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Espanol:
A la edad de 23 a..os, Selena se hab..a convertido en una estrella para cientos de miles de fan..ticos del g..nero musical conocido como tejano. Ahora, 10 a..os despu..s de su muerte, Selena es una leyenda en todo el mundo. Su vida y su m..sica rompieron barreras de culturas e idiomas.

Selena naci.. el 16 de abril de 1971 en Lake Jackson, Texas. La hija menor de Abraham y Marcella Quintanilla, Selena creci.. en un humilde hogar junto con su hermano A.B. y su hermana Suzette. Nutridos por el amor de su padre por la m..sica y guiados por las experiencias que ..l ya hab..a tenido en la industria, Selena, A.B. y Suzette eventualmente formaron una peque..a banda construida sobre la fundaci..n musical que hicieron con su padre. A los nueve a..os de edad, Selena se encontr.. firmemente instalada como la cantante de su peque..a banda conocida como Selena y Los Dinos, y lo que comenz.. como un hobby de los fines de semana finalmente los llev.. a decidir dedicarse a la m..sica a tiempo completo.

En 1983, Selena y su familia se mudaron a Corpus Christi, Texas. Con A.B. en el bajo y Suzette en bater..a, el joven grupo –manejado por su padre– hizo giras por Texas tocando en casamientos y peque..os clubes. En los siguientes a..os, Selena y Los Dinos agregaron m..s miembros a su grupo y ganaron numerosos premios locales y regionales por discos lanzados a trav..s de disqueras independientes en Texas. Este ..xito, as.. como una creciente legi..n de fan..ticos, eventualmente llam.. la atenci..n de ejecutivos de EMI Latin. Al firmar un contrato con la importante disquera con tan s..lo 18 a..os, Selena r..pidamente alcanz.. la cima de una industria dominada por hombres y se convirti.. en uno de los nombres m..s requeridos de la m..sica tejana. Pocos a..os despu..s, Selena ganar..a un Grammy por Selena Live (1993), su tercer disco con EMI Latin.

Adem..s, en ese mismo a..o Selena comenz.. Selena, Etc., Inc, su propio negocio, con el que lanz.. su propia l..nea de ropa y abri.. dos boutiques del mismo nombre (una en Corpus Christi y otra en San Antonio). En lo que fue un a..o muy ocupado para la cantante/empresaria de 22 a..os, como si fuera poco Selena, adem..s, complet.. la grabaci..n de Amor prohibido (1994), su ..ltimo disco en espa..ol. El ..xito de este ..ltimo ..lbum, que sorprendentemente incluy.. cinco sencillos entre los diez primeros de la lista Billboard’s Latin 50, dio a EMI Latin la confianza que necesitaba para comenzar a trabajar en un ..lbum de crossover que llevar..a a Selena al mercado en ingl..s. Selena ya hab..a grabado cuatro temas en ingl..s que iban a incluirse en su debut con EMI Records en ese mismo a..o. Desafortunadamente, Selena nunca tuvo la oportunidad de experimentar el tremendo ..xito masivo (dentro y fuera de Estados Unidos) que la estaba esperando.

Bautizada por sus fans como “La Reina del Tejano”, muchos de los ..xitos de Selena fueron, y son, tocados en alta rotaci..n en las radios de todos los formatos. Aunque las posibilidades de estrellato de Selena en el mundo angloparlante aparentemente sufrieron un golpe con su prematura desaparici..n, el lanzamiento p..stumo de Dreaming Of You (1995) dio una clara indicaci..n de que Selena estaba, en efecto, en camino de convertirse tambi..n en una estrella del mercado en ingl..s.

