When she died fatal death at the age of 23, Selena Quintanilla, also known as Selena–was an iconic American figure. The singer was born in Lake Jackson, Texas, on the 16th of April in 1971 and was raised in Corpus Christi. Explore some amazing Facts about Selena Quintanilla here!
Selena began her professional career at 10 when she was performing alongside the rest of her family in Selena y Los Dinos, the group that her father ran, Abraham Quintanilla Jr. Due to her apparent musical aptitude, Abraham–much to the dismay of some of her teachers to remove his daughter from school in the 8th grade to concentrate on her music career full-time.
In 1989, EMI Latin signed Selena to their label Capitol Records, offering her double the fee for signing. However, her career was cut in the following year in the year she lost her life to Yolanda Saldivar, an obsessive fan turned employee. Nearly 25 years later, her influence is still felt. She’s sold over 30 million albums and is often known as”the “Queen of Tejano Music.”
Earlier this year, a collaboration inspired by Selena in partnership with MAC cosmetics was sold out within a matter of hours. On the 4th of December, Netflix dropped Selena: The Series. These indicate the extent of Selena’s popularity in both Spanish and English-speaking markets.
Facts About Selena Quintanilla
Here are some amazing facts about Selena Quintanilla that you have a look at! Let’s get started.
1. The 16th of April in 1995 marked Selena Day in Texas.
Within a couple of weeks of her passing away, George W. Bush, Texas’s governor, officially declared the 16th of April, 1995 –which could have marked Selena’s birthday birth date–as Selena Day for The Lone Star State. In the past, Dallas Democrat Ana-Maria Ramos wanted to make the day an annual commemoration. In February 2019, Ramos introduced House Bill 2492 to the Texas State Legislator. It would be announcing the 16th of April as Selena Quintanilla-Perez day in Selena’s home state of Texas. The bill was not passed.
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2. Singing was not the only one of Selena’s many talents or occupations.
Apart from performing, Selena was a composer, producer, designer, producer, and model. When she died, she owned two clothing boutiques in Texas and was known as Selena Etc, each with a full-service hair salon. Her distinctive dark lipstick, large hair, large-sized jeans, and flashy jumpsuits have earned Selena the title “Tejano Madonna.” A number of her clothes can be seen in the Selena Museum’s permanent collection in Corpus Christi, Texas.
3. While in college, Selena was a business administrator. This skill was useful throughout her varied career.
After obtaining an honorary diploma from high school at the American School of Correspondence when she was 17, Selena was accepted into Pacific Western University as a business administration major. Although she initially left school in eighth grade to concentrate on her career path, she was able to graduate from high school before turning 18 and was also admitted to Louisiana State University.
4. Selena was the very first big artist to record both English and Spanish.
Selena is regarded as the first major singer to sing the two languages of English and Spanish. This is among the factors that make her ” Tex-Mex.” But she didn’t learn to speak Spanish, but she discovered it in her teens–at the suggestion of her father, manager, to make her debut song.
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5. Selena is believed to have pioneered the creation of a genre of music that was bilingual.
Selena is popularly referred to as “the “queen of cumbia” because she was among the first performers to sing in the tecno cumbia style, which included disco beats and hip-hop moves. Numerous music historians and music critics believe that without Selena her success, the success enjoyed by today’s bilingual reggaeton singers could not have been achieved. Selena was the first major recording artist to sing both English and Spanish.
6. The album by Selena’s Amor Prohibido has received some significant praise.
Apart from singing, Selena was also a writer and composed her hit single, “Bidi Bidi Bom,”–one among the 4 No. one singles from her album Amor Prohibido (“Forbidden Love.”) NPR ranked Amor Prohibido as No. 19 on its list of 150 best albums produced by women.
7. Selena was the subject of a U.S. postage stamp.
In 2011 in 2011 in 2011, the United States Postal Service paid tribute in honor of Selena through the issue of a tribute “Latin Legend” postage stamp featuring her picture. It was a tribute to the honor Selena shared alongside four other Latino artists: Tito Puente, Carmen Miranda, Carlos Gardel, and Celia Cruz.
8. Selena is awarded the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
In 2017, Selena was honored with an award at the Hollywood Walk of Fame nearly two decades after her demise.
9. The San Diego State University’s School of Journalism and Media Studies offers a course on Selena.
Dr. Nathian Shae Rodriguez, an assistant instructor at San Diego State’s School of Journalism and Media Studies, is the instructor for a class named “Selena and Latinx Media representations.” The description of the class reads like this: “Mediated representations of intersectional Latinx identities through the study of the Tejano artist Selena. Latinx media, audiences, and niche marketing. Historical and contemporary issues of Latinx representation and identity formation/maintenance on digital media.”
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10. A fan-turned-employee murdered Selena she believed in.
On the 31st of March of 1995, Selena was in the room with her old assistant Yolanda Saldivar who was in charge of her Selena Etc. Clothes stores are located in Corpus Christi and San Antonio and work with Selena’s fan group. Selena and Saldivar were experiencing professional and personal problems, and it was reported that Saldivar had swindled greater than $60,000 in Selena’s business. Other guests in the hotel where Saldivar was staying had reported hearing a dispute with the pair of women, and Selena reported to have told Saldivar she couldn’t be believed.
Saldivar was then seen with the gun she purchased two weeks ago and fired it at Selena, who was trying to escape the room. When she fell into the hallway, Selena was able to identify the shooter and shared Saldivar’s name and the room’s number with the hands of the officers.
Friends and associates of former friends have since acknowledged that Saldivar’s affection for Selena has been “obsessive,” describing her home as “shrine-like.” Saldivar initially became involved with Selena’s life when she contacted the manager’s father about forming a Selena Fan Club.
11. Selena’s father spent a long time fighting the laws governing guns in Texas.
Since Selena’s death, her father has fought against Texas’s concealed weapons bill for years. In a 1995 article about his daughter published in Texas Monthly, Quintanilla stated, “We live in an unforgiving world. What can we do to make it more dangerous? Oh my God, everybody’s equipped to the teeth. Anyone can be killed for a second thing.”
12. Selena’s influence is still felt even today.
Even now, Selena is still a significant force in entertainment. She is one of the few female artists with the privilege of having five albums listed on the Billboard 200 — all at once. She remains one of the most successful female performers in Latin music. In 1995, The Dreaming of You, the album she released posthumously, made it onto the Billboard 200. The year 1997 saw Jennifer Lopez star in an autobiography about the singer. The new Netflix program Selena: The Series is the most recent tribute to the singer.
