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Selena Facts

General

Selena Quintanilla Perez did not have a middle name.

Selena's favorite flowers were long stemmed, white roses. Avas Flowers would agree that white roses are one of the most popular flowers. The Avas Flowers website says that white roses symbolize peace and purity.

Selena's favorite colors were purple and black.

One of Selena's dreams was to have her own farm. Towards the end of her life she and Chris had purchased 10 acres of land just outside of Corpus Christi, on which they planned to build a farm, raise horses, and build their own house. Selena had already picked out the furniture.

Selena had an extensive Faberge egg collection. In her living room, she had big glass cabinets in which she kept more than 500 designer eggs. She had everything from gold to diamond, every size. If it looked like an egg she bought it. Her friends and family related this hobby to the fact that she was born on Easter Sunday. According to Suzette, each egg tells a story. There's one that Chris bought her a week before she died and then there's one Selena bought at Universal City in Los Angeles. All of the eggs are on display in their original cases at the Q-Production's Selena Museum. In the display case, they're arranged exactly the way they were in Selena's living room.

Selena once drove a black BMW but it was stolen and dumped into the ocean only to be replaced by Selena's legendary red Porsche Targa.

Selena loved to shop at Wal-Mart and Pay Less Shoes Source.

In middle school Selena was asked to try out for the cheerleading squad but because of her touring with the band she didn't have time for it.

As a teenager Selena's favorite TV show was the 80's hit 'Moonlighting' which starred Bruce Willis and Cybil Shepard.

Selena's family teased Selena, saying that the only reason she opened a salon was so that she could get pampered for free.

Selena was a Democrat.

Every day Selena took a walk through her neighborhood.

Selena found it impossible to turn down a dare.

Her nickname was "Preciosa"- which means beautiful, spirited and wonderful.

She never refused to sign an autograph

She never built a fence between herself and her fans

The name Selena comes from the words "Selenite" and "moonstone"

Selena had 5 dogs and a python

Selena had a black BMW, but it was stolen and found at sea. She then bought her Porsche.

Selena wore contacts

Selena once filled the middle of Oreo Cookies with Mint Toothpaste, to play a joke on a fellow singer, but her father ate it.

Selena was 5'6" in height.

Selena designed all of her stage outfits herself.

Selena's favorite lip color was the now discontinued "Brick" from Chanel.

Once Selena, bored on an airplane ride, got up and sang to her fellow passengers. She then put on an apron and asked them if they would like a drink.

Selena paid $300 to save a rabbit she accidentally ran over in the street.

Selena was in the process of building a new home containing 10 bedrooms to be located in the lush "King Estates" south of Corpus Christi overlooking Oso creek near the Corpus Christi Botanical Gardens.

Selena liked to drink hot tea w/honey and lemon before her concerts.

Selena weighed 5lbs 10 1/2oz at birth.

Selena went bungee jumping on a dare

Selena's first publicist was Ramon Herrera

When Selena Y Los Dinos first started out, the Quintanilla's made lights out of peach cans

Selena had a black Pomeranian named Pebbles

Selena had a motorcycle

Selena was a spokes person for: Coca-Cola, AT&T and Southwestern Bell and Agree Shampoo (Dep Corp)

Selena was on the TV Novella "Dos Mujeres, Un Camino"

Selena also did a cameo in the film "Don Juan De Marco"

Once a fan offered to give Selena a ranch.

Selena had scars on her legs that she was embarrassed about.

Selena earned a GED (General Equivalency Diploma) from The American School of Chicago in 1989.

Selena last attended school, as a regular student, at West Oso Middle School.

Selena had been accepted to the Louisiana State University.

Food Related

Selena's favorite restaurants were Pizza Hut and The Olive Garden.

Selena's favorite food was pizza. She loved to brag that she could polish off a whole medium pizza by herself.

Selena loved Whataburgers

Selena loved tacos from Jack In The Box when she was touring. In the early days, Jack In The Box was her family's favorite fast food restaurant.

Music Related

The Beginning

Selena recorded her first album with Freddie Records in the early 80's.

Selena sang at her father's restaurant "Papa Gayo's" in 1980

Selena started singing with A.B. and Suzette at the age of 6

Album Sales

Selena was named by Billboard Magazine as the Best Selling Latin Artist of the Decade (90's), selling approx 18,000,000 albums.

