Selena
October 10, 2022
We can’t celebrate the Hispanic impact on American culture without celebrating the “Queen of Tejano music” herself, Selena! Selena Quintanilla-Pérez’s contributions to music and fashion made her one of the most celebrated Mexican-American entertainers of the late 20th century. Billboard magazine named her the greatest female Latin artist of all time and she is credited for catapulting a music genre into the mainstream market.
Selena released Entre a Mi Mundo (1992), which peaked at number one on the US Billboard Regional Mexican Albums chart for eight consecutive months. The album’s commercial success led music critics to call it the “breakthrough” recording of her musical career. One of its singles, “Como la Flor”, became one of her most popular signature songs. Live! (1993) won Best Mexican/American Album at the 1994 Grammy Awards, becoming the first recording by a female Tejano artist to do so.
Unfortunately, on March 31, 1995, Selena’s life ended when she was shot and killed by Yolanda Saldívar, her friend and the former manager of her Selena Etc. boutiques. Two weeks later, George W. Bush, then-governor of Texas, declared April 16 as Selena Day in Texas. Her posthumous crossover album, Dreaming of You (1995), debuted atop the Billboard 200, making Selena the first Latin artist to accomplish this feat. In 1997, Warner Bros. released Selena, a film about her life and career, which starred a then-unknown Jennifer Lopez as Selena, catapulting Lopez into fame. In 2020, Netflix released Selena: The Series starring Christian Serratos. Selena has sold around 18 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling female artists in Latin music.
