Selena Forever! How Family and Fans Are Keeping the Icon’s Memory Alive
Twenty-five years after her death, Selena Quintanilla’s candle continues to burn brightly
Selena Quintanilla-Pérez was a 23-year-old Grammy-winning rising star bringing Spanish lyrics to the charts when she was murdered in 1995. I was only five when Selena was killed. My mom tells me that when the 1994 hit “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom” used to play, I would sing the chorus to my newborn sister.
Selena is the first Latina role model I had. She broke through glass ceilings and was unapologetically her phenomenally Mexican American self. Watching videos of her perform enchanted me; no one else with her mainstream fame was singing in Spanish at the time. Selena radiated female power. Her confidence was intoxicating. She was destined for greatness and was breaking the mold of what it meant to be Latina in the United States.
In the quarter-century since the artist’s untimely death, the queen of Tejano music — a genre that originated at the Texas-Mexico border — has been honored in many ways. Through films, music, artwork, museums, murals, and brand collaborations, la reina’s legacy continues to live on beyond the tragedy that took her life, keeping her songs and alma in the hearts of new and old fans alike.
