Selena Quintanilla poses with her award for best Mexican-American album at the 36th annual Grammy Awards at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on March 1, 1994; Selena Quintanilla performs onstage during the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo at the Astrodome in Texas on Feb. 26, 1995. Photo:
Arlene Richie/Getty (2)
Selena Quintanilla — known professionally by her first name — was a Texas-based singer who broke into the male-dominated Tejano genre with her Mexican-American music.
Billboard released its list of the 50 greatest Latin artists of all time in 2020, with Selena coming in third as not only the highest-ranking solo female act but also only one of two women in the top 10 (Shakira ranked eighth).
Born in 1971, Selena started performing at a young age in her family’s band, Selena y Los Dinos — formed by her father, Abraham Quintanilla — in 1981. After going solo in 1989 and amassing both commercial and critical acclaim, her career was tragically cut short when she was fatally shot by Yolanda Saldívar, business associate and former president of her fan club. Selena was just 23 years old when she died on March 31, 1995.
Selena’s contributions to the music industry and pop culture are still ever-present decades later. A documentary about her, Selena y Los Dinos, premiered in January 2025 at the Sundance Film Festival (winning the U.S. documentary special jury award for archival storytelling), and her 1992 LP Entre a Mu Mundo is being made available for the first time on vinyl, per HipLatina.
Ahead, celebrate Selena’s life and legacy through photos of her notable personal and professional milestones.
Portrait of Selena, circa the late 1980s. Courtesy Everett Collection
Selena was born on April 16, 1971, in Lake Jackson, Texas, and by the time she was 6 years old, she was already a gifted singer.
“Her timing, her pitch were perfect,” Selena’s father, Abraham, told PEOPLE in 1995. “I could see it from day one.”
Selena Quintanilla (left), Suzette Quintanilla and A.B. Quintanilla perform together as Selena y Los Diños. A.B. Quintanilla/Instagram
Selena began performing at her family’s Mexican restaurant, Papagayo’s, at age 9. It wasn’t long before her father decided to put his three kids together and create a new iteration of Los Diños — a band he had previously been recording with.
That’s when Selena y Los Diños was born, made up of Selena, her sister Suzette on the drums and her brother A.B. on bass.
In 1981, when the family lost their restaurant and home amid a recession in the state, they took their band on the road, playing weddings, quinceañeras and nightclubs.
“That’s when we began our musical career,” Selena said in 1992. “We had no alternative.”
While the band started as a family business, the group later added other musicians, including Chris Pérez, Ricky Vela, Joe Ojtaeda and Pete Astudillo.
Pérez shared a photo on Instagram in 2023 as a tribute to his time in the group, writing, “What more can be said about this collection of musicians? Together, at the time this pic was taken, we had so much fun while living the dream! Thanks to all of Selena’s fans for keeping her memory and legacy alive! GOOD TIMES!”
Selena Quintanilla sings onstage at the seventh annual Tejano Music Awards on March 23, 1987. Philip Barr via ZUMA Wire
At just 15 years old, Selena won her first female vocalist of the year award at the Tejano Music Awards in 1986. The singer (seen here performing at the award ceremony in 1987) would go on to win a total of 11 female vocalist of the year awards.
Before her 18th birthday, the newspaper Corpus Christi Caller-Times photographed Selena alongside a profile story. Less than a month away from her high school graduation, the award-winning singer had already signed with Capitol/EMI Latin and was looking toward her future in the industry, as well as remote college courses while on tour.
“It was kind of a hobby … I didn’t see the business side of it,” she told the Caller-Times in 1989 of how she started performing with her family. “We played for relatives, just for the fun of it. With your relatives, you know who they are, and you feel confident around them. You know that they’re going to automatically be proud of you because you’re related.”
Her dad even knew back then that Selena was capable of breaking into Tejano music in a big way.
“They don’t feel that a woman can draw a crowd like a male entertainer can,” he told the newspaper. “That’s the kind of mentality we’ve fought ever since we started. But the more doors they shut on us, the more determined we became.”
Selena Quintanilla’s self-titled studio album, ‘Selena,’ was released on Oct. 17, 1989. EMI Latin
After releasing several albums with Selena y Los Diños, Selena released her solo debut self-titled album through EMI Latin on Oct. 17, 1989. Between 1989 and 1995, she released five popular studio albums.
