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Name | Selena |
---|---|
Background | solo_singer |
Birth name | Selena Quintanilla |
Alias | Selena |
Born | April 16, 1971Lake Jackson, Texas, |
Died | March 31, 1995Corpus Christi, Texas, |
Husband | Chris Perez 1992–1995 |
Instrument | Vocals |
Genre | Tejano, Mexican cumbia, Ranchera, Latin pop, Spanish pop, R&B;, Pop |
Occupation | Singer-songwriter, record producer, actress, dancer, model, designer |
Years active | 1982–1995 |
Label | Freddie Records, Cara Records, GP Productions, EMI Latin, Q-Productions, SBK Records |
Associated acts | Selena y Los Dinos, A.B. Quintanilla, Chris Pérez |
Url | www.q-productions.com |
Selena Quintanilla-Pérez (April 16, 1971 – March 31, 1995), known simply as Selena, was a Mexican American singer-songwriter. She was named the "top Latin artist of the '90s" and "Best selling Latin artist of the decade" by Billboard, for her fourteen top-ten singles in the Top Latin Songs chart, including seven number-one hits. The singer also had the most successful singles of 1994 and 1995, "Amor Prohibido" and "No Me Queda Más". She was called "The Queen of Tejano music" and the Mexican equivalent of Madonna. Selena released her first album, Selena y Los Dinos, at the age of twelve. She won Female Vocalist of the Year at the 1987 Tejano Music Awards and landed a recording contract with EMI a few years later. Her fame grew throughout the early 1990s, especially in Spanish-speaking countries.
Selena was murdered at the age of 23 by Yolanda Saldívar, the president of her fan club. On April 12, 1995, two weeks after her death, George W. Bush, governor of Texas at the time, declared her birthday "Selena Day" in Texas. Warner Bros. produced Selena, a film based on her life starring Jennifer Lopez, in 1997. Selena's life was also the basis of the musical Selena Forever starring Veronica Vazquez as Selena. In June 2006, Selena was commemorated with a museum and a bronze life-sized statue (Mirador de la Flor in Corpus Christi, Texas), which are visited by hundreds of fans each week. She has sold over 21 million albums worldwide.
Selena did well in school, but as she grew more popular as a musical performer, the travel demands of her performance schedule began to interfere with her education. Her father pulled her out of school altogether when she was in eighth grade. Selena released her third album, Alpha, in 1986.
Selena and her band continued to receive accolades; Billboard's Premio Lo Nuestro awarded them six prestigious awards including Best Latin Artist and Song of the Year for "Como La Flor". Coca-Cola released a commemorative bottle in her honor to celebrate their five-year relationship. Meanwhile, her duet with the Barrio Boyzz, "Donde Quiera Que Estés", reached number one in the Billboard Latin Charts. This prompted Selena to tour in New York City, Argentina, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Central America. She also did a duet with Salvadoran singer Álvaro Torres, "Buenos Amigos".
By fall of 1994, Amor Prohibido was a commercial success in Mexico and made four number one Latin hits, replacing Gloria Estefan's Mi Tierra on the chart's number one spot. It sold over 400,000 copies by late 1994 in the U.S. and another 50,000 copies in Mexico, reaching gold status. Plans of the album began in 1993, but recording of the album didn't start until March 1995.
In 1995, Selena made a cameo appearance in the romantic comedy Don Juan DeMarco, which starred Marlon Brando, Johnny Depp and Faye Dunaway; she appeared as a background mariachi singer during the first scene. Selena scheduled her English album for release in the summer of 1995. on the morning of March 31, 1995, to retrieve paperwork for tax purposes. At the hotel, Selena demanded the missing financial papers. Saldívar delayed the handover by claiming she had been raped in Mexico. Saldívar returned to the motel where Selena again demanded the missing financial papers. Before collapsing to the floor, Selena named Saldívar as her assailant and gave the room number where she had been shot. After an ambulance and the police arrived on the scene, Selena was transported to a local hospital. She died there from blood loss at 1:05 pm, two weeks before her 24th birthday. The cause of death was internal bleeding and cardiac arrest. Saldívar entered her red pickup truck, where she held police at bay while holding a gun to her left temple. She surrendered peacefully to the police after nine and a half hours. It was front page news on The New York Times for two days after her death. Numerous vigils and memorials were held in her honor, and radio stations in Texas played her music non-stop. People magazine published a commemorative issue in honor of Selena's memory and musical career, titled Selena 1971–1995, Her Life in Pictures. A few days later, Howard Stern mocked Selena's murder and burial, poked fun at her mourners, and criticized her music. Stern said, "This music does absolutely nothing for me. Alvin and the Chipmunks have more soul... Spanish people have the worst taste in music. They have no depth." Stern's comments outraged and infuriated the Hispanic community across Texas. After a disorderly conduct arrest warrant was issued in his name, Stern later made an on-air apology, in Spanish, for his comments. Two weeks after her death, on April 12, George W. Bush, then Governor of Texas, declared Selena's birthday April 16 as "Selena Day" in Texas. and the second highest debut after Michael Jackson's . On its release date, the album sold over 175,000 copies, a record for a female pop singer, and it sold two million copies in its first year. Dreaming of You sold more than 330,000 copies in its first week. The album also was number 75 in the List of BMG Music Club's top selling albums in the United States. Songs such as "I Could Fall in Love" and "Dreaming of You" were played widely by mainstream English-language radio, with the latter reaching number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100. Meanwhile, "I Could Fall in Love", while ineligible for the Hot 100 at the time, reached number 8 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart and the top 10 on the Adult Contemporary Chart. "Dreaming of You" was certified 3x Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. In October 1995, a Houston jury convicted Saldívar of first degree murder and sentenced her to life in prison, with the possibility of parole in thirty years. The gun used to kill Selena was later destroyed and the pieces thrown into Corpus Christi Bay in 2002.
