Selena Quintanilla-Perez rightfully earned her titles of “La Reina del Tex-Mex” (Queen of Tejano) and “La Reina de la Cumbia” (Queen of Cumba) because she single-handedly revolutionized the genres, fusing her Mexican roots with bold new sounds. Alongside her brother A.B. Quintanilla III, who produced all of her biggest hits, and her band Los Dinos, Selena was not afraid to make music on their own terms, adding a hint of pop and rock to the classic cumbia, mariachi, rancheras, and Tejano rhythms.
Born and raised in Texas, Selena was homegrown.
As a woman in a male-dominated industry, she managed to keep it classy and real. With her bedazzled bustiers and high-waisted pants, she was sexy but approachable. Her music, including timeless hits such as “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom” and “Amor Prohibido,” had a universal appeal, and when she won the best Mexican American album Grammy for Selena Live! in 1993, she became the first female Tejano artist to win that award.
On the Billboard charts, seven of her studio albums hit No. 1 on the Top Latin Albums chart, including Amor Prohibido (1994), which spent 20 weeks there, and Dreaming of You (released posthumously in 1995), which spent 44 weeks. The latter set made history as the first predominately Spanish-language album to debut at No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart.
Selena’s timeless appeal has continued well beyond her death at age 23 on March 31, 1995. Her legacy has not only shined on the charts, but also on social media, street murals, clothing lines, and makeup brands as an example of a true Latin icon in pop culture.
Here are 30 ways her legacy has stayed alive throughout the years:
