Selena Quintanilla-pérez: an Outstanding Musician

Selena Quintanilla Essay Outline

Introduction

• Introduction to Selena Quintanilla and her remarkable career

Early Passion for Music

• Selena's early love for music and her role in the family band, Selena Y Los Dinos
• Her father's belief in her extraordinary singing talent
• Decision to prioritize music over school

Challenges and Progress

• Selena's struggles with interviews and fluency in Spanish
• The band's initial album and challenges in gaining recognition
• Selena's recognition in the Hispanic community and her signing with Jose Behar
• Early awards and achievements in her career

Rising to Stardom

• Success of albums like "Ven Conmigo" and "Amor Prohibido"
• Grammy Award for Best Mexican-American Album
• Collaborations with other artists and chart-topping hits
• Growing fame and opportunities, including endorsements and clothing line

Legacy and Tragic End

• Selena's English-language album "Dreaming of You"
• Selena's tragic death in 1995
• Posthumous success and enduring popularity of Selena's music

Selena Quintanilla Essay Example

Screaming fans, full arenas, many awards, hit singles all over the world are just many of the successes Selena got to experience. Selena Quintanilla faced many obstacles, such as jealousy and trouble with a language, but at the end she became a successful award-winning singer. Selena had that inner superstar ever since she was a little girl. Even her own father saw her love for music.

Selena had a love for music ever since she was little. Her father always believed that she was going to be an extraordinary singer. “Selena began performing as a child. Around the age of 10, Selena became the lead singer in the family’s band, Selena Y Los Dinos,” (“Selena”). As she progressed more in the music, her father noticed that school might get in her way of her singing. “Selena’s popularity grew placing additional demands on the band (e.g. more travel) Abraham removed Selena from the 8th grade, drawing immediate unwarranted criticism. Some accused him of violating child labor laws while others warned that he was ruining his kids. ‘They’ll be surrounded by drinking and drugs and ‘It’s going to have an effect on them,’ the critics incorrectly predicted,” (Sutherland). Right away Selena’s father started to get judged for his actions. What they didn’t know was that he made the right decision. As the band started to get well known, they had to go through obstacles in order to get their music out to the world.

At first, it was a struggle for Selena to do interviews, she got use to them and the public didn’t seem to notice her having trouble with Spanish. She did Spanish interviews because she was noticed the most in the Hispanic community. Her songs were also in Spanish. “Prior to being taught how to sing in Spanish, English had been Selena’s first and only language. However afterwards when she could sing with perfection in Spanish, Selena found it difficult to converse fluently in that language. Her thinking was slow and her word selection awkward. … Because of Selena’s laughter at her own mistakes, the Spanish media overlooked her difficulties,” (Sutherland). Selena was getting use to Spanish as her music career progressed because almost all of her songs were sung in that language. Later on, Selena Y Los Dinos started to get popular. “Selena Y Los Dinos recorded, “Mis Primeras Grabaciones”, in 1984 under the Freddie Records Label. However, aside from radio play of the “Ya Se Va” track, “Mis Primeras Grabaciones” didn’t do very well and was not released until 11 years later when Abraham purchased the rights,” (Sutherland). That didn’t stop the band from making more music. The band went through the struggle of not seeing their album not going big, but that didn’t stop them from singing.

“When the band’s second album, “Alpha” was released, it brought Selena her first music honors. She won “Female Vocalist of the Year” at the 1987 West Texas Hispanic Music Awards and KFLZ Awards Ceremonies and was voted “Female Vocalist of the Year” and “Performer of the Year,” (Sutherland). It was a surprise for Selena considering her music was beginning to get popular. Selena got recognized by many people, especially Jose Behar. “...Selena was signed by Jose Behar, the former head of Sony’s Latin music division and creator of the Capitol EMI Latin Label in 1989,” (Sutherland). This was a big opportunity for Selena, it showed that she didn’t let negativity get in the way of her dreams. Later on, her album “Ven Conmigo” was the first Tejano record to reach gold record status, she was not only liked by Tejano fans. Her and the band played tour dates all over the world, “Amor Prohibido” was then release and it went gold. Not only was Selena becoming recognized in her hometown, but she was being recognized by the public all over the world.

Selena won the Grammy Award for Best Mexican-American album in 1993. “With the impending release of Selena’s cross-over album, “Dreaming of You” her widespread fame and rocketing demand, a million-dollar record deal, a Grammy Award, endorsements from sponsors like Coca-Cola, and her own line of clothing, it seemed like Selena’s meteoric career could only raise higher,” (Sutherland). Her solo hits “La Carcacha” and “Como La Flor” became popular when she worked with the Barrio Boyzz on music, she also got to work with Alvaro Torres. Their video hit #1 on the Billboard Latin Tracks. “She released two hit albums, “Ven Conmigo” featuring the hit song “Baila Esta Cumbia” in 1990 and “Entra A Mi Mundo” featuring the hit songs, “La Carcacha” and “Como La Flor” in 1992.” (Sutherland). She not only was getting recognized by people who enjoyed her music but also by famous Hispanic artists. Her album “Dreaming Of You” finally got released, but unfortunately she didn’t live to see its success.

“Selena’s first English-language album “Dreaming Of You” was released after her death and became a huge hit,” (“Selena”). Selena died on March 31, 1995. She was shot on the back by Yolanda Saldivar. Yolanda was president of Selena’s fan club and was also promoted to manager in Selena’s boutique. Yolanda also stole $60,000 in forged checks from the boutique.. Her music got even more popular after her death.

Selena was a successful Hispanic singer whose music was loved by many people around the world. Selena faced obstacles here and there every once in awhile, but they didn’t stop her from singing. She struggled with speaking Spanish, her and the band’s first album didn’t sell very well, people judged her dad for taking her out of school, but all of those troubles were worth it. She got to the point where every person knew about her. Selena still remains to be a popular singer.