Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, 1971-1995

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Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, and fashion designer. Known as the Queen of Tejano music.



Selena Quintanilla-Pérez was born in Lake Jackson, Texas, to a family of Jehovah’s Witnesses. From a young age, her father noticed her musical abilities, and at the age of 9, she became the lead singer of her family’s band Selena y Los Dinos. At first, the band played at the family’s restaurant, but when it was bankrupt, they played everywhere they could, from street corners to fairs and weddings. Over time their popularity grew, especially Selena’s.

At 13, she recorded her first Tejano music LP album, and by 17, she recorded five more albums and frequently appeared at the popular Spanish radio program – the Johnny Canales Show.

At 18, while performing at the Tejano Music Awards, she was discovered by the music producer José Behar of label EMI Latin Records. She released an album every year, getting more and more popular with singles hitting the top US Billboard Regional Mexican Albums chart, the US Billboard Top Latin Songs chart, performing all over the US and Mexico, and winning music awards. In 1993 she released her third studio album “Live!” for which she won Best Mexican/American Album at the 1994 Grammy Award, becoming the first female Tejano artists to win a Grammy. Her successes broke barriers in the Latin music world, and she was referred to as the Queen of Tejano music.

In 1990, a fan named Yolanda Saldívar founded the official Selena fan club, and Saldívar started working for Selena. Selena’s father discovered that Saldívar had embezzled more than $30,000 from the fan club. On March 31, 1995, Selena confronted Saldívar in a hotel. Saldívar took a gun out of her purse and shot Selena while she attempted escaping. Selena died on the way to the hospital when she is only 23 years old.

About 35,000 fans came to the funeral to pay their last respect while the funeral was broadcasted live by the local radio station.
 

Selena - Bidi Bidi Bom Bom (Live From Astrodome)

Music video by Selena performing Bidi Bidi Bom Bom. (C) 1995 Q Production Inc. Exclusive License To Universal Music Latino

http://vevo.ly/PeMy8A

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“The impossible is possible.”

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Fun Facts

  • She left school at the age of 14 and took correspondence classes to earn a high school diploma from the American School of Correspondence. She went to study business administration at Pacific Western University.
  • Since she was 10 years old, she designed her own clothes, and in 1994 she began manufacturing a line of clothing and opened two boutiques under the name “Selena Etc.”
  • For the recording of her first album, she had to learn Spanish phonetically with guidance from her father.
  • She was the spokesperson of Coca-Cola in Texas.
  • She made a cameo appearance in the movie “Don Juan DeMarco,” which starred Marlon Brando, Johnny Depp, and Faye Dunaway.
  • George W. Bush, then the governor of Texas, declared April 16, her birthday, Selena Day in the state.
  • The famous singer Selena Gomez is named after her.
  • She was married once.
  • The 1999 musical Selena is based on her life story.
  • A life-size statue of her is placed in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Awards

  • She won 10 times the Tejano Music Awards’ Female Vocalist of the Year
  • The first Tejano artist to win a Grammy Award
  • Her album “Entre a Mi Mundo” ranked as the second best-selling regional Mexican album of all-time
  • Inducted into the Billboard Latin Music Hall of Fame (1995)
  • Inducted into the South Texas Music Hall of Fame in (1995)
  • She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
  • Jennifer Lopez depicted her in the music biopic Selena

Creations By and About Her

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Selena - Bidi Bidi Bom Bom (Live From Astrodome)

Music video by Selena performing Bidi Bidi Bom Bom. (C) 1995 Q Production Inc. Exclusive License To Universal Music Latino

http://vevo.ly/PeMy8A
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Category: Fashion & Beauty and Music
Tags: Latina Women, Singer, and Songwriter

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Activism & Feminism

Adelina Otero-Warren, 1881-1965

A suffrage leader, educator, and politician. The first Latina to run for US Congress and one of the first’s women to serve as a government official in New Mexico.

