Los Dinos, which she
fronted. They initially performed at the Quintanilla family's restaurant, "Papa
Gayos", but the restaurant failed shortly afterwards.
The family soon went bankrupt and was evicted from their home. Taking their
musical equipment in an old bus, they relocated to Corpus Christi, Texas. There,
they performed wherever they could: at street corners, weddings, quinceañeras,
and fairs. These efforts at spreading their names paid off in 1984 when
Selena was twelve years old, she 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. It was re-released in 1995 under the title Mis Primeras
Grabaciones.
Selena did well in school, but as she grew more popular, the travel demands of
her performance schedule began to interfere with her education. Her father
pulled her out of school altogether when she was in eighth grade. She
continued her education on the road; at age seventeen she earned a high school
diploma from The American School of Correspondence in Chicago. Selena released
her second album, Alpha, in 1986.
At the 1987 Tejano Music Awards, Selena won Best Female Vocalist (and dominated
the award for the next seven years). In 1988, she released two albums,
Preciosa and Dulce Amor. In 1989, Jose Behar, the former head of the Sony Latin
Music division, signed Selena with Capitol/EMI, a record company he founded. He
later said that he signed Selena because he thought he had discovered the next
Gloria Estefan. Selena signed a contract with Coca-Cola to become one of
their spokespersons the same year and her concerts drew thousands of people.
In 1988, Selena met Chris Perez, 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 did not approve of their relationship and went as far
as firing Perez from the band. He eventually came to accept the relationship,
telling Selena that Perez could 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 Selena 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. 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 Saldivar 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 clothing
boutiques. Selena released another hit album in 1992, Entre a Mi Mundo, which
also achieved gold status. Songs from that album, such as "Como La Flor",
helped make Selena a star. Her 1993 Selena Live! album won a Grammy award for
Best Mexican-American Performance.
Selena released her next album, Amor Prohibido, in 1994. The album was nominated
for another Grammy award for Mexican-American Album of the Year. 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. Hispanic Business magazine reported
that the singer earned over five million dollars from these boutiques. Selena
also made appearances alongside Erik Estrada in a Latin soap opera titled Dos
Mujeres, Un Camino.
Selena and her band continued to receive accolades; Billboard's Premio Lo
Nuestro awarded them six prestigious awards including Best Latin Artist and Song
of the Year for "Como La Flor". Coca-Cola released a commemorative bottle in her
honor to celebrate their five-year relationship. Meanwhile, her duet with the
Barrio Boyzz, "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 Salvadoran 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, replacing Gloria Estefan's Mi Tierra on the chart's
number one spot. It sold over 400,000 copies by March 1995, reaching gold status.
At this point, Selena developed plans to record an English-language album, but
continued to tour for Amor Prohibido while beginning preparations for the 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. In February 1995, Selena
played a concert at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in the Houston
Astrodome, which attracted over 61,000 fans—more than country stars such as
George Strait, Vince Gill and Reba McEntire. Despite her busy schedule,
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. and
planned a fundraising concert to help AIDS patients. These demonstrations of
community involvement won her loyalty from her fan base. Selena scheduled
her English album for release in the summer of 1995. Afraid that her fans would
think she was turning her back on them, she was working on a new Tejano album as
well. Meanwhile, she planned to open two more boutiques including one in
Monterrey, Mexico.
In early 1995, the Quintanillas discovered that Yolanda Saldivar, the president
of Selena's fan club and the manager of her boutiques, was stealing money from
the boutiques and decided to fire her. Soon after the fallout, Selena agreed to
meet Saldívar in a Days Inn hotel in Corpus Christi on the morning of March
31, 1995 to retrieve paperwork for tax purposes.
At the hotel, Selena demanded the missing financial papers. Saldivar delayed the
handover by claiming she had been raped in Mexico. The singer drove Saldivar
to a local hospital where doctors found no evidence of rape. Saldivar
returned to the motel where Selena again demanded the missing financial papers.
An argument ensued and Saldivar drew a gun from her purse, pointing it first at
her own head and then at Selena. As the singer turned and left the room,
Saldivar shot her once in the back. Selena fled to the manager's office in the
lobby for help, with Saldivar chasing her, calling her a "bitch". Before
collapsing to the floor, Selena named Saldivar as her assailant and gave the
room number where she had been shot. After an ambulance and the police
arrived on the scene, Selena was transported to a local hospital. She died there
from loss of blood at 1:05 p.m., at the age of 23.
Name: Selena Quintanilla-Perez
Born: 16 April 1971 Lake Jackson, Texas, U.S.
Died: 31 March 1995 Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S.
Selena Quintanilla-Pérez (April 16, 1971 - March 31, 1995), best known as Selena,
was a Mexican American singer who has been called "the queen of Tejano music".
The youngest child of a Mexican-American couple, Selena released her first album
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.
Her album Selena Live! won Best Mexican-American Album at the 36th Grammy Awards
and her 1994 album Amor Prohibido, which was nominated for another Grammy,
produced four number one Spanish hits.
