History Music / Selena

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 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, Christian Serratos.

A [[Series/SelenaTheSeries series]] detailing Selena's life is set to premiere on Netflix in 2020. She will portrayed by ''Series/TheWalkingDead'' alumni, Christian Serratos.

Selena Quintanilla-Pérez (April 16, 1971 - March 31, 1995), known to the world as Selena, was a 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 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.''

[[quoteright:240:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/selena299_1252.png]]

!!Tropes Rrelated to Selena's work:

'''Discography'''

'''Tropes Related to Selena:'''

* DrivenToSuicide: Saldívar was put under suicide watch throughout her conviction for murdering Selena.

* LoonyFan: Yolanda Saldívar, hands down.

* SpeakIllOfTheDead: Master troll Creator/HowardStern got some serious backlash -- and an arrest warrant for disorderly conduct -- for mocking both Selena and her fans (in a fake Latino accent) on his radio show ''three days after she died'': "Spanish people have the worst taste in music... they have no depth." He also played gunshot sounds over her music.

* TitleOnlyChorus: "I Could Fall in Love"

* TranslatedCoverVersion: A cover of a cover: Selena did a Spanish version of A Taste of Honey's "Sukiyaki," which itself is an English cover of Kyu Sakamoto's Japanese hit [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C35DrtPlUbc "Ue O Muite Aroukou"]].

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

* SpeakIllOfTheDead: Master troll HowardStern got some serious backlash -- and an arrest warrant for disorderly conduct -- for mocking both Selena and her fans (in a fake Latino accent) on his radio show ''three days after she died'': "Spanish people have the worst taste in music... they have no depth." He also played gunshot sounds over her music.

'''Selena Quintanilla-Pérez''' (April 16, 1971 - March 31, 1995), known to the world as '''Selena,''' was a 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 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.''

* BandOfRelatives: Los Dinos had Selena on vocals, her brother A.B. on bass, and sister Suzette on drums. Later she married her guitarist Chris Perez, adding him to the family.

* BandOfRelatives: Los Dinos had Selena on vocals, her brother A.B. on bass, and sister Suzette on drums.

'''Selena Quintanilla-Pérez''' (April 16, 1971 - March 31, 1995), known to the world as '''Selena,''' was a singer-songwriter from [[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 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.''

* ListingCities: In "La Tracalera" there's [[OtherCitiesInTexas Corpus Christi, San Antonio, Laredo, Austin, Houston, Dallas, Waco, Victoria...]]

->''"The thing about Selena... like, say, [[Music/BobMarley Bob Marley]], is that she actually put a genre on the map. Millions and millions of Americans would have never heard of Tejano music if it wasn't for Selena."''

-->--'''Nathan Brackett''', ''Magazine/RollingStone''


'''Selena Quintanilla-Pérez''' (April 16, 1971 - March 31, 1995), known to the world as '''Selena''', was a singer-songwriter from [[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 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''.

Meanwhile, Selena did extensive community outreach, launched her own fashion line and fragrances, and opened up a pair of clothing boutiques, called "Selena, Etc." She entrusted most of the business operations to her assistant [[PromotedFanboy Yolanda Saldívar]], who also ran Selena's fan club and slowly worked her way into the band's inner circle. In early 1995, Selena's father raised concerns that Saldívar was controlling access to Selena and embezzling money from the fan club. Selena's initial doubt turned to suspicion as Saldívar held onto important financial documents from the boutiques and refused to hand them over. On the morning of March 31, 1995, Selena met with Saldívar to recover the papers and break off their friendship; as Selena turned to leave, Saldívar pulled a gun and shot Selena in the back, killing her.

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 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]].

-->--'''Nathan Brackett''', ''Rolling Stone''

Meanwhile, Selena did extensive community outreach, launched her own fashion line and fragrances, and opened up a pair of clothing boutiques, called "Selena, Etc." She entrusted most of the business operations to her assistant [[PromotedFanboy Yolanda Saldívar]], who also ran Selena's fan club and slowly worked her way into the band's inner circle. In early 1995, Selena's father raised concerns that Saldívar was controlling access to Selena and embezzling money from the fan club. Selena's initial doubt turned to suspicion as Saldívar held onto important financial documents from the boutiques and refused to hand them over. On the morning of March 31, 1995, Selena met with Saldívar to recover the papers and break off their friendship; as Selena turned to leave, Saldívar produced a gun and shot Selena in the back, killing her.

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 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. Pretty impressive for someone who never took singing lessons and, for most of her life, [[{{Irony}} wasn't even fluent in Spanish]].

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Being a Texan, Selena started off doing country music. To newer/English-speaking fans, some of the '80s-infused Tejano probably counts. Not to mention all the polka.
* FaceOfTheBand: Selena y Los Dinos was Selena... [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin and those guys]].
* FanNickname: The Queen of Tejano/La Reina

* OnlyOneName: Professionally, she was only ever known by her first name.
* PromotedFanboy: Saldívar, who went from being just a fan to Selena's fan club president, to manager of Selena's boutique, Selena's personal assistant, and a member of the band's inner circle.
** SelenaGomez: She's a huge Selena fan, and so are her parents, [[NamedAfterSomebodyFamous which is how she got her name]]. Gomez was chosen by the Quintanilla family to record a remix of "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom" in 2012.