Adelina “Nina” Otero Warren was born near Los Lunas, New Mexico. Her family was among the early settlers in New Mexico, and her parents were part of the Hispanic elite. When she was 2 years old, her father was killed by an Anglo squatter. A few years later, her mother married an English businessman, and she grew up in a multicultural environment. She was influenced by her mother, who was an advocate for social and educational developments and served as the director of Santa Fe’s Board of Education. At 16, the family relocated to Santa Fe, where she became a socialite. At the age of 26, she married Lieutenant Rawson D. Warren, a cavalry officer who was nine years older than her. Though the marriage did not last long, she kept her x-husband’s last name and called herself a widow, so she would not be stigmatized as a divorced woman.   At 31, Nina moved to NYC to keep house for her brother. There, she became active in Anne Morgan’s settlement house, working alongside the famous suffragist Alice Paul and organizing crafts programs for working-class women. Two years later, her mother died, and Nina returned to Santa Fe to take care of her half-siblings. Upon her arrival, she started working for the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage. Soon she became the first Mexican-American state leader of the Congressional Union in New Mexico, raising support from the Spanish-speaking community as well as from the English-speaking community. Using her family connections, she was a successful lobbyist for voting in favor of the Nineteenth Amendment, and she had a key role in its ratification in 1920. In 1922, at the age of 41, Nina ran as the Republican Party nominee for New Mexico to the US House of Representatives – The first Latina to run for the US Congress. During her campaign, she spoke Spanish and advocated for the improvement of education, health care, and welfare services, as well as for the preservation of Hispano heritage and culture. Ultimately, she lost the election by less than 9%, probably because it was discovered that she was a divorcee, not a widow. In 1917 Nina was appointed as the Santa Fe Superintendent of Instruction – one of the first women to serve as government officials in New Mexico. In her 12 years in office, she worked tirelessly to improve the education of Hispano. Share:This post is also available in: Español Read more...
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Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter, producer, and actress.

Born as Alicia Augello Cook in Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood in NYC. Her father left when she was 2 years old, and she was raised mainly by her mother. As a child living in a rough neighborhood, Keys was exposed to drugs, prostitution, and street violence. She credits her mother for leading her to the right path, supporting her interest in music and performance, which began at a young age. In preschool, she sang in her school’s productions, and at the age of 6, began classical training, practicing the piano six hours a day. At 12, Keys wrote and composed her first song. Two years later, she began studying jazz. After graduating at age 16 as valedictorian from the Professional Performance Arts School, she signed a deal with the record producer Clive Davis, first at Arista Records and later at J Records. In 2001, 20-year-old Keys released her debut album “Songs in A Minor”, which included the #1 hit “Fallin”. The album sold more than 12 million copies worldwide, and Keys won 5 Grammy awards. Four years later, Keys released her second album, “The Diary of Alicia Keys”, for which she won 4 Grammys, including best album award and best song award, and for her 3rd album “As I Am”, Keys won 3 more Grammys. Throughout the years, Keys continued to release #1 hits, including “No One”, “Empire State of Mind”, and “Girl on Fire”. Overall between 2001 to 2016, Keys released 6 studio albums, 2 live albums, and 1 EP. In addition to being an acclaimed musician, Keys is also an actress. She acted in various films and TV shows, including “Empire”, “SNL”, “Smokin’ Aces”, and “The Secret Life of Bees”. She is also a film producer and directed one out of five segments of the movie “Five”. In 2004, Keys co-founded and became the global ambassador of ‘Keep a Child Alive’ – a non-profit organization providing medicines in Africa for HIV and AIDS. Alicia Keys is a women empowerment icon; her point of view can often be found in her lyrics as well as in the #nomakeup campaign she launched. In 2016 Keys wrote an essay in which she stated that she lost herself behind eyeliners and lipsticks, and since she is make-up free, she feels more beautiful than ever. She is encouraging other women to discover themselves without the masks. Share:This post is also available in: Español Read more...
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