Selena Quintanilla was born on April 16, 1971 to Abraham
and Marcella Quintanilla in Lake Jackson, Texas. After learning
that she had much singing talent, her father began to teach her
how to sing in Spanish. Her older sister Suzette already knew how
to play the drums and her older brother A.B. knew how to play the
guitar. Together they formed a family band. They named it "Selena
y Los Dinos". They made their first recording in 1984 when Selena
was just twelve years old. Slowly they started to become famous.
Selena y Los Dinos made their first hit album in 1986. That year
Selena won "Female Vocalist of the Year" and "Performer of the
Year" at the Tejano Music Awards.
In 1992, Selena and Los Dino's guitarrist Chris Perez eloped
after her father had forbid them to see each other. Her family
later welcomed him into the family.
Later she opened "Selena Etc.", two fashion boutiques
located in Texas. Her outstanding concerts and new boutiques
attracted many fans, including Yolanda Saldivar who later
became her fan club president.
In 1994, Selena won a Grammy for "Best Mexican/American
Ablum" for her album "Selena: Live". It was her first time
ever being nominated for a Grammy.
Selena then signed a major world wide English-language
crossover album recording contract. "Dreaming of You", which
was released in 1995, was the only completed album.
In February of 1995, Selena held a record breaking concert
at the Houston Astrodome where over 61,000 fans attended. After
the concert, Selena and her father discovered that Yolanda
Saldivar had been embezzling funds from her boutiques. Selena
went to the hotel at which Yolanda was staying to see if she
had recovered the missing documents. It was said that
the two women argued loudly and Yolanda pulled out a handgun
and shot Selena as she was leaving. Selena ran to the hotel's
lobby where a worker made the 911 call. A badly bleeding Selena
was rushed to Memorial Hospital in Corpus Christi, but unfortunately
could not survive the mass amounts of blood she had lost. She died
March 31, 1995 at 1:05pm.
Although she can no longer sing to us, we must all believe
she is singing to all the other angels in heaven.
©1998 by Amanda
Owner of Selena City
