Short resume:

Selena is known as one of the first Hispanic singers to have opened up a lot of doors for the countless aspiring Latin performers. With little to no formal musical education, in her short life, she achieved what little have the occasion to experience - bewildering stardom.

She grew up in a poor family and had little time to really enjoy her childhood because she started performing ever since she was an infant. Selena's remarkable talent was first noted by her father, who founded a 'family' band, Selena y Los Dinos, in which all of his three children were performing. Given their natural talent, the kids slowly became more and more popular in their home town; hence, major recording companies grew very interested in them, and, eventually they started recording albums. Hard work really paid off and, over a period of just a few years, they gained the respect of both the public and the critics.

Although a Tejan music band, the Quintanillas were easily entering the American mainstream, owing to their exotic rhythms and the sex appeal of their front woman. They were awarded many prestigious accolades and a promising career in the U.S. was awaiting. On the other hand, Selena led a very troubled life because of her boyfriend, guitarist Chris Perez - although they were very much in love, her family wouldn't accept him. But, in the end, realizing he was the one to make their daughter happy, they grew fond of the young guitarist and finally accepted him. With the success of her musical career and her happy marriage, nothing seemed to bring Selena down. Except for one thing: her death.

Her tragic demise, at only 23 years old, shocked everybody because she was a rising young star, who had the whole future in front of her when the woman who was supposed to be her friend shot her. And, to make matters worse, after being shot, Selena was running for her life, shocked and terrified, while the woman kept calling her a 'bitch'.

The 'Mexican Madonna' - as she was endearingly nicknamed - passed away, but a legend was born.

Biography:

Born on the 16th of April, 1971 under the name of Selena Quintanilla, the singer gained notoriety under the name of Selena. She originated from a Mexican-American family in Lake Jackson, Texas, as the youngest of the three children of Marcella and Abraham Quintanilla.

It didn't come as much of a surprise the fact that the young girl had a real gift at singing, especially since her father and brothers were musicians too. As a matter of fact, before her birth, Abraham had been a member of the popular band Los Dinos, so he pretty much knew what talent was all about and he began encouraging the little girl. Consequently, when she was only 9, her father founded a band in which Selena was the leading vocal, and Los Dinos (a.k.a. The Boys) were her back-up band. The other two members were Selena's two elder brothers - Suzette played the drums and Abraham the bass.

Struggling with poverty, the Quintanillas had to flee for Corpus Christi in Texas, where the band started playing at all sorts of events, ranging from street corners to quinceaneras (popular Spanish celebrations for young girls at their fifteenth anniversary). Owing to the group's talent, it wasn't long before they were signed up by a recording local company so, by 1984, the band had already recorded an album. Even so, due to some problems, the album wasn't released on the market until 11 years later, under the title 'Mis Primeras Grabaciones'.

Although a good student, the singer had to abandon school when she was in the 8th grade, because her father thought it would be best for Selena to focus on her music. And, indeed, she had to concentrate on performing, because a second album soon followed - the 1986 'Alpha'. Her sacrifice of abandoning studies was not in vain - in 1987, she was awarded as the Female Vocalist of the Year at the Tejano (the Spanish term for 'Texan') Music Awards. Albeit her choice of singing in Spanish, Selena actually grew up speaking English, so it resulted rather difficult for her, as this was not her mother tongue.

In 1989, the band signed with EMI Latin, and, as Jose Behar later recalled, at that time he thought he had discovered 'the new Gloria Estefan'. The band was on its way to success, and the following albums were highly appreciated - especially the 1989 'Selena Y Los Dinos'. All of these achievements turned Selena into a star in Latin America and Mexico, but America still knew very little of her - and the fact that she wasn't singing in English didn't help either. It was during those years that the sexy singer got a nickname - 'the Mexican Madonna' - mostly because she was very keen on wearing midriff-baring bustiers and snug pants (just as the US pop diva).

Selena found the love of her life in guitarist Chris Perez in 1988 and, two years later, he was hired in the singer's band. They fell head over heels for each other, but her family was - to put it mildly - reluctant to her choice. In the end, they understood that their efforts were futile and had to accept Chris as part of the family, and the two love birds united their lives in a ceremony in Nueces County, Texas in 1992.

