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Biography

This biography of Selena Quintanilla will take you through the life of a star who left an indelible mark in music and in the hearts of millions of people.

Fotografía de Selena Quintanilla cuando era niña, sonriendo frente a un fondo de libros ,incluida en su biografía

Selena was born on April 16, 1971 in Lake Jackson, Texas. She didn't come from a famous family or a neighborhood with a secure future. She was the youngest daughter of Abraham and Marcella Quintanilla, two parents who met at the coffee shop where she worked. Nothing seemed to indicate that this little girl would become an international figure. But from a very young age, she had something that is not taught: a voice that attracted attention without the need to shout.

Fotos de la familia Quintanilla cuando cantaban en el restaurante

His first stage was the family restaurant, Parrotswhere her father discovered that his daughter could silence an entire room with just a couple of sung phrases. And when the restaurant closed, they didn't close the plans: invented a band, a dream, and a road routine.. Selena y Los Dinos started with a drum kit in the hands of her sister Suzette, a bass for her brother A.B., and many hours of rehearsal in the garage.

Selena siendo una niña cuando cantaba en el restaurante

By the age of nine he was singing professionally. She didn't know Spanish well - she learned it by ear - but she connected with Tejano music as if it were written on her skin. In a genre dominated by men, with macho lyrics and traditional styles, a girl singing cumbias in Spanish sounded like a revolution. At first it wasn't easy: doors were closed to her for being a woman, for being young, for being "different". But that didn't stop her.

Portada del álbum Selena de 1989 con la cantante vestida de forma estilizada frente a un fondo artístico

During the 1980s, Selena went from playing weddings and fairs to recording albums with a local label. At 15, she won her first major award at the Tejano Music Awards. But the big stages still seemed far away. It wasn't until he signed with EMI in 1989 that his career picked up real speed. That year he released his first studio album on the new label: “Selena”, simply.

From there, his career grew like a flame that no one could extinguish. Record after record, he refined his style: Tejano, pop, ballads, cumbia. Songs like «Baila Esta Cumbia», "No Me Queda Más" o «Like the Flower.» were not only played on the radio: they were part of the identity of a generation of young Latinos who finally saw themselves reflected.

But Selena didn't stop at music. She wanted to design clothes, open boutiques, learn more. At 20 she already had her own label, and at 23, she was secretly married to her band's guitarist, Chris Perez, with whom she lived a simple love story, far from the spotlight. She was famous, but she was still that girl who laughed backstage, who hugged fans with the same energy with which she went on stage.

To learn more about Selena Quintanilla's life, you can visit her full biography at https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selena

Your final show was at the Houston Astrodome in 1995. He sang in front of more than 60,000 people wearing a purple jumpsuit that ended up being part of his legend. Nobody knew it would be her last time on stage. Neither did she.

On March 31 of that same year, Selena was murdered by Yolanda Saldívar, the president of her fan club and former manager of her boutiques. It was an absurd, sudden, violent death. It was an abrupt cut to a life that was still taking off. He was only 23 years old.