Selena attained further notability in North America after Yolanda Saldivar, the
president of her fan club, murdered her at the age of 23. On April 12, 1995, two
weeks after her death, George W. Bush, then the governor of Texas, declared her
birthday "Selena Day" in Texas. Warner Brothers made a film based on her life
starring Jennifer Lopez in 1997. As of June 2006, Selena was commemorated with a
museum and a bronze life-sized statue (Mirador de la Flor in Corpus Christi,
Texas). The statue and museum are visited by hundreds of fans each week.
Selena was born in Lake Jackson, Texas to a Mexican-American father, Abraham
Quintanilla and a Mexican/Native American mother, Marcella Ophelia Zamora,
and was raised as a Jehovah's Witness. She began singing at the age of six; when
she was nine her father founded the singing group Selena y Los Dinos, which she
fronted. They initially performed at the Quintanilla family's restaurant, "Papa
Gayos", but the restaurant failed shortly afterwards.
The family soon went bankrupt and was evicted from their home. Taking their
musical equipment in an old bus, they relocated to Corpus Christi, Texas. There,
they performed wherever they could: at street corners, weddings, quinceañeras,
and fairs. These efforts at spreading their names paid off in 1984 when
Selena was twelve years old, she 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. It was re-released in 1995 under the title Mis Primeras
Grabaciones.
Selena did well in school, but as she grew more popular, the travel demands of
her performance schedule began to interfere with her education. Her father
pulled her out of school altogether when she was in eighth grade. She
continued her education on the road; at age seventeen she earned a high school
diploma from The American School of Correspondence in Chicago. Selena released
her second album, Alpha, in 1986.
At the 1987 Tejano Music Awards, Selena won Best Female Vocalist (and dominated
the award for the next seven years). In 1988, she released two albums,
Preciosa and Dulce Amor. In 1989, Jose Behar, the former head of the Sony Latin
Music division, signed Selena with Capitol/EMI, a record company he founded. He
later said that he signed Selena because he thought he had discovered the next
Gloria Estefan. Selena signed a contract with Coca-Cola to become one of
their spokespersons the same year and her concerts drew thousands of people.
In 1988, Selena met Chris Perez, 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 did not approve of their relationship and went as far
as firing Perez from the band. He eventually came to accept the relationship,
telling Selena that Perez could 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 Selena 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. 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 Saldivar 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 clothing
boutiques. Selena released another hit album in 1992, Entre a Mi Mundo, which
also achieved gold status. Songs from that album, such as "Como La Flor",
helped make Selena a star. Her 1993 Selena Live! album won a Grammy award for
Best Mexican-American Performance.
Selena released her next album, Amor Prohibido, in 1994. The album was nominated
for another Grammy award for Mexican-American Album of the Year. 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. Hispanic Business magazine reported
that the singer earned over five million dollars from these boutiques. Selena
also made appearances alongside Erik Estrada in a Latin soap opera titled Dos
Mujeres, Un Camino.
Selena and her band continued to receive accolades; Billboard's Premio Lo
Nuestro awarded them six prestigious awards including Best Latin Artist and Song
of the Year for "Como La Flor". Coca-Cola released a commemorative bottle in her
honor to celebrate their five-year relationship. Meanwhile, her duet with the
Barrio Boyzz, "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 Salvadoran 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, replacing Gloria Estefan's Mi Tierra on the chart's
number one spot. It sold over 400,000 copies by March 1995, reaching gold status.
At this point, Selena developed plans to record an English-language album, but
continued to tour for Amor Prohibido while beginning preparations for the 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. In February 1995, Selena
played a concert at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in the Houston
Astrodome, which attracted over 61,000 fans—more than country stars such as
George Strait, Vince Gill and Reba McEntire. Despite her busy schedule,
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. and
planned a fundraising concert to help AIDS patients. These demonstrations of
community involvement won her loyalty from her fan base. Selena scheduled
her English album for release in the summer of 1995. Afraid that her fans would
think she was turning her back on them, she was working on a new Tejano album as
well. Meanwhile, she planned to open two more boutiques including one in
Monterrey, Mexico.
In early 1995, the Quintanillas discovered that Yolanda Saldivar, the president
of Selena's fan club and the manager of her boutiques, was stealing money from
the boutiques and decided to fire her. Soon after the fallout, Selena agreed to
meet Saldívar in a Days Inn hotel in Corpus Christi on the morning of March
31, 1995 to retrieve paperwork for tax purposes.
At the hotel, Selena demanded the missing financial papers. Saldivar delayed the
handover by claiming she had been raped in Mexico. The singer drove Saldivar
to a local hospital where doctors found no evidence of rape. Saldivar
returned to the motel where Selena again demanded the missing financial papers.
An argument ensued and Saldivar drew a gun from her purse, pointing it first at
her own head and then at Selena. As the singer turned and left the room,
Saldivar shot her once in the back. Selena fled to the manager's office in the
lobby for help, with Saldivar chasing her, calling her a "bitch". Before
collapsing to the floor, Selena named Saldivar as her assailant and gave the
room number where she had been shot. After an ambulance and the police
arrived on the scene, Selena was transported to a local hospital. She died there
from loss of blood at 1:05 p.m., at the age of 23.