Selena was named the fastest selling female artist in history back in 1995, when her albums "Dreaming Of You" sold well over 175,000 copies it's first day.

Selena broke Mariah Carey's sales record. Selena's "Dreaming Of You" sold in one day, what Mariah's CD sold in one week.

Selena, was the first Latin artist to chart a Latin album (at least 50% Spanish) at #1 on the Billboard 200 Pop Charts.

Selena's 1994 album "Amor Prohibido" has sold over 5,000,000 copies.

Selena's 1993 Grammy - winning album "Live" has sold over 1,500,000 copies.

Selena has sold approximately 20,000,000 albums in 6 years.

"Dreaming Of You" has sold over 5,000,000 copies.

"All My Hits - Todos Mis Exitos" made up 50% of EMI Latin's sales in 1999.

The 3 - Disc "Anthology" sold 500,000 copies its first two weeks.  Selena spent more weeks at number 1 on Billboard Top 50 Latin charts than any other artist. 'Amor Prohibido' was number 1 for 78 weeks, which beats Gloria Estefan's 58 weeks.

Awards and Sales Charts

Selena was the first Tejano artist ever to win a Grammy Award.

Selena's album "Ven Conmigo" was the first Tejano album ever to go Gold.

Selena was named "Female Artist of The Year" for 9 years in a row, at the Tejano Music Awards.

Selena y Los Dinos was named 3rd Best Dressed Group in 1994.

Selena is the only Latin and FEMALE artist ever to place 5 consecutive albums is Billboard 200 top Selling albums in the U.S. and UK. This has only been accomplished by Elvis, The Beatles, and Garth Brooks.

"Ven Conmigo" was the first Tejano album to go Gold

Selena's 7 number 1 singles were 'Buenos Amigos' which was at the top for a week, 'Dondequiera Que Estes' which was at the top for 6 weeks, 'Amor Prohibido' which topped for 9 weeks, 'Bidi Bidi Bom Bom' which topped for 4 weeks, 'No Me Queda Mas' which was number 1 for 7 weeks, 'Fotos Y Recuerdos' which was number 1 for 7 weeks, and 'Tu Solo Tu', the biggest hit of her career with 10 weeks at the top.

Selena recorded "Buenos Amigos" a duet with Alvaro Torres in 1991, her first #1 song

Selena was nominated for another Grammy in 1995, for "Amor Prohibido"

Videos

"La Carcacha" was Selena's first music video.

The music video for the song "Amor Prohibido" was shot in Joshua Tree, California in 1994.

Selena's "No Me Queda Mas" video was shot entirely in San Antonio, TX. The stair case scene was shot at the Amtrak Railroad station, the wedding scene at the S.A. Botanical gardens, the restaurant scene at Michellino's on the riverwalk.

There was a delay in beginning production for the "No Me Queda Mas" video, because Selena wanted a white rose to be given to her in the video, not the red one that they had ready.

Songs

Selena co-wrote the songs "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom" and "Amame".

Selena favorites songs were "Amor Prohibido" and "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom"

"Amor Prohibido" was written about Selena's grandparents

The songs "Where Did The Feeling Go?", "Is It The Beat?" and "Only Love" were recorded a few months after Selena singed on with EMI Latin in 1989. They remained unreleased until 1996 and 1997.

The song 'No Me Queda Más' was written by Ricky Vela about Suzette. He has a crush on her, but she met her now husband Billy, and that's when he wrote the song

Selena was always writing songs. What she wrote was never put to music. She used to sit around the house and jot down lyrics impulsively in notebooks and then leave the notebooks lying all over the house causing Chris to have to go around and collect them. A.B. hinted once that the most complete set of lyrics might be put to music one day as the final Selena song.

"A boy like that" was recorded in 1994, it was a project to raise money for the Grammy's, it was released on the album “The songs of the West Side Story”

Selena Live

Selena's biggest fear was that no one would come watch her perform.

After every concert Selena always asked her dad, 'How'd I do?'.

Selena's final performance was on March 19, 1995 in Chicago. The Houston Astrodome Concert (February 26, 1995) was her last televised concert.

"Live", was recorded on February 7, 1993 at the Memorial Coliseum in Corpus Christi, TX.

