Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

SELENA

(b Selena Quintanilla Pérez, 16 April 1971, Lake Jackson TX; d 31 March 1995, Corpus Christi TX) Singer in Tejano, a Tex-Mex fusion originally of the bajo sexto (large acoustic bass guitar) and the accordion (see Tex-Mex) which has taken on more modern sounds in recent years. Her father Abraham Quintanilla Jr formed Los Dinos early '60s ('the guys') to promote the family's restaurant; she started singing with them at age eight and rose to fame in Tejano's late-'80s crossover from its traditional Texan territory into the wider USA Latino, Mexican and Latin American markets. Capitol/EMI snapped her up in the '90s, albums including Ven Conmigo '91, Entre A Mi Mundo '92 (her first with top billing); she won a Grammy '94 for her album Live '93 and she and Los Dinos were winners in seven categories at the Tejano Music Awards '95 inclluding 'Best Female Entertainer' and 'Record of the Year' for Grammy-nominated Amor Prohibido '94. The modernized synthesizer-rich Tejano sound she and Los Dinos delivered included her brother bassist/prod./composer Abe Quintanilla III, husband Chris Pèrez on lead guitar, sister Suzette on drums. She appeared in the movie Don Juan de Marco '94 starring Marlon Brando.

In March '95 she was shot in the back at close range; a woman former business associate (founder of her fan club) was convicted and sentenced to life. In August her compilation album Dreaming Of You included four recent tracks in English (including a duet with David Byrne; she had been working on an English album) entered the US chart at no. 1, selling 175,000 copies the first day, 1.5 million in a week, the fastest-selling album in USA history by a female artist. In death she became a pantheistic deity, like Elvis: 600 baby girls were named after her in six months, Texas governor George W. Bush named 16 April '95 (Easter Sunday, her birthday) El dia de Selena and there was talk of a Hollywood movie, a statue and a plaza in Corpus Christi and a postage stamp to go with the slippers, plastic bracelets, shampoos etc. Her family had been in the USA for a century and her first language had been English, but her father saw to it that she learned Spanish because she would do better in that market; after her death, in la frontera (a country the capital of which is Tijuana) youngsters saw her ghost and prayed to her.