Monday Memos: A look at the impact Selena Quintanilla-Perez’s death has on the world 22 years later
Hello people of the internet!!! On today’s ‘Monday Memos’ we’re going to discuss a very important, yet tragic day for the music industry. March 31st marks the 22nd anniversary of Selena Quintanilla-Perez’s brutal murder. This event truly shook the world due tot he singer’s wide appeal & seemingly endless unfulfilled potential. Last week was the 20th anniversary of the Selena biopic, which starred a young Jennifer Lopez as the iconic singer. Throughout the movie we get to see key points in Selena’s professional and personal life, and just why this star had such a wide and loving fan base. To honor an entertainer that meant (and continues to mean) so much to people worldwide, I thought that it would be cool to take a look at her music as we explore all she did in the music industry, and all she could’ve done. Ready? Ok, let’s go!!!
As a childhood performer in the early 80s, Selena faced much opposition in the male dominated Tejano music scene. Despite this obstacle, she steadily grew more popular, and eventually began to gain true notoriety in 1987 when she won Female Vocalist of the Year at the ‘Tejano Music Awards (which she won 9 consecutive times in career). She then signed with EMI Latin in 1989 and released her self-titled debut album. Her 2nd album ‘Ven Conmigo’ (released in 1990), produced fan favorite track ‘Baila Eata Cumbia’. Her next album, Entre a Mi Mundo (released in 1992) peaked at #1 on the U.S Regional Mexican Albums chart for 19 nonconsecutive weeks. This album contained fan favorites such as: Como La Flor, La Carcacha, and Selena’s 1st English language track ‘Missing My Baby’. Her 4th album ‘Live’ (released in 1993) won Best Mexican/American Album at the 1994 Grammy Awards, which made her the 1st Tejano artist to win this award. Her 5th album ‘Amor Prohibido’ (released in 1994) found great success and broke the U.S. Billboard Top Latin Albums chart record with a 96 consecutive week hold at the #1 spot. The album contained numerous songs that critics agree are some of Selena’s best, including: title track ‘Amor Prohibido’, Bidi Bidi Bom Bom, Fotos y Recuerdos, among numerous others. The album received a surge of popularity following Selena’s death 1 year later, and is still tied for 2nd as the one of the best selling U.S. Latin albums of all time. Her final album ‘Dreaming of You’ was released posthumously in 1995. The album was meant to serve as Selena’s English cross-over album, but due to her death contained a mix of previously unreleased English and Spanish tracks. ‘Dreaming of You’ won Album of the Year at the 1996 Tejano Music Awards, and Female Pop Album of the Year at the 2nd Annual Billboard Latin Music Awards. The album received overall praise from critics due to tracks such as: title track ‘Dreaming of You’, ‘I Could Fall in Love’, and Wherever You Are (Donde Quinta Que Estes’ feat. the Barrio Boyzz.
In the span of 5 short years, Selena made a lasting impact on the music industry and still serves as an inspiration to artists across various genres. Her legacy also inspired the 1997 film ‘Selena’, which launched the career of triple threat Jennifer Lopez, and opened at #2 its’ opening weekend. Over 21,000 people auditioned for the role, making it the 2nd largest audition since Scarlett O’Hara in ‘Gone With The Wind’. In 2016 makeup company MAC announce its’ collaboration with Selena’s family in order to produce a Selena line of makeup. In 2017 Selena received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame among numerous other influential stars. It’s evident that she has become an immovable part of music history, due to the fact that even over 2 decades later we still find ourselves revisiting her music and story. Few artists can truly say that they have been able to capture the heart of the world in such a way, and it is obvious that we will continue to marvel over her for decades to come.
- All photos and information used in this blog belong to YouTube, Selena Quintanilla-Perez, Q-Productions, EMI Latin, EMI America, Capitol Latin, Universal Music Latin, Barrio Boyzz, Billboard, Tejano Music Awards, Billboard Latin Music Awards, Selena, Jennifer Lopez, Scarlett O’Hara, Gone With The Wind, MAC, Hollywood Walk of Fame, Gregory Nava, Abraham Quintanilla Jr., Moctesuma Esparza, Robert Katz, Warner Bros., A.B. Quintanilla, Pete Astudillo, Chrissie Hynde, Keith Thomas, Franne Golde, K.C. Porter, Miguel Flores, Desmond Child, and all companies, individuals, corporations, managers, writers, producers, authors, publishers, and/or businesses that should receive credit for anything mentioned in this blog post, and all original owners. I do not own anything in this blog. If any people, corporations, businesses, companies, etc, were not previously given credit for their work, they are given credit now and their previous absence was unintentional. All opinions expressed in this blog are my own. I wrote this blog for entertainment purposes and no copyright infringement is intended.
