Quintanilla was an American Tejano singer, songwriter, spokesperson, actress and fashion designer. She was born in Lake Jackson, Texas, 54 miles south of Houston, and her family moved to Corpus Christi after declaring bankruptcy. Her father, a musician before her birth, formed his children into Selena y Los Dinos when he discovered her musical talent. Selena received the Tejano Music Award for Female Vocalist of the Year for nine consecutive years, beginning in 1987. She signed her first major contract with EMI Latin in 1989, releasing four Spanish-language albums which were milestones in the Latin music industry. EMI Latin then wanted her to release a crossover album, transitioning from Spanish- to English-language pop songs. On March 31, 1995, Selena was shot and killed by Yolanda Saldívar, her friend and the former manager of her boutiques. Reaction to her death was compared to the grief following the deaths of musicians John Lennon and Elvis Presley and U.S. president John F. Kennedy. Selena's greatest influences were Donna Summer, Madonna, Gloria Estefan, Paula Abdul, Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson. According to music critics her Tejano sound incorporated contemporary R&B, disco and funk, and her roots in American pop music were believed by Ed Morales to have been inspired by Summer and Diana Ross. Selena credited Michael Jackson for inspiring her to follow in his footsteps after she saw him perform at a 1984 Astrodome concert. Onstage, she wore fashions inspired by Abdul, Madonna and Janet Jackson. Selena's husband, Chris Pérez, said that she was "open-minded" toward all musical genres, rock in particular. Since her death in 1995, entertainers have cited the singer's influence on their careers in interviews, speeches, books and music.
Influences
Selena credited Donna Summer, Madonna, Paula Abdul, Michael Jackson, and Janet Jackson as primary influences on her dance moves, her music and fashion. According to Michelle Habell-Pallán in her book Latino/a Popular Culture, the singer was influenced by African-American music such as disco, R&B and funk. Habell-Pallán wrote that Summer and Gloria Gaynor's music were "drawn into" Selena's Tejano sound. Before she began recording her first LP in 1984 her father and manager, Abraham Quintanilla, Jr., discouraged her from singing in "Donna Summer's style" and believed that his children should recordthe music of their heritage. According to Ed Morales, Selena's interest in American pop music influenced her work and her 1995 sampled single "Fotos y Recuerdos" was inspired by Summer and Diana Ross. During the early 1990s Selena began wearing revealing outfits at her concerts, emulating the trends of the time set by Madonna, Janet Jackson and Paula Abdul. Because of her dress and dancing, she was called the "Mexican Madonna" by fans. Selena was credited as the first women to change public perceptions of feminine beauty; a feminist, she blazed a trail for other female artists during her career. In her 2004 Encyclopedia of Latino Popular Culture, Cordelia Candelaria called Selena's concert wardrobe "independence from a more rural image" which "was the provocative sexuality of her dress and her creation of a contemporary sexy Latina style in the manner of Madonna." In an interview Selena said that Michael Jackson's 1984 performance at the Astrodome influenced her to follow in his footsteps, and her February 1995 Astrodome concert set an attendance record. In To Selena, with Love, his book about their relationship, her widower Chris Pérez wrote that Selena's favorite artists were Bonnie Raitt, Janet Jackson and Whitney Houston and her favorite song was "Black Cat" from Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814. She was "open-minded", he said, about all music. According to Pérez, Selena enjoyed singing Extreme's "More Than Words".
