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 Entertainment | June 2005 
Selena - The Legend, 10 Years Later
 Leila Cobo - Hispanic Magazine
| | A new wave of Selenamania is expected to hit the nation with the 10th anniversary of the singer’s untimely death. |
Selena Quintanilla Pérez died on March 31, 1995. The bleak circumstances of her tragic death - gunned down by the president of her fan club outside a Days Inn motel - provided the starkest of contrasts with her radiant life.
Just weeks short of her 24th birthday, Selena was on her way to becoming quite possibly the single most successful Latin female singer in the world. Ten years later, all the signs continue to point in that direction.
Selena’s posthumous, English language debut album, Dreaming of You, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart in 2005, the first album by a Latina singer to do so. Ironically, only Jennifer López would equal the feat years later, after she became famous portraying Selena in the film of the same name.
But beyond the crossover, beyond the Hollywood film, Selena’s legacy continues to grow and her appeal stubbornly refuses to subside, with new compilations consistently topping record sales charts and with legions of fans still making the heartbreaking pilgrimage to her old doorstep.
Now, a new wave of Selenamania is expected to hit the nation with the 10th anniversary of the singer’s untimely death.
Forget celebrating statesmen, actors or martyrs. The commemoration of Selena’s life, 10 years after her death, has the makings of yet another Hollywood movie, with plenty of supporting cast members.
First and foremost is the television special, set to air live on the Univisión network from Reliant Stadium in Houston, the city that saw Selena’s last, major live performance in 1995. The show takes place April 7 and will feature some of Latin music’s biggest names, from Gloria Estefan and Thalía to Pepe Aguilar and the Kumbia Kings. Filming is taking place with the blessing of Houston’s mayor, Bill White, who said it was an honor for the city to celebrate her “life and spirit.”
AOL Latino is also paying homage to Selena with a special that includes photos, videos and interviews. In addition, the site plans to dedicate one of its radio channels solely to the music of Selena throughout the year.
EMI Latin, Selena’s label, will later release an album of the special. Prior to that, a series of albums will have hit the market. They include the re-release of Selena Remembered, a compilation of the singer’s music and videos originally released in 1997 and narrated by Edward James Olmos, and Unforgettable, a box-set collection of CD and DVD greatest hits and live videos.
In addition, Duetos, the new album by Selena’s brother A. B. Quintanilla with his group the Kumbia Kings, included two duets with Selena. The digitally remastered tracks—à la Nat King Cole’s Unforgettable duet with daughter Natalie—feature Selena singing Baila Esta Cumbia and I Could Fall in Love.
“I think the movie exposed her to a lot of differnet people,” says Quintanilla, when asked about his sister’s enduring appeal. “And it’s the American Dream, to take nothing and make it into something. Whatever it might be. I think the story applies to any angle in life. It’s a success story. But it’s also a tragedy. [But] just because a tragedy happens, it doesn’t lead people to buy the albums,” adds Quintanilla. “If we remember back, Selena filled the Astrodome. She was able to win a Grammy. She had a strong base, but after the tragedy, the fan base multiplied. It’s like Bob Marley, Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe. They become legends.”
The legend of Selena lives on in the smallest things. In the museum that bears her name. In the albums that continue to be sold year after year, one of the most enduring catalogs in the Latin music world. And every year, fans hold candlelight vigils outside her home in Corpus Christi, Texas. They emulate the vigils held nationwide following her death; those gatherings of thousands of little girls and grown women who woke up many to the Selena phenomenon.
“It’s very rare to find that type of person that has everything and that people can identify with,” says sister Suzette Quintanilla, who played drums in Selena’s band and who still hears 3-year-olds singing Biddi Biddi Bom Bom. “I think one of the main things—and I hear it from a lot of people—is people felt she was part of them. They could relate to her because she wasn’t blond and blue-eyed. She wasn’t güera. She had dark hair.”
It wasn’t just the hair, which Suzette Quintanilla says her sister never dyed. It was the clothes, the attitude, the desire to stay close to her roots, her family and her town, long after fame had come calling.
“I think it’s a combination of two things,” says Selena’s father, Abraham Quintanilla. “I think it’s the person, and the music. I don’t think it’s the music alone. And that goes for any artist that’s accepted by the public. They have to accept them as a person first. The charisma, the personality of the individual goes along with how the people accept the artist and the music.”
In the 10 years since Selena’s death, her family has strived to keep her memory alive through her music. This has, unintentionally, also been the case even when Selena’s name is not attached to a project.
Brother A. B. Quintanilla, for example, who created the group Kumbia Kings (with Cruz Martínez) after his sister’s death, never hesitates to credit her for his musical achievements.
“For me, everything that I have—all the love of the fans, everything in general that the market has blessed me with—is because of the hard work I’ve done with my family and with Selena,” says Quintanilla, who originally played bass in Los Dinos, Selena’s band. Blessed with a knack for writing catchy hits with a trademark sound, Quintanilla’s role in Los Dinos expanded, and he would eventually become his sister’s producer, arranger and composer of many of her greatest hits.
“For me, any time you mention Selena, I have to have nothing but thanks to give to her for singing songs that I wrote,” adds Quintanilla.
Even today, after the Kumbia Kings have won multiple accolades and have become one of the top-selling Latin groups in the market, “Her name always comes up,” says Quintanilla. “And with me, it’s always a good thing.
nfortunately the tragedy did happen, and it’s something we have to come to terms with. But the reality is, a major motion picture was made, and she worked hard, and it’s beautiful that Hollywood recognized that.”
In reissuing much of Selena’s catalog—now remastered and remixed—those around her agree, a new legion of fans will also get to listen to her music for the first time.
“These songs to me are very personal,” says guitarist Chris Pérez, who was married to Selena at the time of her death and who played in her band. “When I hear them, they take me back in time to those days. I think the music we were doing and the way she was performing and singing it, and just doing what she did, I don’t think there’s any one near that.” |
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