There was 61,041 at her last big performance (Houston Astrodome) before she died

Her actual last performance was made a few days before her death for a children's charity.

Who Selena Liked

Selena was a huge fan of Bonnie Raitt, Garth Brooks and Janet Jackson.

As a child Selena loved
Donna Summer, R&B duo "A Taste of Honey" and rock group Air Supply.

Selena loved the music of
Gloria Estefan, Luis Enrique, The Barrio Boys, Emilio, Roberto Pulido, La Mafia and Rocio Durcal.

Miscellaneous

Even when she was on the verge of pop superstardom, Selena didn't want to turn her back on the Tejano fans that had made her such a big success. She planned on going into a studio to record a new Spanish language album as soon as she completed work on her English album.

Billboard Magazine declared the release and success of "Dreaming Of You", as a historic day in Latin Music History.

The Hard Rock Cafe, San Antonio has a Selena star on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant. Selena was one of the celebrities on hand in January of 1995 attending the opening of the restaurant.

Even though Selena's English Album wasn't released until 1995, she was signed to SBK records in November of 1993 to make the album.

After the release of 'Entre A Mi Mundo,' Mexico wanted Selena! Everyone was worried about Selena's ability to communicate in Spanish with the Mexican media. Of course Selena went in and charmed them and when she left, they said she was "una artista del pueblo." No one called her on any mispronunciations.

Selena was EMI Latin's first artist.

Selena was named "The Queen Of Tejano Music", as she easily surpassed the sales of both male and female Tejano artists.

The original members of Selena Y Los Dinos (1986) included Selena, Suzette, AB, Ricky Vela, and Roger García

Selena never took singing lessons

Shelly Lares (another Tejano singer) once sang backup for Selena

Once Selena was late for an 8:00 p.m. gig at the Tejano Rodeo in Dallas because her plane was delayed by a snowstorm. When she showed up at 10:00 instead of canceling like many stars would do she walked out on stage apologizing heavily and then sang and danced all night so her fans wouldn't feel shortchanged.

Selena and Chris

Selena is the reason that Chris speaks Spanish. When she started learning the language it inspired him to learn too. He spent free time with her practicing.

Towards the end of her life, Selena and Chris planned on having children as soon as Selena's career settled down some. It was one of Selena's biggest dreams to be a mother. She hoped to one day have five kids.

Selena and Chris first admitted that they loved each other at a Pizza Hut in the Rio Grande Valley.

Selena was married on April 2, 1992.

Shelly Lares invited Selena to a rehearsal in 1988 and was introduced to Chris

In the "Amor Prohibido" music video, Selena wore her husband's shirts

Selena and Chris once vacationed in Jamaica

Selena’s Community Involvement

Selena felt it was important to find time to encourage children and young adults to stay in school. She spoke many times in schools about the importance of getting a High School diploma and achieving your goals. Selena loved to go to public middle schools and high schools to talk to the kids about the importance of staying in school, avoiding drugs and alcohol, remaining chaste and pursuing goals. 

In 1993, Selena gave a free concert for Texas students who drastically improved on their grades, and donated $2,500 to School Programs.

She did a public service video for school's entitled Mi Musica, which was sponsored by Agree Shampoo. In the video, Selena spoke about Mexican music in America, but left them an important message that staying in school and graduating high school is the most important thing that they will do in their life.
(To view it click here and select "Mi Musica - Mexican American Music of Today" under "Selena Video Clips".)

Selena was a spokesperson for the D.A.R.E (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program to keep kids off drugs and a Battered Women’s Help Hotline. It’s been said that when Selena's commercial for the help hotline aired, the phone lines would light up.


Selena
also participated at many Stay In School Jamborees, her last being in March of 1995, just two weeks before her death. She expressed her excitement at the turnout, "It shows that kids want to do something good for themselves..."  She was also in the process of organizing a benefit concert for The Boys and Girls Clubs located in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

Her Community Services were honored on April 8, 1994 when the mayor of Houston proclaimed that day
"Selena Quintanilla Day".

Selena was definitely not a normal artist, who was only preoccupied with her success. She really cared for people and that's why people cared so much for her.

(Note: This is from the main site page.)

Coca-Cola

Selena was a spokesperson for Coca-Cola from 1989 till the time of her death. She filmed three commercials for the company.

