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10 Interesting facts about Selena Quintanilla

Selena Quintanilla was an American Icon born on April 16^th, 1971, in Lake Jackson, Texas. She was an American singer, model, and actress who rose to fame in the 1990s. Quintanilla began her singing career at the age of 10 when she used to perform in a band called Selena y Los Dinos. The band which was managed by his father, Abraham Quintanilla also included her elder brother A.B Quintanilla who played bass and her elder sister Suzette Quintanilla who played the drums. The band Selena y Los Dinos released six albums before Selena Started her solo career in 1989. She was referred to as the “Queen of Tejano Music” because she sang her true form of Tejano, which consisted of a touch of pop and country music.

Unfortunately, Selena’s career was cut short when she was murdered by her friend, Yolanda Saldivar who used to be the president of her fun club. Selena is still celebrated today because she is honoured and lives in people’s hearts through her legendary music. This article is going to focus on the main facts about the late Iconic Singer to provide the reader with more relevant information.

1. She is an award-winning artist

In 1987, Selena won the Tejano Music Award for Female Vocalist of the year, which she won nine consecutive times. This award was the one which brought her breakthrough in music. Previously, she was denied bookings to perform Tejano music in venues across Texas. In 1990, her album Ven Conmigo was the first Tejano record to receive gold status and sold more than 500,000 copies. Selena won the Grammy Award for her album Live which was the best Mexican-American album in 1994.

2. Selena is remembered annually on Selena Day

Selena Day is celebrated on her birthday, April 16. This date was marked by George W. Bush the then Governor of Texas, shortly after Selena’s death. Ana-Maria a Dallas Democrat also wanted to make the date an annual remembrance but unfortunately, the bill was never passed. A museum in Corpus Christi has continued to hold the details of her life and musical achievements together with her beloved clothes and collection of Faberge eggs which she had owned.

3. She has a star on the Hollywood walk of fame

The Hollywood walk of fame is a historic landmark which has more than 2700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars. Selena was honoured to be on the Hollywood walk of fame on November 3, 2017. She is represented in the 2,622^nd star, located at the 1750N. Vine Street, in front of the historic Capitol Records Building. At the star ceremony, a record was broken when 4,500 came out to celebrate and honour Selena together with her family, widower Chris Perez and a Corpus Christi native, Eva Longoria.

4. She was murdered by a friend whom she trusted.

Yolanda Saldivar murdered Selena on March 31, 1995. Yolanda came into Selena’s life after she had approached her manager who was her father in founding Selena’s fan club. She started managing the fan club together with Selena’s clothing stores in San Antonio and Corpus Christi. Yolanda had previously shown signs of disturbed behaviours because she had a criminal record and had been embezzling funds. It was on this very day that Selena approached Yolanda in a hotel about money that had gone missing. Yolanda had brought in a gun and she fired it at Selena. Hotel guests reported that they had them quarrelling and they further said Selena told Saldivar that she could no longer be trusted.

Yolanda was captured when she was about to escape and she threatened the police force that she would kill herself but was persuaded to just give herself up. She was then convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.

5. She wanted to be a fashion designer

Selena was known for her unique style of fashion. She used to make her own clothes by styling them with accessories like beads to change their look. She was even talking about becoming a fashion designer but maybe this dream was not achieved because of her sudden early death. She was even referred to as the Mexican American version of Madonna because of her distinctive clothing style, exploiting her femineity and sexuality. Selena enjoyed performing in the pieces of clothes she created.

6. There is a film about Selena’s life and career.

In 1997, Warner Bros released a film that featured Selena’s life and career. It opens with a performance and then it takes the audience back to when Selena had formed a band with his siblings and how they used to perform. It also features the moments when Selena had live performances and when she received several awards such as the Grammy Awards. The film starred the iconic singer, Jennifer Lopez who acted as the eponymous heroine and James Edward Olmos who played Selene’s father. Gregory Nava was the director of the film and it was produced and released with the family’s full cooperation.

7. She majored in business administration.

Selena dropped out of school when she was in the eighth grade to pursue her career in music. His father was the one who took her out of school because he had seen so much potential in her musical journey. This made the teachers to be so angry that they threatened to report Selena’s father. Selena’s father told them to mind their business. At seventeen, Selena got her high school diploma from the American School of Correspondence in Chicago. She was then accepted at Louisiana State University. Selena later majored in business administration as her major subject at Pacific Western University.

8. Selena contributed back to her community.

Selena was not hesitant to give back to the community as she donated and even spoke to the young people. She used to insist on the importance of getting a high school diploma when she visited several schools in Texas. She also encouraged students to follow their dreams and focus on their studies. She also told them that they should refrain from indulging in alcohol and drugs. She was appointed as Coca-Cola spokesman in Texas. Selena gave a free concert for Texas students and she donated $2500 to school programs in 1993.

9. She married her first love secretly

Chris Perez who was her band’s lead guitarist became Selena’s first lover. They wanted to get married but Selena’s father did not approve of Chris marrying her daughter. The couple eloped because Selena feared that her father would not support the wedding and would even try to cancel it. In 1992 they got married secretly and she became Selena Quintanilla Perez. With love, Chris wrote to Quintanilla describing their life together in 2012 and it has remained to be part of the Selena Quintanilla legacy.

10. Selena’s first language was English

Although Selena is known for singing in Spanish, she had to learn the language because her first language growing up was English. She learned the words first before speaking Spanish fluently. Her father was the creator of this idea and she told her to sing in Spanish to widen her audience in the Mexican American Community. Selena even managed to bring the Tejano music genre which is a type of music that has a mixture of pop and country sounds, into mainstream music, partly by giving it a more pop-based edge. She lived giving the Tejano music genre a much wider audience.

Check out this article on the ten famous singers from Texas Here