The way the family wants her to be remembered

The Last Wordbelongs to A.B. Quintanilla III from 'Selena Remembered'

"The things she would want from her fans would be for her to never, to never go away and the way that would be possible is through her music and the work she has done; and letting the next generation know all about Selena and what a lovely and wonderful person she was."

her quotes

On Growing Up"I lost a lot out of my teenage hood but I gained a lot too. I can't really say that I lost because I got ahead of everyone as far as career and being more mature about business, even though I didn't know what the heck was going on." "I miss going to school and having friends; that's normal for anyone my age. I had a very boring childhood because I never had the opportunity to associate with anybody my own age due to my career. I miss being around kids my own age." "I loved Lake Jackson because of the green grass, the trees. I remember eating at the Sonic and Dairy Bar. I remember how it would flood where I lived, and my friends and I would play in the water. I was a little tomboy when I was growing up. I used to like to play football with the guys and you know, normal things like hide-and-seek, and get a hold of my brother's bike and try to teach myself how to ride it." "We used to get my mom's sheets, you know, the fitted sheets, and we used to go outside and hide from the cars on the front lawn. We would make bubbles and hide under there. And if we got seen we had to go stand on the corner and make these ugly faces.""We had these monkey bars in the back of my house and we used to get my mother's sheets and tie them to the bars and make little cocoons and just hang in there all day."
Selena's Advice To Kids of America"Be at your best at all times." "With a positive attitude, you can be anything you want to be." "Be strong minded and always think that the impossible is possible.""You get a lot farther in life without drugs."
On Her Grammy Experiences"We got up and we screamed. It was the pre-telecast part of the awards and there was maybe like 10 of us sitting in one row towards the back of the place, showed up kinda late. Like always, I'm always late for everything and they announced uh me as the winner and I was like oh my God and we all stood and we screamed and I was wearing this like crystal beaded gown and I remember going down, cause it's kind of on a slant, and thinking gee Selena if you fall you are gonna be so embarrassed don't fall cause it had like this fishtail in the back of it and I was trying to be all cool walking up there, but it was great and thinking back now...it's just an experience I will never forget.""So you can imagine how I felt when they called out my name. I cried in the back. It was just a great feeling." "I bought one of the cheapy cameras cause I wanted to get pictures of all the stars and they wouldn't let me take it in but this year I saw people with cameras. I was mad.""I really wanted to meet Andy Garcia."
On Tejano Music"When dad first introduced us to it we were like, no you can't make us play it. There were times we would come in to practice and we would start crying, 'We don't wanna learn this music.' But we learned it and now that's all we listen to on the radio and we like to play it." "Tejano music is a combination or should I say fusion of a lot of different types of music all rolled into one package. It's country music it's jazz, it has roots of German polka, it also has Mexican music in it.""Although my Spanish is a little weak I feel that I am Mexican. I'm very proud of my roots and ever since I was little we played English music and country music a side from Tejano. It was something very natural for us.""Tejano music is a very relaxing style and it reminds me of home."
On Her Success
"Thank goodness we stuck to it because we have come a long way, you know. Really and truly, I can't imagine myself having an everyday job and going into an office. I love business. I have my own business aside from singing, but I can't picture myself going to the same place everyday. I don't know, it would be kind of a drag to me, I guess I have gotten so used to traveling now. When I have the chance to relax, I'm real hyper and ready to go.""The reason I'm so appreciative of everything that's going on around me is cause I never expected it. Never dreamed...never in my wildest dreams thought I would come this far and I plan to keep that attitude." "We never thought we would ever come this far but...we're here." "A lot of people say..ya know that it's hard to work with family and what's good about our family is that we've all had the same goal and we all have the same respect for my father...so when we get into a discussion there's dad like good old times with a belt. "I think a lot of the musical talent came on my fathers part cause he used to be a musician many years ago when he had his own band named Los Dinos." "What's cool about our family is that we don't hold grudges and I think that's sort of been the key to the success. Ya know we have our disagreements but whether we're right or wrong we'll just go and apologize. That's just the way we are.""The family that plays together stays together." "I'm spoiled in the sense that now I get what I want but it's because I work for it."
On Performing"Well, when I'm singing I'm a completely different person. I could be very free, depending on the situation I could do what I want. I would have to deliver, like with many songs, a lot of emotion if a song is very sad, as with a very happy and excited song. It depends, it depends. Compared to when I'm my normal self, like whomever, of the public.""The life of an artist isn't all glamorous. It's a lot of work. A lot of people think it's very easy. They think you always stay in good hotels, you buy good things, but it's not like that. You have to work hard like everybody else." "What I do on stage, you won't catch me doing off stage. I mean, I think deep down I'm still kind of, like, timid and modest about a lot of things. But on stage, I release all that; I let it go."
About Spanish
"One thing is that if I ever have children later on, for sure I want my children to know Spanish. It only makes you a better person or even a smarter person to know 2 languages. If that barrier is not there you can cross both lines, talk to English and Spanish people and it gets you a lot farther in business and personal communication."
About Chris"Ever since I was a little girl, I'd dreamed of having a big, wonderful wedding, with a long white gown and a bouquet of flowers. But my love for Chris was so strong. I couldn't wait any longer for us to be husband and wife. I couldn't even wear my nicest dress because that would have made my father suspicious."
"We were friends. I never thought I'd wanna marry a musician."
About Overcoming ShynessWell I think that's cause of my dad and his belt. (Selena laughs and imitates her father) you're gonna sing little girl! (shaking her hands in front of her and laughing). Boy, I was very shy but when a person grows up you change and those things do too."
About Motorcycles"Chris wanted to show me first how to change gears. So later on down the road I'll be cruising on a Harley hopefully."
About Respect"We grew up with morals and also respect for everyone. My father always treated us equal and we're not different. We all have talent even if they are in different aspects."
Filming The "No Me Queda Mas" Video"This is what happens when you gain weight before a video."
"They're putting more powder on me because I have very oily skin. That's why we're coming out with the Selena line of makeup."
The Early Years"We were playing gigs that we could get at the time. We'd get like a hundred dollars a gig for playing 4 hours and be like oh god this is cool (she laughs) now it's like...ahhh...(she laughs again) but you know you just take what you can get when you're starting out and we got laughed at we uh...my father was told that we would never make it." "It was kinda hard at first, cause I knew it was uh.. a means of putting food on the table for the whole family. You know we did it to make a living." "So the only way we could put bread on the table was try to sing and do music professionally and make a living off of it."
About The Fan Club"There's a fan club and it's based out of here in San Antonio and it carries the Mexican...for Mexico.. la gente de Mexico.. and tambien. .tambien all the United States, and what they do is they send out a newsletter each month telling you where we're gonna play and tambien there's also a fan club where you can pay a fee and you get the newsletter plus interviews with the band members and different stuff like that. T-shirts and all that junk."
About her family
"We're a very unified family. Within the family we have aggressive and dominating personalities, but we believe the family is the most important thing of all.""I think I'm very a kindhearted person. Um, I don't like to hurt people's feelings. If I do, it's not intentionally. I'm sincere and very honest. And I feel that now days a lot of people have lost that, but I think that starts in the home. My parents have taught me that. Being fair with people."
About dancing"As for dancing, I only dance with people I know. I don't dance with strangers unless they ask my dad for permission. I also enjoy seeing other people dance. Then I go backstage and practice the steps I saw."

