Nearly thirty years on from her sudden and shocking murder, Selena Quintanilla’s legacy and influence continue to live on to inspire new generations. In her short life and musical career, Selena Quintanilla – later Quintanilla-Pérez, most commonly referred to as simply “Selena” – earned the title of “Queen of Tejano Music.”
Selena, both as a solo artist and member of the family group Selena y Los Dinos, is credited with helping to usher in Latin and Tejano (a blend of Mexican and Texas-based music) to mainstream U.S. music, helping bring the genres to a new level of international appreciation. Her albums, Amor Prohibido and Live topped the Latin music charts, helping to launch Tejano music into the stratosphere. Live!, Selena’s live album of her 1993 concert at the Memorial Coliseum in Corpus Christi, Texas, won the Grammy Award for Best Latin Album the following year. Her growing popularity in the lead-up to her death in 1995 is seen as a new era of a growing Latin-American presence and influence in American culture.
Selena’s murder and posthumous legacy
On March 31st, 1995, 16 days before what would’ve been Selena’s 24th birthday, the singer was shot by Yolanda Saldívar, the president of her fan club and manager of Selena Etc., her chain of boutiques. Saldívar helped create the Selena fan club after attending one of her concerts and contacting Selena’s father, Abraham Quintanilla, after some convincing. Saldívar would maintain a close relationship with Selena and her family before her murder.
In the months leading up to Selena’s death, Saldívar had been under suspicion of embezzling funds from the fan club and boutique, along with other financial discrepancies. Other staff complained that Saldívar had displayed abusive behavior towards them, and fans reported being robbed of their money from purchases that never arrived. Selena was said to have a good relationship with Saldívar and valued and rewarded her contributions to her fandom with gifts. Saldívar was reported as possessive over Selena, prohibiting others from getting too close to her. Towards the end of her life, Selena was said to be low on funds, as a large sum of her personal and business income came from fan merchandising, which around $60,000 was embezzled by Saldívar in a deceitful bank account, meant to be for the fan club.
After Saldívar failed to give straight answers about missing funds following an investigation, Selena’s family agreed on plans to fire her, and the former nurse was warned to stay away from the star. After several foiled attempts at murdering Selena, Saldívar met with the singer at the Days Inn Motel in Corpus Christi, Texas, in order for Selena to request missing financial records and stolen boutique items from Saldívar. Selena was also reported to have planned to gently let Saldívar go as an employee, attempting to convince her that departing the boutique and fan club would avoid further animosity with her father.
As their confrontation became more heated, Yolanda pointed a gun at Selena and shot her in the back as she attempted to flee. The bullet entered an artery through her lower right shoulder, causing extensive blood loss as she escaped to the hotel lobby. While the singer later died in hospital, paramedics and emergency physicians later reported that her comprehensive blood loss before their arrival ultimately caused her death. Saldívar was later sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole, with the convicted murderer being eligible for parole in 2025, 30 years after the murder.
Selena Quintanilla’s death at the age of 23 sent shockwaves throughout the Latin-American community and American culture as a whole, gaining greater global recognition after her death. Her posthumous album, Dreaming of You, reached number one on the national U.S. Billboard Chart, becoming the first Spanish-language album to do so. Two weeks after her death, April 16th was declared “Selena Day” in Texas. A movie of her life, Selena, was released two years later and submitted to the Library of Congress for its representation of Latin-American culture. After a successful petition, MAC Cosmetics launched a Selena makeup line, emulating her iconic on-stage makeup, particularly her red lipstick, often leaving a mark on her microphone. The collection later became the best-selling celebrity makeup line of all time.
More recent artists, like Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, and her namesake, Selena Gomez, have cited Selena’s artistry as an inspiration for their music. Her influence has proven that her music is not only cross-cultural but cross-generational. While her posthumous success is nothing short of incredible, it is also a sad reminder of how promising her life and career were before they were tragically cut short.