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Selena Quintanilla Perez

by Sabrina from Manhattan

Selena Quintanilla Perez was a beloved female Mexican singer. As a little girl, when she was 8 she started singing at weddings, restaurants and parties/family gatherings. She started first singing when her dad abraham Quintanilla had formed a group with her, her sister Suzette, and their brother AB Quintanilla the band was called Los Dinos. Their dad knew and had a feeling when they became older they would make it big in the music business.

Abraham later opened his own Mexican restaurant named Papa Gayos, where the kids performed for the costumers. Soon after the restaurant was shut down and went into bankrupt. When Selena was 12, she and the band released their first LP record. After that her band became bigger. They later interviewed guitar players for the band and backup singers. During one of the interviews she met a guitar player name Chris Perez. She later started dating him and they fell in love instantly, Chris became the group's guitar player for Selena y Los Dinos. When her father found out that they were seeing each other, he did not approve of their love for each other or their relationship. He was so upset and angry that he kicked Chris out of the band and told him he could never see Selena again.

Selena Quintanilla Perez (Google Images (Nabeel Abbasi))
Selena Quintanilla Perez (Google Images (Nabeel Abbasi))

Abraham thought that Chris just went with Selena because she was pretty, rich, and smart. He also said that Selena would just throw her career away and all that she worked for growing up as a child. Even though her dad had forbidden them to see each other and threatened to disband the group, Chris and Selena still managed to see each other. No matter what they were going through or what Abraham said, they were both fully committed to Selena y Los Dinos. She loved to sing and she never let her fans down. Her fans called her the Mexican Madonna.

When Selena became famous everybody loved her, she worked long and hard for what she had. Later on after making it big in the music business she married her boyfriend and guitar player Chris Perez. She knew that her dad Abraham Quintanilla would not approve of the marriage, so they got married without telling her father and against his will. When her father found out, she thought he would be so mad and disappointed in her. When she sat down and talked to him about it he said he was scared of losing her, he was not mad. He told her he was happy she went and got married.

Soon after they got married Selena wanted kids. She said she would still sing and have a career in music. If she had kids she wanted to take them on the road with her, since it was a family business. Sadly she didn't get to have kids. Selena's career came to an end on March 31, 1995, at age 23, when the president of her fan club, Yolanda Saldivar murdered her in a motel room in Corpus Christi,Texas. Selena was meeting her to recover missing records and stolen money. Yolanda became angry with her and didn't want to lose Selena as a friend, Saldivar shot Selena in the back, claiming she was going to commit suicide, piercing an artery leading from her heart and killing her. Saldivar claimed that in an attempt to end her own life she accidentally shot Selena, but the jury at her trial did not believe her; she was found guilty of murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole in 2025.

Selena may accomplish in death what had been her biggest dream in life: achieving crossover success in the pop music world. On July 18, EMI/EMI Latin will release "Dreaming of You". The album is a collection of some on the singer's biggest Spanish hits along with four new English songs she recorded just before her death, two mariachi songs and a bilingual duet. Her family is still mortified by her death. They said they will never forget her and what she did for her fans in the music business.

Page created on 10/21/2013 12:00:00 AM

Last edited 10/21/2013 12:00:00 AM

The beliefs, viewpoints and opinions expressed in this hero submission on the website are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs, viewpoints and opinions of The MY HERO Project and its staff.

Related Links

The Clip of Selena Youtube - Selena Quintanilla Perez
Selena Website - Information about Selena
Selena Website - Information about Selena
2nd youtube clip of Selena - Biography 2 Min. video

Extra Info



I am Selena,
I loved to sing,
I was married,
I have a brother & sister,
I loved music,
I was 23 when i died,
I loved all of my fans,
I have been dead for 17 years,
I was Murdered,
I am Selena