Jennifer Lopez played Selena in a film about her life. Directed by Gregory Nava, the biopic opened with mostly positive reviews. Over 24,000 people auditioned for the leading role in the movie. Selena's fans supported the movie, and Lopez's acting in the film helped elevate her career. Although Lopez succeeded as a pop star a few years later, Selena's voice was dubbed in for all the songs in the movie. For her role, Lopez was nominated for a Golden Globe award for Best Actress in a Musical. Selena was among two other Latin artists who had the best sales of records for the year 1999.
Reliant Stadium in Houston hosted a tribute concert, Selena ¡VIVE!, on April 7, 2005. Held a week after the 10th anniversary of her death, over 65,000 fans attended the concert, which featured high-profile artists including Gloria Estefan, Pepe Aguilar, Thalía, Paulina Rubio, Ana Bárbara, Alejandra Guzmán, Ana Gabriel, and Fey. The artists performed renditions of Selena's music, as did her brother, A.B. Quintanilla, who performed with his band Kumbia Kings backed with footage of Selena singing "Baila Esta Cumbia". Broadcast live on the Univision network, Selena ¡VIVE! is the highest-rated and most-viewed Spanish-language show in American television history. The show, which lasted over three hours, scored a 35.9 Nielsen household rating. The American Bank Center in Corpus Christi named their 2,526-seat concert auditorium, Selena Auditorium, in her memory.
Tejano music has not recovered since the death of Selena Selena has retained great devotion from many fans.
Selena's legacy, music and life have been covered in Oprah Winfrey's The Oprah Winfrey Show, George Lopez's Lopez Tonight, María Celeste Arrarás's Selena's Secret: The Revealing Story Behind Her Tragic Death and various English and Spanish specials that included Dave Holmes, Nick Lachey, Mariah Carey, Lola Ogunnaike who briefly talks about Selena's death. Selena also has been covered in many documentary shows on VH1, MTV and A&E;, such as, E! True Hollywood Story, and Famous Crime Scene. Selena's life was also covered in The Biography Channel's Biography and Notorious. In the Spanish market, Selena's biography usually airs annually around the anniversary of her death on the Univision and Telemundo networks.
Selena's music has been covered in Portuguese (by Sara Tavares), Vietnamese (by Phương Thanh), Finnish (by Meiju Suvas), Tagalog (by Filipino singer, Quamo), Dutch by Kelly Hensen and Spanish by various artists. Various songs have been influenced by and written for Selena, examples: Ana Ortiz, and Hip-Hop rapper, Ice. The soundtrack song "One More Time" was inspired by Selena by Lil' Ray, which was included in the Selena movie soundtrack in 1997. On March 16, 2011, Selena was honored with a U.S. postage stamp, as part of the Latin Legends Collection.
On April 13, 2011, A.B. Quintanilla announced that he will use unreleased a capella tracks of his sister's voice on his upcoming album to help keep her memory alive.
Category:1971 births Category:1995 deaths Category:1980s singers Category:1990s singers Category:A.B. Quintanilla Category:Actors from Texas Category:American child singers Category:American dance musicians Category:American fashion designers Category:American female models Category:American female singers Category:American film actors Category:American folk singers Category:American mezzo-sopranos Category:American murder victims Category:American music video directors Category:American musicians of Mexican descent Category:American people of Mexican descent Category:American people of Cherokee descent Category:American pop singers Category:American record producers Category:American rhythm and blues singers Category:American television actors Category:Capitol Records artists Category:Cumbia musicians Category:Deaths from bleeding Category:Deaths by firearm in Texas Category:English-language singers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Hispanic and Latino American actors Category:Hispanic and Latino American models Category:Latin dance singers Category:Latin pop singers Category:Los Dinos members Category:Mariachi musicians Category:Murdered musicians Category:Murdered entertainers Category:People from Houston, Texas Category:People murdered in Texas Category:Performers of religious music Category:Polka musicians Category:Pop folk singers Category:Ranchera singers Category:Rock en Español musicians Category:Spanish-language singers Category:Tejano pop musicians Category:Tropical musicians
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