Selena

American singer

• Born: April 16, 1971
• Birthplace: Lake Jackson, Texas
• Died: March 31, 1995
• Place of death: Corpus Christi, Texas

Hailed as the “Queen of Tejano music,” Selena was among the first female performers to succeed in the male-dominated genre by conquering the hearts of Tejano and Latin American audiences. A successful singer, fashion designer, and entrepreneur, she was preparing to make her debut in the English-language pop market at the time of her death.

Early Life

Selena Quintanilla-Pérez (seh-LEE-nuh KEEN-tah-NEE-yah-PEH-rehz) was born on April 16, 1971, in Lake Jackson, Texas, to Abraham Quintanilla and Marcella Ofelia Samora. Her father performed with the Tejano group Los Dinos in his youth but eventually retired from music to work at the Dow Chemical plant in Lake Jackson. He provided his children with instruments and taught them to play as a family activity and they became Selena y Los Dinos: her brother A. B. played bass, sister Suzette played drums, and Selena acted as lead singer. The band started performing regularly at the family restaurant, Papagayo’s, in 1980, as well as in clubs, local restaurants, and outdoor festivals, making a series of independent recordings starting with Selena y Los Dinos (1984). An excellent student, Selena had to be home schooled because of the demands and time commitment of touring throughout the Southwest when the band became the family’s main source of income. After winning awards for female vocalist of the year and performer of the year at the 1987 Tejano music Awards, Selena was signed to EMI Records and released her first major-label album, Selena, in 1989.

Guitarist Chris Pérez joined the band in 1989, and he and Selena began dating two years later. They were married in 1992. Major-label albums and music videos allowed Selena to reach greater popularity, and her biggest success came with the 1994 release of Amor prohibido. Her appeal rested on the combination of her humble personality, powerful voice, spirited dance moves, and provocative outfits. Even at the peak of her career, the band remained a family affair, with her father acting as manager, brother A. B. writing and producing songs, and her sister and husband playing in the band. Selena designed the band’s costumes. Her strong family ties coupled with her loyalty to her Texan working-class roots made her relatable to fans and earned her their devoted admiration.

Life’s Work

Despite having grown up speaking only English, Selena worked on her Spanish and managed to gain the acceptance of Mexican audiences, who often were unforgiving of Mexican Americans’ Anglo backgrounds. Her popularity spread throughout Latin America and led her to tour Mexico and Central and South America. After the success of Amor prohibido, Selena started branching out into other projects, which included appearances in the Mexican telenovela Dos mujeres, un camino and the film Don Juan de Marco (1994), as well as musical collaborations with the group Barrio Boyzz and singer Alvaro Torres. She also began designing a clothing line and distributing it at her Selena Etc.boutiques throughout Texas. Her star status was clear when she performed at the Houston Astrodome for more than sixty-five thousand people.

Selena met Yolanda Saldivar in 1990 when Saldivar approached her with the idea of starting a fan club. Selena agreed, and Saldivar became the fan club’s president, as well as manager of the Selena Etc. boutiques. In March, 1995, Selena’s father discovered that Saldivar had been embezzling money from the boutiques. While Saldivar denied the accusations, the family decided to fire her. On March 31, Selena met with Saldivar at a Corpus Christi hotel to break the news to her and retrieve important documents that Saldivar had taken; the two argued, and as Selena was leaving, Saldivar shot her in the back. She died later at the hospital. Meanwhile, Saldivar locked herself in her truck in the hotel parking lot for nine hours before surrendering to police. She was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.

At the time of her death, Selena had been working on songs for her English-language debut album, set to be released that summer. The album, titled Dreaming of You (1995), included songs in both Spanish and English and debuted at number one on the Billboard charts. The album sold well, making Selena a crossover success in the mainstream U.S. market.

Selena’s memory is kept alive through myriad commemorations; the events of her life have been the subject of the musical Selena Forever (2000) and the film Selena (1997) starring Jennifer Lopez. Immediately after her death, People magazine produced a commemorative issue dedicated to her, only the third of its kind after issues devoted to Audrey Hepburn and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. George W. Bush, then governor of Texas, declared Selena’s birthday, April 16, Selena Day. The family recording studios in Corpus Christi have been converted into a museum and a life-size statue of the singer was erected at the Mirador de la Flor memorial in Corpus Christi. The iconic outfit she wore at her Astrodome performance has even toured the country as part of the Smithsonian traveling exhibit America’s Smithsonian.

Significance

Selena reached millions of people with her music, many of them Latinas who saw her as a role model. By effectively melding her Anglo American upbringing and Mexican background, without renouncing her Texan working-class roots, she was seen as exemplary of what Latinas could accomplish. Likewise, musically she was able to bridge her two heritages by performing songs steeped in the traditional music of Mexico, yet also infused by elements of Anglo American rock and roll and pop. The public display of her fans’ mourning brought visibility to Hispanic groups in the United States, and her success has been heralded as the beginning of the musical Latin invasion of the late 1990’s.

Bibliography

Koegel, John. “Crossing Borders: Mexicana, Tejana and Chicana musicians in the United States and Mexico.” In From Tejano to Tango, edited by Walter Aaron Clark. New York: Routledge, 2002. Considers the contributions of female performers to the Tejano genre and Selena’s unique role in the genre’s development.

Novas, Himilce, and Rosemary Silva. Remembering Selena: A Tribute in Pictures and Words/Recordando Selena: Un tributo en palabras y fotos. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1995. Bilingual account of Selena’s life and career featuring photos and stories from Selena’s family.

Paredez, Deborah. Selenidad: Selena, Latinos, and the Performance of Memory. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 2009. A scholarly exploration of the emergence of Selena as a Latina icon as seen through diverse practices of memorialization.

Patoski, Joe. Selena: Como la flor. Boston: Little, Brown, 1996. This detailed biography based on personal interviews and newspaper articles recounts Selena’s life and career and remains an authoritative source.

Richmond, Clint. Selena! The Phenomenal Life and Tragic Death of the Tejano Music Queen. New York: Pocket Books, 1995. Bilingual biography that provides the English and Spanish translation side by side and contains previously unreleased photographs.