The Queen of Tejano who crossed every border—language, genre, and generation—with a voice and spirit that refused to be contained.
Selena Quintanilla-Pérez was born on April 16, 1971, in Lake Jackson, Texas. The daughter of a musician father, she began performing at age nine, singing in Spanish despite growing up English-dominant. By her teens she had won Female Vocalist of the Year at the Tejano Music Awards—a record she would extend to nine consecutive wins. Her 1994 album Amor Prohibido became the best-selling Latin album of that year. She was breaking into mainstream pop—her first English-language album was in production—when she was shot and killed by the founder of her fan club on March 31, 1995, at 23. Her funeral drew 30,000 mourners. Dreaming of You, released posthumously, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200—the first album by a Latin artist to achieve this. She remains one of the most influential Latin artists in American history.
“I've always believed that if you work hard, you will be rewarded.”
“Anything is possible if you've got enough nerve—and talent.”
Shattered the ceiling for Latin artists in mainstream American music and became an enduring symbol of bicultural identity for generations of Latinos.
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