The year 1990 brought with it a great achievement for Selena y Los Dinos - their album 'Ven Conmigo' (written by Selena's brother) was the first Tejano record to go gold. As a side note, Tejano or Tex-Mex is a combination of folk and popular music - in short, Hispanic ethnic music. This success is all the more impressive if you think that Latin music wasn't yet so popular as it is today, and Selena was the first to really push the envelope and open the doors for other Latin singers.

Another album soon followed to achieve gold status - the 1992 'Entre A Mi Mundo', which transformed Selena into a star so, needless to say, everything looked bright for the recently married singer. The following year, the album 'Live' won a Grammy for best Mexican-American Performance.

Nevertheless, since the musical career wasn't enough any longer, the 'Mexican Madonna' decided to give fashion industry a chance, by opening up two boutiques - one in Corpus Christi and the other in San Antonio, where her fans would find clothes designed by herself. The girl seemed to turn into gold everything she touched because, even without any designing experience, she gained an estimated $5 million from her stores. As a plus, her singing career was constantly developing - her band was awarded 6 Billboards Lo Nuestro, and the artist was the 'It' girl for Coca Cola.

By 1994, Selena was such a trademark, that she was offered to make a cameo appearance in a future Hollywood blockbuster - 'Don Juan DeMarco', alongside film icons such as Marlon Brando or Johnny Depp. So, to sum it up - she was gaining popularity in America, she had a loving husband and her band was adored by both the critics and the fans. Thus, what happened next shocked and appalled people from all over the world.

Somewhere between recording albums and being a star, Selena had the bad luck of meeting the wrong person. Around 1990, a fan of hers, named Yolanda Saldivar, approached her father with the idea of founding a Selena fan-club. Soon afterwards, the Quintanillas grew so fond of the 30-something-woman that she became the president of the fan-club and eventually looked after the singer's boutiques, from where she began stealing money. Obviously, Selena was hurt by Yolanda's betrayal, whom, up to that point, she considered a good friend.

With her heart set at confronting the woman, the singer went to the Days Inn hotel in Corpus Christi on the 31st of March, 1995. Selena demanded an explanation and the financial papers missing from the boutiques, but Yolanda tried to delay the dispute by claiming she had been raped on the way to the motel. The naïve singer, worried about her fan-club president's health, decided to take her to a hospital, where, however, the doctors didn't find any indication of the so-called abuse. Back to the hotel, the two women started arguing and, on her way to the door, Selena got shot in the back. Even so, she managed to flee to the lobby where she named Saldivar as the attacker.

She passed away at the hospital a few hours later. She was only 23... Selena's death devastated everybody: not only was she at the beginning of a great life, but also the violence of her premature death perplexed people worldwide. As a recognition of her talent, two weeks later, George W. Bush, at that time governor of Texas, declared the 16th of April 'Selena Day'. Her final work, 'Dreaming of You', released after her death, was the first Tejano album to reach number one in America and went double platinum within a few months.

Saldivar was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison, while the gun she used to kill the star was destroyed and the pieces were thrown in Corpus Christi Bay.

Selena will remain in the history of music as the first Hispanic artist to gain worldwide recognition. Because, frankly, not many people have the opportunity to have their lives portrayed in a movie, and, in 1997, the whole world got a taste of the 'Mexican Madonna', through Jennifer Lopez's performance in biopic 'Selena'.

Is she an iconic character of the 90s? IN or OUT?

Discography:

'Selena'- 1989

'Ven Conmigo'- 1990

'Entre a Mi Mundo'- 1992

'Live'- 1993

'Amor Prohibido'- 1994

'Las Reinas del Pueblo'- 1995

'Mis Primeras Grabaciones'- 1995

'Dreaming of You'- 1995

'Siempre Selena'- 1996

'Live: The Last Concert'- 2001

'Mis Primeros Exitos'- 2002

'Live: The Last Concert'- 2005

'Unforgettable: The Live Album'- 2005

'Unforgettable: The Studio Album'- 2005

'Unforgettable: Ultimate Edition'- 2005

'Dos Historias'- 2006

'Exhitos y Recuerdos'- 2006