* AWildRapperAppears: Subverted by Selena doing the rapping herself in "Techno Cumbia" and "Enamorada de Ti."
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: TheOtherWiki has [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Selena_concert_tours an article]] on the crossover tour that never happened.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: TheOtherWiki has [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossover_Tour an article]] on the crossover tour that never happened.

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

* SpeakIllOfTheDead: Master troll HowardStern got some serious backlash -- and an arrest warrant for disorderly conduct -- for mocking both Selena and her fans (in a fake Latino accent) on his radio show ''three days after she died'': "Spanish people have the worst taste in music... they have no depth." He also played gunshots sound over her music.

* TheAlcoholic "Tú Sólo Tú"

* DeadArtistsAreBetter

* OneNameOnly
* PromotedFanboy: Saldívar, who went from just a fan to Selena's fan club president, to manager of Selena's boutique, to Selena's personal assistant and a member of the band's inner circle.

* SillyLoveSongs: Virtually all of her songs, minus "Techno Cumbia" and "La Tracalera."
* SpeakIllOfTheDead: Master troll HowardStern got some serious backlash -- and an arrest warrant for disorderly conduct -- for mocking both Selena and her fans on his radio show ''three days after she died'': "Spanish people have the worst taste in music. They have no depth."

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

[[caption-width-right:240:some caption text]]

'''Selena Quintanilla-Pérez''' (April 16, 1971 - March 31, 1995), known to the world as '''Selena''', was a singer-songwriter from [[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 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''.

* ''Selena (1989)''
* ''Ven Conmigo (1990)''
* ''Entre a Mi Mundo (1992)''
* ''Selena Live! (1993)''
* ''Amor Prohibido (1994)''
* ''Dreaming of You (1995)''

* TheAlcoholic "Tú Sólo Tú"
* BandOfRelatives: Los Dinos had Selena on vocals, her brother A.B. on bass, and sister Suzette on drums.
* BigEater: Selena once told the Mexican talk show host Cristina that she could polish off a whole medium pizza by herself.
* 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.
* DeadArtistsAreBetter
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Being a Texan, Selena started off doing country music. To newer/English-speaking fans, some of the '80s-infused Tejano probably counts. Not to mention all the polka.
* FaceOfTheBand: Selena y Los Dinos was Selena... [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin and those guys]].
* FanNickname: The Queen of Tejano/La Reina
* FauxFluency: Selena originally [[{{Irony}} couldn't speak Spanish at all]]; she learned all of her early songs phonetically. Eventually, she learned enough to hold her own in interviews.
* FlowerMotifs: "Como La Flor," of course.
* 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.
* GratuitousDiscoSequence: The "Disco Medley" opener from her concert at the Houston Livestock Show
* 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.
* LoonyFan: Yolanda Saldívar, hands down.
* LyricalDissonance: "Tus Desprecios," an upbeat polka song comparing a lover's scorn to a dagger that is slowly murdering the relationship.
* ListingCities: In "La Tracalera" there's [[OtherCitiesInTexas Corpus Christi, San Antonio, Laredo, Austin, Houston, Dallas, Waco, Victoria...]]
* OneNameOnly
* PromotedFanboy: Saldívar, who went from just a fan to Selena's fan club president, to manager of Selena's boutique, to Selena's personal assistant and a member of the band's inner circle.
** SelenaGomez: She's a huge Selena fan, and so are her parents, [[NamedAfterSomebodyFamous which is how she got her name]]. Gomez was chosen by the Quintanilla family to record a remix of "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom" in 2012.
* SayingSoundEffectsOutLoud: "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom"
* SillyLoveSongs: Virtually all of her songs, minus "Techno Cumbia" and "La Tracalera."
* SpeakIllOfTheDead: Master troll HowardStern got some serious backlash -- and an arrest warrant for disorderly conduct -- for mocking both Selena and her fans on his radio show ''three days after she died'': "Spanish people have the worst taste in music. They have no depth."
* TitleOnlyChorus: "I Could Fall in Love"
* ThisIsASong: In "Techno Cumbia":

* TranslatedCoverVersion: A cover of a cover: Selena did a Spanish version of A Taste of Honey's "Sukiyaki," which itself is an English cover of Kyu Sakamoto's Japanese hit [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C35DrtPlUbc "Ue O Muite Aroukou"]].
** Also, [[WhatSongWasThisAgain "Fotos Y Recuerdos]]," inspired by The Pretenders' "Back on the Chain Gang."
* VocalDissonance: Selena is mostly known for her Spanish songs, so it's easy to forget that Selena was a native English speaker from South Texas. Even long-time fans are surprised to hear that thick Texas twang [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0smndV5Ug0 when she speaks English.]]
* AWildRapperAppears Subverted by Selena doing the rapping herself in "Techno Cumbia" and "Enamorada de Ti."
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: TheOtherWiki has [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossover_Tour an article]] on the crossover tour that never happened.