Biography of Selena

She was born Selena Quintanilla to Mexican-American parents in Lake Jackson, TX. Before her birth, her father Abraham had been a member of Los Dinos. When Selena began performing at the age of ten, her father became her manager and Los Dinos became her backing band. She made her recording debut in 1983 after appearing on popular the radio show of L.A. deejay Johnnie Canales. While Selena grew up understanding Spanish, English was her first language. Her first records were recorded in Spanish and she sang the words phonetically. After her music began to catch on, she began learning Spanish formally and by the time of her death, she was fluent in the language.
In 1987, she was named Female Vocalist of the Year and Performer of the Year at the Tejano Music Awards. Two years later she signed with EMI Latin and in 1990, she and Los Dinos released their eponymous debut album. Later that year she released a singles compilation, Personal Best, and she also released Ven Conmigo. In 1991 the title track of the latter became the first Tejano record to go gold. Selena also released two more albums, including one of Cumbia music, Baila Esta Cumbia that year. Selena married Los Dinos' lead guitarist Chris Perez in April of 1992. Other group members included her brother, Abraham Quintanilla, III, who played bass and penned many of her songs, and her sister Suzette, the drummer. She won a Grammy in 1993 for Best Mexican American Performance for her album Selena Live. That same year, she released an album of love songs, Quiero, and she also opened Selena Etc, a clothing manufacturing business. In 1994, she made her feature-film debut in Don Juan DeMarco, in which she played a singer. Later that year, she and her band embarked upon a tour of New York, LA, Argentina, and Puerto Rico. Amor Prohibido was released in 1994; it was nominated for a Grammy and went gold. In 1995, Selena began preparing to make her breakthrough into the American pop mainstream.
In the spring of that year she was working on her first English-language album, when she went to a motel room in Corpus Christi, TX, to fire 34-year-old Yolanda Saldivar, the woman who managed Selena's boutique in San Antonio, and the founder of the Selena fan club. A few days before the confrontation Selena's father had unearthed paperwork proving that Saldivar had been embezzling from the fan club. Saldivar and Selena argued and as the singer left, she was shot in the back. Selena didn't die right away and managed to stagger into the lobby where she named Saldivar as the killer. An hour later, Selena died in a local hospital.
It was a death that rocked the entire Latino music industry. Saldivar was convicted for the murder of Selena on October 23rd, 1995. Three days later she was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for at least 30 years.
A special service was held in the Los Angeles Colliseum where she was to give a concert. Less than a month later, Texas governor George W. Bush declared April 16, "Selena Day," in her honor. Dreaming of You, her final album, was released posthumously in the early summer. It became the first Tejano album to reach number one in America and was double platinum by the end of the year.