Selena Quintanilla Perez
BORN: April 16, 1971, Lake Jackson, TX
DIED: March 31, 1995, Corpus Christi, TX

Selena Quintanilla-Perez was born in Lake Jackson, Texas on April 16. 1971; Easter Sunday. Her parents, Marcella and Abraham Quintanilla Jr. were delighted to have a new addition to their family which already had two children; Abraham Quintanilla III (A.B.) then 8, and Suzette then 4.

Abraham always had a passion for music. In the late 50's and early 60's he was part of the group Los Dinos (The Guys). When his children were very young, he began to teach them an instrument. A.B. the bass and Suzette the drums. When Selena was just 3 years old, she demanded to know why her father was leaving her out of the music. Abraham simply said she was too young. Right then Selena showed him she was not too young, she showed him her own instrument, her voice. Abraham couldn't believe what a beautiful sound she heard. By the time Selena was 6, she was already singing like a pro in English and in Spanish, even though she didn't speak the language, alongside her brother, sister, and father.

When Selena was 9, her father started the group Selena Y Los Dinos (Selena and The Guys). The group's first performances were in Papagallos, the Quintanilla family's restaurant opened in 1980. Everyone who saw her, even at that young age, knew she was going to be a star someday.

Soon the restaurant fell and the Quintanilla family went bankrupt, they were out on the streets without a roof over their head. The family moved to Corpus Christi, Texas where they piled into an old bus with all their musical equipment. They played everywhere they could, on streets, at weddings... Soon all the hard work paid off. Selena recorded her first album in 1984 under the Freddie label. This album was not released just then and the original copies were bought by Abraham. However, the album was released in 1995 titled "Mis Primeras Grabaciones."

Because Selena was getting even more popular and the traveling to perform was interfering with school, Abraham pulled her out of school when she was in the 8th grade. Even though she was not attending school anymore, Selena earned a high school degree from a correspondence school in Chicago.

In 1986, Selena's career really began to take off. Her second album, Alpha, was released then. At the Tejano Music Awards, she took the award for Female Vocalist of the Year (this was just the start of Selena sweeping the Tejano Music Awards for the next 10 years). Another important thing that happened in 1986 was she was discovered by two huge names in the Tejano music industry; Rick Trevi