In 1994 to commemorate her 5 years with the company, Coca-Cola issued special Selena coke bottles that sold out rapidly. One was and might still be displayed in the San Antonio Hard Rock Cafe with her signature on it.

Selena was buried in the sparkly purple outfit she wore to the 1995 Tejano Music awards just a month before she died.

Selena - The Movie

More then 20,000 girls auditioned for the role of Selena for the movie.

Jennifer Lopez became the highest paid Latina in Hollywood history by playing Selena, earning a then-unheard of, $1,000,000. Jennifer now earns 9 to 10 times that much.
Liza Ybarra auditioned and was one of the finalist for the role of Selena in "Selena, A Musical Celebration Of Life", but was given the role of Suzette.

The studio were Jennifer Lopez is 'recording' "I Could Fall In Love" in the movie, is Studio A in Q-Productions, where Selena actually recorded her English Album.
Both Jennifer Lopez (Selena in the movie) and Veronica Vazquez (Selena in the musical) went to the same dance school in NY at the same time.

"Selena - The Movie" was released Internationally, and dubbed in over 20 different languages.

Selena and her family

If Selena was a boy, her name would have been "Marc Anthony", they got the name from the lady in the next room who was supposed to have a girl, while Marcella was supposed to have a boy

During a long conversation at the Olive Garden, Selena told her mother, Marcella, about a previous visit to the same place, she'd seen a little old lady eating by herself and felt sorry for her. Selena paid for the woman's meal and but told the waiter not to let her know "I want you to give her one of those little cakes you give people on their birthdays, Put it in a bag so she could take it home". Marcella felt so proud of her daughter. She was so giving so generous with her love as well as her material wealth. Show business could be such a competitive down and dirty endeavor, people crawling over each other in pursuit of riches and recognition, but her daughter rose above the fray, her goodness neutralized all the unsavory aspects of making music for a living. On the way home, as Selena was zipping in and out of traffic, singing at the top of her voice, her mother leaned over to her and spoke into her ear "I Love You", Selena looked back and smiled "I Love You Too Mama" This happened on March 30, 1995- Less than 24 hours later Selena had died and this was the very last time Marcella seen or talked to her beloved youngest daughter.

Selena's name was chosen when her mother's Hospital Roommate had chosen the name for her little girl, but she had a boy. Marcela liked the name, and gave it to her daughter.

Selena's brother lived in the house on the opposite side of her parent’s house

Selena Etc.

Selena opened two boutiques in 1994. Selena Etc. Inc, one in Corpus Christi (January 27th) and another in San Antonio.

The designer that was helping Selena was Martin Gomez

Miscellaneous

"Selena, A Musical Celebration Of Life" star Aaron Lhor (Chris Perez) was a dancer in Selena's video "Techno Cumbia".

About 1,000 women auditioned for the musical "Selena Forever".

In the 1996 film, 'Dear God', which stars Greg Kinnear ('As Good As It Gets') and Laurie Metcalf ('Roseanne'), Selena's 'Amor Prohibido' poster is shown several times tacked up on a wall.

The tragic day of Selena's death was also to be the day that Johnny Canales married, he considered canceling the wedding, but instead he and his bride dedicated their wedding to Selena.
Selena lived on 705 Bloomington St, in Corpus Christi, TX.

The Aftermath

Selena was laid to rest at Seaside Memorial Park on April 3, 1995

The People Tribute Issue to Selena sold 1,000,000 copies it's day of release, spawning People En Espanol.

Selena was in the 1999 Book Of World Records in the category of Most Dominating Musical Artist.

George W. Bush named April 16, 1995 as Selena Day in Texas.

The memorial statue on Corpus Christi's bay front was unveiled on May 27, 1997. It cost around $600,000 to construct.

The Selena Museum is visited by 100's of fans each week. People from as far away as Japan, Australia, and Europe have visited.

In 1995 the Houston City Council unanimously voted to rename Denver Park to Selena Quintanilla Perez Park.

Selena is considered one of the top 10 most important Latinos in history, on the internet.

In 1998 Selena was picked by People Magazine as one of "The Most Intriguing People Of The Century".

Selena was the only female Latina to receive a Golden Eagle Award in 2001, to honor her positive impact on millions of Latinos. Others to receive it that night were Tito Punete, and Anthony Quinn.