Tuesday, March 31st will mark the 20th anniversary of Selena Quintanilla's death. Selena and her family began the Tex-Mex music movement back in the 90s which established her as the Queen of Tejano music. Her rise to stardom came when she released her "Ven Conmigo" album, which was the first of its kind to achieve gold status. She later went on to gain more hits from her "Entre A Mi Mundo" album in 1992 and even earning a Grammy for Best-Mexican American album for "Selena Vive!"
Although Selena's life was cut short, her legacy in the music world still lives on. To commemorate the legend Selena was we have compiled a list of facts you probably didn't know about the Queen of Tejano music. Check them out below:
1. The first time Selena preformed on The Johnny Canales Show, she was 13 and asked if she could do the interview in English. In 1994, she was able to speak Spanish fluently.
2. One of Selena’s dreams was to become a fashion designer. She was known for beading her boots or sewing beads on her bras before shows.
3. Selena was 17 when she signed a one year contract with Coca-Cola for $75,000 and was featured in English and Spanish language ad campaigns in Hispanic media markets across the country.
4. Abraham Quintanilla converted the garage into a soundproof space, where Selena, A.B. and Suzette rehearsed every day for 30 minutes.
5. Selena learned to sing Spanish phonetically.
6. A.B. and Suzette did not enjoy performing, but Selena didn’t mind.
7. Selena’s mircrophones wound up covered with her red lipstick after gigs.
8. Abraham would take the kids to the grocery store really late at night so no one could see that they were on food stamps.
9. At one point, there were 13 people living in one house, and only 1 bathroom.
10. Abraham made their stage lights out of empty peach cans.
11. Selena’s last words were “Yolanda Saldivar, in room 158.” All rooms at the Days Inn have been renumbered in order to give their guests greater privacy from Selena fans.
12. Front page stories in the New York Times and other major newspapers compared her killing to the shooting of John Lennon.
13. An estimated 100,000 mourners showed up to Selena’s public viewing at the convention center in Corpus Christi, Texas.
14. People magazine produced a tribute issue. It was only the third time in the magazine’s history that a tribute issue had been produced; previous ones were for Jackie Kennedy Onassis and Audrey Hepburn. The tribute issue and subsequent printings sold out, and that’s how People en Español came about.
15. Months after her death, there was a big spike in the number of baby girls being named Selena.
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