From the
Selena Quintanilla-Perez was born on April 16, 1971 in Lake Jackson, Texas. Along with her two older siblings, she formed a band and played at their family鈥檚 restaurant and other small venues.
While she sang Spanish-language songs, Selena couldn鈥檛 speak or read Spanish in those early years. Instead, she learned the songs phonetically.
In 1981, an oil bust forced the family to close their restaurant and move to Corpus Christi. Around this time, the family group, 鈥淪elena y Los Dinos,鈥� became the family鈥檚 sole support under the management of Selena鈥檚 father, Abraham Quintanilla.
Selena Y Los Dinos toured across South Texas. One of their big breaks was appearing on in Corpus, which showcased rising and established Tejano music acts.
At 15, Selena won the Tejano Music Award for female vocalist of the year. It would be the first of many in her career.
A couple of years later EMI Records signed her 鈥� their first artist in a new Latin music division. In an extra interview for the 鈥淪elena鈥� movie DVD, Jos茅 Behar, an EMI executive, talked about what he saw in the teenager.
鈥淚 came to the realization that the world wanted to see Selena and not Los Dinos,鈥� he said in the interview. 鈥淣o disrespect to Los Dinos, but the world, internationally, they wanted Selena.鈥�
The following year, Selena鈥檚 鈥淏aila Esta Cumbia鈥� skyrocketed on the charts, particularly in Mexico. Her father, Abraham, was also interviewed for the Selena movie.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think that Selena ever knew how big she was getting,鈥� he said in the interview. 鈥淚n fact, everywhere that we went to play like we鈥檙e waiting for show time and we鈥檙e sitting in the bus and she鈥檚 worried whether people are going to come. And I kept telling her, 鈥榠t鈥檚 packed inside.鈥欌��
In 1994, Selena鈥檚 鈥淟ive鈥� won a grammy for best Mexican-American Album of the year. Many of the songs were written by Selena鈥檚 older brother, A.B. Quintanilla. Selena told a Univisi贸n program, Tejano USA, about the thrill of being nominated.
鈥淲hen they first told us that we were nominated we all freaked out. We couldn鈥檛 believe it,鈥� she said in the interview. 鈥淭he first thing came to mind was 鈥業 have to take a camera so I can take pictures with all these stars.鈥� It didn鈥檛 hit me 鈥檛il later 鈥� 鈥榳hat if we win?鈥欌��
In March 1995 Selena was murdered in Corpus Christi by the president of her fan club.
Her bilingual English-Spanish album 鈥淒reaming of You鈥� was released July 1995 and became the first Tejano album to reach number 1 on Billboard charts. In 1997, was released, with Jennifer Lopez playing Selena.
Nearly 30 years later, Selena Quintanilla remains popular. Her music is still played and her likeness, often with a rose, may be seen on T-shirts and other memorabilia. In 2021, Selena was awarded the Recording Academy鈥檚 Lifetime Achievement Award.
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