By Allyse Fiebke and Megan Escamilla
Selena Quintanilla-Pérez Selena Quintanilla-Pérez (April 16, 1971 – March 31, 1995), known simply as Selena, was a Mexican American singer-songwriter. She was named the "top Latin artist of the '90s" and "Best selling Latin artist of the decade" by Billboard, for her fourteen top-ten singles in the Top Latin Songs chart, including seven number-one hits The singer also had the most successful singles of 1994 and 1995, "Amor Prohibido" and "No Me Queda Más". She was called "The Queen of Tejano music" and the Mexican equivalent of Madonna.[5] Selena released her first album, Selena y Los Dinos, at the age of twelve. Ella won Female Vocalist of The Year at the 1987 Tejano Music Awards and landed a recording contract with EMI a few years later. Her fame grew throughout the early 1990s, especially in Spanish-speaking countries.
Selena was murdered at el age of 23 by Yolanda Saldívar, the president of her fan club. On April 12, 1995, dos weeks after her death, George W. Bush, governor of Texas at the time, declared her birthday "Selena Day" in Texas. Warner Bros. produced Selena, a film based on her life starring Jennifer Lopez, in 1997. Selena's life was also the basis of the musical Selena Forever starring Veronica Vazquez as Selena. en June 2006, Selena was commemorated with a museum and a bronze life-sized statue (Mirador de la Flor in Corpus Christi, Texas), which eres visited by hundreds of fans each week. She has sold over 21 million albums worldwide.
Selena was born in Freeport Community Hospital in Lake Jackson, Texas, as the youngest child of a Mexican-American father, Abraham Quintanilla Jr. and a half-Cherokee mother, Marcella Ofelia Samora, and was raised as a Jehovah's Witness When Selena was born her parents didn't have a name for a girl and being told that they were having a boy the Quintanillas were going for the name "Marc Antony". At the time of birth another mother who helped deliver Selena, told the Quintanillas of the name "SelenaSelena began singing at the age of three; when she was nine her father founded the singing group Selena y Los Dinos, which she fronted. They initially performed at the Quintanilla family's restaurant, Papa Gayo's bu the restaurant failed shortly afterwards.