Selena Quintanilla

Ke' Asha Reed

Selena Quintanilla was born April 16, 1971 in Lake House, Texas to Abraham and Marcella Quintanilla. Selena began singing at the age of three and at the age of nine, her father, Abraham, formed a group including Selena and her siblings named Selena y Los Dinos. The group started singing in a family owned restaurant and shortly after they moved to Corpus Christi, Texas and performed all over the city. Over the next few years, Selena began to gain a following and in 1985 she recorded her first album. In 1989, she was signed to Capitol/BMI and one year later In she released her debut album Ven Commigo, which was the first Tejano album released by a female to reach gold status. Her album Selena Live earned Selena her first Grammy and in 1994 Selena and her band won six Billboard awards, including Best Latin Artist and Song of the Year for, “Como La Flor”. She was at the peak of her career, and that point she was being referred to as “The Queen of Tejano Music”.  During that time, a woman by the name of Yolanda Salvidar approached Selena’s father about starting a fan club. When her father agreed, Yolanda became the president of the club. As Yolanda and Selena grew closer, Selena gave her more responsibility. Yolanda began to manage Selena’s fashion boutiques located in Corpus Christi and San Antonia, Texas. In 1995, Selena was set to release her first English album. Unfortunately, she would not live to see that day. In early 1995, the Quintanilla’s found out that Yolanda Salvidar was embezzling money from Selena’s fan club and they fired her. Weeks later, on March 31^st, Selena went to meet Salvidar at a local Days Inn motel to get financial records from her. Salvidar had been refusing to handover the records, and the two got into an argument. In the midst of the argument, Salvidar pulled a pistol from her purse, pointed it at Selena, and shot her in her right shoulder. She was rushed to the hospital, but doctors were not able to save her. She died at the age of 23, just two weeks from her birthday. Her death made a huge impact. Her funeral held over 60,000 fans and the same year she was inducted into the Latin Music Hall of Fame. April 16^th is now “Selena day” in Texas. That summer, Dreaming of You, her first English album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200, making her the first Hispanic artist to do so. It was also the second highest debut after Michael Jackson’s HIStory. In October 1995, Yolanda Salvidar was charged with first degree murder, and sentenced to life with eligible for parole in 30 years. Selena’s legacy still lives on; she has sold 60 million records world-wide, making her one of the best selling artists of all time. She is commemorated with a life sized statue in Corpus Christi and a Selena museum. In 1997, Warner Bros. released a film based on her life which starred Jennifer Lopez.

Sources: Biography.com, Selena: The Movie