Member-only story
The Deification Of Selena Takes Away From Who She May Have Become, 25 Years Later
The tragedy of her death obscured the real person who worked on these songs and entertained audiences
This will be shocking. It might even be illegal. I’m not really sure.
I’m a middle-aged Latino who grew up in South Texas, listening to 1980s MTV pop and absorbing Tejano music by osmosis. It was everywhere I went and is as much a part of me now as the Tex-Mex food I consumed and the Spanglish I heard and spoke. When I see a truck on the road, it’s not a camión; it’s a “troka.”
But here goes. I confess: I’m not really into Selena.
The iconic singer, who in Texas is second or third only to Jesus Christ and Tom Landry, was an incredibly talented young woman who died in 1995 at age 23, killed by Yolanda Saldívar, the president of her fan club.
There’s nothing I could say that could take away from Selena Quintanilla’s many accomplishments, which were all the more stunning for someone so young. She was the first Tejano artist to win a Grammy. She had a clothing line. She entertained 180,000 fans at the Houston Rodeo, earning her a spot in the organization’s Star Trail of Fame. That sold-out 1995 appearance is so sacred that artists, including…
