History Music / Selena

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

** Also, [[WhatSongWasThisAgain "Fotos Y Recuerdos]]", inspired by [[Music/{{Pretenders}} The Pretenders']] "Back on the Chain Gang".

A [[Series/SelenaTheSeries series]] detailing Selena's life premiered on Netflix in December 2020. She is portrayed by ''Series/TheWalkingDead'' alumna Creator/ChristianSerratos. Maria Garcia's podcast [[https://www.npr.org/2021/02/04/964092428/the-podcast-anything-for-selena-tells-a-story-larger-than-the-artists-life Anything for Selena]] illustrates how Garcia shaped her own identity out of the inspiration of Selena's life.

* ButNotTooForeign: Selena wasn't Mexican but Mexican-''American'', which added to her crossover appeal in the U.S. That she wasn't just American but ''Mexican''-American made her more acceptable in Mexico.

* GratuitousSpanish: Whispered lines like "Mi amor, cómo te extraño" in "Dreaming of You" and in a lot of the other English songs on that album.

Selena Quintanilla-Pérez (April 16, 1971 - March 31, 1995), known to the world as Selena, was an American singer-songwriter from [[UsefulNotes/OtherCitiesInTexas Corpus Christi, Texas.]] Selena's father, an ex-musician, recognized her talent as a vocalist early on, formed his family into a band, and made her the frontman -- er, woman. [[BandOfRelatives The group]], known as Selena y Los Dinos ([[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Selena and the Guys]]), played Tejano / Tex-Mex music at small time gigs all over Texas while recording several independent albums. In 1989, Selena signed with Creator/{{EMI}} Latin and her individual career spun off from Los Dinos; her self-titled debut album appeared that year. Her second album, ''Ven Conmigo,'' was the first Tejano album by a woman ever to earn a Latin Gold certification. 1992 saw the release of ''Entre A Mi Mundo,'' and the single "Como La Flor," which became one of her signature songs. Her annual domination of the Tejano Music Awards, and the Grammy win for ''Selena Live!,'' cemented Selena's status as a Tejano legend. Four songs off of 1994's ''Amor Prohibido'' -- the title track, "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom," "No Me Queda Más," and "Techno Cumbia" -- topped the Billboard Latin Charts within a single year, and brought Selena, and Tejano music, widespread popularity in Latin America. Her rising success caught the eye of big name producers, who felt she was ready for an English language crossover album; in 1995, Selena began working on ''Dreaming of You.''

A [[Series/SelenaTheSeries series]] detailing Selena's life premiered on Netflix in December 2020. She is portrayed by ''Series/TheWalkingDead'' alumni, Creator/ChristianSerratos. Maria Garcia's podcast [[https://www.npr.org/2021/02/04/964092428/the-podcast-anything-for-selena-tells-a-story-larger-than-the-artists-life Anything for Selena]] illustrates how Garcia shaped her own identity out of the inspiration of Selena's life.

* FlowerMotifs: "Como La Flor," of course.

** Also, [[WhatSongWasThisAgain "Fotos Y Recuerdos]]," inspired by [[Music/{{Pretenders}} The Pretenders']] "Back on the Chain Gang."

* AWildRapperAppears: Subverted by Selena doing the rapping herself in "Techno Cumbia" and "Enamorada de Ti."

* IconicOutfit: Her Astrodome attire. It consists of the purple jumpsuit with the bell bottoms, her RapunzelHair with the feathered bangs, a bandage on her left index finger, and most famously, the lipstick-stained microphone. It is her most famous outfit worldwide and is the one outfit that anyone who knows of Selena will recognize.

Selena's shocking death, and the wildly successful crossover album ''Dreaming of You,'' released the summer after she died, have made Selena [[DeadArtistsAreBetter more famous in death than in life]] outside the Spanish speaking world. But Selena has been credited with raising the profile of Tejano music, and many of her songs are now part of the Latin music canon. The success of her crossover album helped pave the way for the "Latin Invasion" in the late '90s -- a group that included Music/JenniferLopez, whose portrayal of Selena in the [[Film/{{Selena}} Selena 1997 biopic]] is considered her [[StarMakingRole breakout role]]. To date, Selena has sold over 60 million records worldwide. Many Mexican-Americans still revere her as a folk hero.[[note]]Even in the U.S., [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Selena#Impact response to her death]] was massive.[[/note]] Pretty impressive for someone who never took singing lessons and, for most of her life, [[{{Irony}} wasn't even fluent in Spanish.]]

* BigEater: Selena once told the Mexican talk show host Cristina that she could polish off a whole medium pizza by herself.

* DeadArtistsAreBetter: Accounts for the success and some of the critical acclaim for ''Dreaming of You'', as well as her posthumous image.

!!Discography:

* ''Ven Conmigo'' (1990)
* ''Entre a Mi Mundo'' (1992)
* ''Selena Live!'' (1993)
* ''Amor Prohibido'' (1994)

Selena's shocking death, and the wildly successful crossover album ''Dreaming of You,'' released the summer after she died, have made Selena [[DeadArtistsAreBetter more famous in death than in life]] outside the Spanish speaking world. But Selena has been credited with raising the profile of Tejano music, and many of her songs are now part of the Latin music canon. The success of her crossover album helped pave the way for the "Latin Invasion" in the late '90s -- a group that included Music/JenniferLopez, whose portrayal of Selena in the [[Film/{{Selena}} Selena 1997 biopic]] is considered her [[StarMakingRole breakout role]]. To date, Selena has sold over 60 million records worldwide. Many Mexican-Americans still revere her as a folk hero. Pretty impressive for someone who never took singing lessons and, for most of her life, [[{{Irony}} wasn't even fluent in Spanish.]]

A [[Series/SelenaTheSeries series]] detailing Selena's life premiered on Netflix in December 2020. She is portrayed by ''Series/TheWalkingDead'' alumni, Creator/ChristianSerratos.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Almost certainly unintentional by Selena, but her duet partner [[Music/TalkingHeads David Byrne]] has said that he wrote "God's Child" about Latino transvestites who lived near him in NYC.