Selena Quintanilla Perez was born in Lake Jackson, Texas, on April 16, 1971 to her parents, Abraham and Marcella Quintanilla. When it came to her education, Selena went to Oran M. Roberts Elementary School, West Oso Junior High, and finished high school at American School, a correspondence school. However, at just eight years old, she started her music career with her father, Abraham, in the band he played with, Los Dinos (Stewart, 2016). While in this band, her father taught Selena and her siblings how to sing Spanish. This included her brother, Abraham, who played the bass guitar, and her sister Suzette who played the drums. Meanwhile, Selena was the lead singer, where she had to learn how to speak (and sing) in Spanish (Britannica, 2024). This is where her career sparked as she and the band began to perform their “Tejano” music to the public and became Selena y Los Dinos. From what started in their family restaurant, Pappagallo, quickly grew and led them to play for weddings, dance halls, and nightclubs (Orozco, 2024). Selena y Los Dinos continued to grow in popularity, leading her to go solo after signing with a record label. 

After going solo, Selena's popularity continued to grow even more! This led her to a successful career in both music and fashion. She also married a member of Los Dinos, Chris Perez, in 1992. Her life, unfortunately, was cut short as she was shot and killed on March 31, 1995, by Yolanda Saldivar (Willis, 2019). Yolanda was the president and founder of Selena’s fan club and was also the manager of Selena Etc, Selena’s clothing boutique. However, Selena had suspected Yolanda of money embezzlement and decided to confront her. This is when Yolanda shot and killed Selena at the Days Inn Motel in Corpus Christi, Texas. Selena was pronounced dead at Corpus Christi Memorial Hospital (Britannica, 2024). Although Selena’s life ended, her career and legacy lives on. Selena’s family has continued to pay tribute to Selena and her talents by releasing unreleased music and continuing to share her talents with the world online for everyone to enjoy (Stewart, 2016).