Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Selena - 2 decades later

2 decades ago today, singer Selena Quintanilla-PĂ©rez (aka Selena)  was killed. 

The killer was Yolanda Saldivar, the head of her fan club that got fired for stealing money.


This murder cut short what was seen to be a promising career. 

 Wikipedia
Selena

Selena, a Mexican-American born in Texas started her career singing in Spanish, and performed mostly in the Latino music genre known as Tejano. Her music was very popular both in Latin American and among the Latino population in the US.

By 1995, Selena wanted to gain a wider audience. She started to work on an English-language album.

At the time, there were only a few Latino crossover stars with popularity among both Spanish and English speaking audiences. Those stars included Gloria Estefan, Tito Puente and Gabriel Iglesias.

This was before Ricky Martin, Marc Anthony, Christina Aguillera, and  Shakira. 
This was before Pitbull became "Mr Worldwide" 

So, at the time, Selena's decision to crossover was still considered revolutionary.

Her first English-language album was scheduled to be released in summer of 1995.

She didn't live to see that moment.

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Selena's death has got to be the most traumatic moment in Latin music history. 

Selena was already loved by millions, and has continued to be loved by a new generation of fans that weren't around when she was alive.

Her life was commemorated in the movie "Selena" in which she was portrayed by another rising Latina star Jennifer Lopez (aka J-Lo) . There was some controversy because while Selena was Mexican-American, J.Lo was of Puerto Rican ancestry. However, the majority of the film's audience felt J.Lo did a good job portraying Selena. 

Watching the movie was a very emotional experience in itself. Especially the ending of the movie, when it showed Selena's murder, the news coverage, the memorials, and song "Dreaming of You" being played at the end of the movie.  I still get teary-eyed thinking about it, even after all those years.

You may watch it below............or if it doesn't work on your browser........go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e-w4GB0AZ8 


YouTube  
Selena the Movie - Ending