Selena
Selena was the "Queen of Tejano Music," the Mexican-American star whose warmth and charisma carried a regional genre into the mainstream before her life was cut tragically short at 23.
Origins
Selena Quintanilla-Pérez was born in Lake Jackson, Texas, and grew up performing in her family band, Selena y Los Dinos, singing in Spanish she learned phonetically. Through the late 1980s and early 1990s she became Tejano's biggest star in a male-dominated scene.
The sound
She fused Tejano and cumbia with pop, R&B, and dance influences, delivered with a bright, agile voice and a magnetic stage presence. Her look and fashion—she designed her own outfits—were as influential as her music.
Legacy
Credited with catapulting Tejano into the mainstream and ranked among the most influential Latin artists of all time, she was poised for an English-language crossover when she was murdered in 1995. Her posthumous album topped the charts and a hit biopic made her an enduring cultural icon.
Signature song
Amor Prohibido
"Amor Prohibido" (1994), a cumbia-pop tale of forbidden love, became one of her signature hits and a defining song of 1990s Tejano.
Top songs
- 1
Amor Prohibido ★
Amor Prohibido · 1994
- 2
Dreaming of You
Dreaming Of You · 1995
- 3
No Me Queda Más
Amor Prohibido · 1994
- 4
Bidi Bidi Bom Bom
La Leyenda (Version Super Deluxe) · 1994
- 5
Como La Flor
Entre A Mi Mundo · 1992