Three decades ago, one of the most emblematic albums in Latin music history was released: Selena Quintanilla’s Amor Prohibido, which ultimately made history as the first Tejano album to hit No. 1 on the Top Latin Albums chart.
Released March 22, 1994 under Capitol Latin/UMLE, the 11-track set is home to many of the “Queen of Tex-Mex’s” timeless hits including “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom,” “No Me Queda Más,” “Si Una Vez,” and the title track. Now, in honor of its 30th anniversary, the history-making album is available on CD, cassette, and for the first time, vinyl format. A special remastered 2024 edition, released under Universal Music Latino, is also available on all streaming platforms.
“I’m excited about us even celebrating 30 years of this album of ours,” Suzette Quintanilla, Selena’s sister and Los Dinos drummer, tells Billboard exclusively. “Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that people would still be jamming to our music and dancing to our songs. I think my brother [A.B. Quintanilla III], Ricky Vela, and Pete Astudillo did an incredible job in writing these songs, and my brother arranging and producing them just shows a part of who we were growing up and what we listened to. It was a different [musical] vibe going on. There’s a little bit of everything mixed in that album—what we all used to listen to and it definitely comes across. It was also a time when our record company let us be us, and do what we wanted to do with our music and this album.”
Indeed, Amor Prohibido is equipped with the authentic Tejano and cumbia sound that characterized Selena y Los Dinos but creatively fused with rock (“Fotos y Recuerdos”), electronic dance music (“Techno Cumbia”), and R&B (“Donde Quiera Que Estés”).
On the Billboard charts, Amor Prohibido debuted at No. 3 on Top Latin Albums in April 1994, and reached No. 1 in June 1994, where it remained for 20 weeks. It also earned Selena her first chart entry on the Billboard 200, peaking at No. 29 in May 1995, and debuted and peaked at No. 1 on Regional Mexican Albums, where it remained for 97 weeks, the most for any album since the chart’s inception in 1985.
“I’m extremely excited this is coming out on vinyl. I know so many fans wanted this and we were finally able to do this at such an iconic moment…30 years is insane!” Quintanilla adds. “It’s cool but it’s insane. I’m so grateful and honored and I know that if my sister was here, she definitely would have been excited about this moment just as we all are. Thirty years. Insane but so freaking cool!”