Dubbed the “Queen of Tejano Music” or the “Tex-Mex Madonna,” Selena would go on to become one of the best-selling female Latin music artists ever (with more than 65 million units sold worldwide, according to Billboard).
Most of her songs were written by her brother, A.B., and had to be learned phonetically, as Selena’s first language was English. It wasn’t until the early ’90s that she started taking Spanish lessons.
Chris Pérez and Selena Quintanilla, circa 1994. Chris Perez Instagram
Pérez joined Selena y Los Diños as a guitarist in 1990. The two fell in love — though her father disapproved. After he found out the two had been secretly seeing each other, he kicked Pérez out of the band, but Selena insisted he come back on board.
When the pair eloped in 1992, the singer formally took his last name.
In 2023, Pérez, who frequently honors his late wife on social media, shared this photo on Instagram, writing, “So, just found this pic. Two kids… trying to find their way. About to turn 23 and 24 years old.”
“Can’t remember who took it…I think this was in Florida???,” he continued of the photo that appears to be from 1994. “We were on the road and touring so much that sometimes, things get jumbled up in my mind. Good times were had, for sure!”
Selena Quintanilla performs at the Houston Livestock and Rodeo at the Astrodome in Texas on Feb. 28, 1993. AP Photo/Houston Chronicle, Dave Einsel
Selena’s star continued to shine bright in the late ’80s and early ’90s. Coca-Cola picked the singer to be a spokesperson in 1989, per Smithsonian.
Here, she’s seen performing with Los Diños at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo at the Astrodome in 1993, wearing one of her signature bedazzled bustiers. When celebrating the 29th anniversary of the concert, Pérez posted on Instagram that this show marked the first time she sang “Como la Flor” live.
Selena performed at the Astrodome three years in a row, setting a record for crowd size (via Selena’s official Facebook account) at her 1993 concert (57,894) and then breaking her own record each subsequent year — she played to 60,948 people in 1994 and then 66,994 people in 1995, according to MySA.
In 1994, Selena released Amor Prohibido, which became one of the best-selling Latin albums in the United States. According to Chart History, Selena’s fourth studio album ranks No. 2 behind her fifth and final album, Dreaming of You. It was also the first Tejano album to hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart.
Rolling Stone ranked Amor Prohibido No. 479 on its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, describing the title track as “a Latina fairy tale, if ever there was one.”
Amor Prohibido was remastered and released as a vinyl in 2024 for its 30th anniversary, topping the Billboard charts for vinyl albums, reported the Los Angeles Times‘ De Los.
The black leather jacket and white shirt Selena wore on the iconic album cover are among the many outfits on display at the Selena Museum in Corpus Christi, Texas — bold red lip and gold hoop earrings not included.
Selena Quintanilla with her award at the 36th annual Grammy Awards on March 1, 1994, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Larry Busacca/Getty
On March 1, 1994, Selena took home the Grammy Award for best Mexican-American album for her 1993 live album, Selena Live! It marked the first time a female Tejano singer won in the category.
She was nominated for best Mexican-American performance for Amor Prohibido the following year, though Vikki Carr won the award.
Selena received a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award from the Grammys in 2021.
Ahead of the ceremony, her father, Abraham, told PEOPLE, “Selena would have been very excited for this honor, just like she was when she won her Grammy back in 1994.”
Abraham added, “Her legacy is growing and crossing cultural boundaries. That is not something that normally happens when an artist is no longer here.”
People standing outside Selena Etc., a boutique and salon owned by Selena Quintanilla. Barbara Laing/Getty Images
In addition to her booming music career, Selena also pursued other ventures, including opening up two locations of her own boutique and salon called Selena Etc. in 1994, selling her signature line of clothing and jewelry.
The boutiques were both based in Texas. The San Antonio Express-News (via Chron) reported that the San Antonio location closed after Selena’s death, followed by the Corpus Christi boutique closing in 2009.
Selena Quintanilla performs at the opening of the Hard Rock Cafe on Jan. 12, 1995, in San Antonio. Larry Busacca/Getty
Just months before her death in 1995, Selena performed at the grand opening of the Hard Rock Cafe in San Antonio, per Here San Antonio.
Other performers that night included Tejano accordion player Flaco Jiménez and members of the rock band Cheap Trick, with proceeds from the event going to the San Antonio’s Children’s Museum and the San Antonio’s Children Shelter.
Selena Quintanilla performing at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo at the Houston Astrodome in Houston, Texas, on Feb. 26, 1995. Arlene Richie/Getty
On Feb. 26, 1995, Selena visited the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo at the Astrodome, taking the stage in her iconic sparkly purple jumpsuit.
Selena arrived in a carriage and kicked off the set with a medley of disco tunes that included “I Will Survive” and “Funkytown,” followed by some of her own biggest hits such as “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom,” “Si Una Vez” and “Como la Flor.”
The show would be the singer’s last major performance before her tragic death just over a month later.
Crowd of fans paying tribute to slain Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla outside her family’s home. Barbara Laing/Getty
Selena was murdered by her former business associate, Saldívar, in Corpus Christi, Texas.
According to The New York Times, Selena and her family accused Saldívar of embezzling money from Selena Etc. during a meeting on March 2, 1995. After Saldívar was fired, she bought a .38-caliber revolver and scheduled a meeting with Selena at a Days Inn motel in Corpus Christi at the end of that same month.
At that meeting, Saldívar shot Selena in the lower right shoulder, which caused internal damage and bleeding. Selena died at 1:05 p.m. on March 31, 1995, at the age of 23.
Saldívar was charged with first-degree murder and pleaded not guilty. On Oct. 23, 1995, the jury found her guilty, and she was later sentenced to life in prison with no eligibility for parole for 30 years, per The New York Times.
According to online records from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Saldívar filed for parole in January 2025 and was denied on March 27, just four days before the 30th anniversary of Selena’s death.
From left: Chris Pérez, A.B. Quintanilla III, Suzette Quintanilla, Marcella Samora and Abraham Quintanilla Jr. attend the ceremony honoring Selena Quintanilla-Pérez with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Nov. 3, 2017, in Hollywood, Calif. TARA ZIEMBA/AFP via Getty Images
Selena had multiple projects she had worked on while she was alive that were released after her death.
She had filmed a cameo as a mariachi singer in the romantic dramedy Don Juan DeMarco, which had its major U.S. release on April 7, 1995 — one week after her murder. Starring Johnny Depp, Marlon Brando, and Faye Dunaway, the film was Selena’s only acting credit.
Her fifth studio album, Dreaming of You — a Spanish-English crossover endeavor — came out in 1995 and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. The album is the best-selling Latin album in the U.S., holding the Guinness World Record since 2017.
The late singer was honored with a posthumous star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; her sister, Suzette, accepted the award on her behalf at the ceremony in 2017.
“Over the years, the new generations have discovered her and have fallen in love with her,” Selena’s dad, Abraham, told PEOPLE in 2021 of his daughter’s legacy. “Selena’s life was cut short, but her fans have carried her throughout the years, and her legacy is being passed on from generation to generation. That in itself is incredible.”
Christian Serratos as adult Selena on Netflix’s ‘Selena: The Series’; Selena Quintanilla performs at the Astrodome during the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo on Feb. 26, 1995; Jennifer Lopez as Selena in the 1997 biopic. Michael Lavine/NETFLIX; AP Photo/Houston Chronicle, John Everett; SCOTT DEL AMO/AFP via Getty
In the wake of her death, Selena’s enduring impact has been celebrated on-screen.
Jennifer Lopez starred as the Latin music icon in the 1997 biopic Selena. Though Lopez is known as a triple threat with her own epic music career, at the time, she was primarily a dancer and actress when she filmed Selena. As a result, Selena’s vocals were used in the movie, with Lopez lip-synching over the “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom” singer’s dubbed tracks.
“There’s just so many aspects of the role,” Lopez told Entertainment Tonight in 1996 while filming. “There’s the accent. There’s the singing and dancing — she was such an incredible performer.”
For her performance as Selena, Lopez received her first Golden Globe nomination for best performance by an actress in a motion picture — comedy or musical.
Netflix launched Selena: The Series in 2020, bringing her life story to a new generation of viewers. Across two seasons, the show featured Christian Serratos as Selena, chronicling her life from singing with her family in her childhood through her success as a Tejano artist and untimely death.
The Quintanilla family worked with creator Moisés Zamora on the series, with Selena’s sister Suzette and father Abraham serving as executive producers. (Abraham was also an executive producer for Selena.)
After its premiere and win at Sundance in 2025, the documentary Selena y Los Dinos is showing at a handful of other film festivals in the U.S. throughout the year.