Antes de su muerte del 31 de marzo de 1995 en Corpus Christi, Selena Quintanilla era la estrella mujer latina No. 1 en Estados Unidos y M..xico. En abril de 1995, Selena se convirti.. en la primera artista en colocar cinco discos en espa..ol en la lista de los 200 m..s vendidos de Billboard. Amor prohibido fue nominado a un Grammy y se convirti.. en Disco de Platino, al igual que Selena Live (que gan.. un Grammy) y Entre a mi mundo (1992). En poco tiempo se volvi.. evidente que Selena y su m..sica hab..an alcanzado a muchas m..s personas que lo que nadie jam..s hubiese imaginado. Desde el lanzamiento del multiplatino Dreaming Of You, Selena vendi.. m..s de 16 millones de discos en todo el mundo.

Un final verdaderamente tr..gico para una carrera relativamente corta pero sobresaliente, la historia del estrellato de Selena fue capturado en la pel..cula Selena (1997), protagonizada por Jennifer L..pez y Edward James Olmos. Mostrando las luchas tanto personales como profesionales que encontr.. en el camino, la pel..cula, adem..s, echa un vistazo a la experiencia mexicoamericana en Estados Uunidos y las dificultades que uno enfrenta cuando trata de lograr un equilibrio entre las dos culturas. Un resonante mensaje para los pueblos de todas las razas y culturas, la pel..cula prest.. una muy necesaria atenci..n a las necesidades comerciales y sociales de los latinos (hasta ese momento, virtualmente ignorados por las grandes corporaciones), y ayud.. al surgimiento de una nueva ola de servicios y productos dirigidos a los consumidores hispanos. De hecho, la tr..gica muerte de Selena golpe.. tan fuerte a la comunidad hispana, que el n..mero conmemorativo de Selena publicado por la revista People (que vendi.. m..s de un mill..n de ejemplares, un r..cord) en definitiva provoc.. la creaci..n de la ahora popular People En Espa..ol.

Hoy, la m..sica de Selena contin..a encabezando los charts pop en todo el mundo, y sus logros antes y despu..s de su desaparici..n todav..a son admirados tanto por fan..ticos como por m..sicos. Entre 1993 y 2002, Selena mantuvo el puesto ..1 por el r..cord de asistencia en concierto (66,994 en el Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo anual). Al final del ..ltimo milenio, la revista Billboard nombr.. a Selena como la “Artista Latina de la D..cada”. Y en 2002 Selena fue nominada a un Latin Billboard Award en la categor..a de “Album Pop del A..o (Femenino)” por su ..lbum p..stumo Live, The Last Concert (2001).

Una vez m..s, Selena es honrada por el encuentro de muchos de sus fan..ticos para celebrar su vida, su memoria y su m..sica. A trav..s de la uni..n de artistas de varios g..neros musicales representando a pa..ses de todo el mundo, Selena contin..a teniendo un efecto en todos nosotros.

English:
By the age of 23, Selena had become a star to hundreds of thousands of fans of this genre of music known as Tejano. Now, 10 years after her death, Selena has become a legend throughout the world. Her life story and her music have broken both language and cultural barriers.

Selena was born on April 16, 1971, in Lake Jackson, Texas. The youngest child of Abraham and Marcella Quintanilla, Selena was raised in a humble household along with her older brother and sister, A.B. and Suzette. Nurtured by their father’s love of music and guided by his own experiences in the music industry, Selena, A.B., and Suzette eventually formed a small band built upon the musical foundation they forged with their father. By the age of nine, Selena found herself firmly planted as the lead singer of their small band known as Selena Y Los Dinos, and what began as a weekend hobby ultimately led to a decision to pursue a career in music full-time.

In 1983, Selena and her family moved to Corpus Christi, Texas. With A.B. on bass guitar and Suzette on drums, the young group managed by their father, toured the state of Texas performing for weddings and small clubs. Over the next few years, Selena Y Los Dinos added more members to their group and went on to win numerous local and regional awards for albums released under independent recording labels in Texas. This success coupled with a rapidly growing fan base eventually caught the attention of executives at EMI Latin. Signing with the major label at just 18 years old, Selena quickly rose to the top of the male-dominated industry and became one of Tejano’s most sought after acts. And, in just a few short years, Selena would receive the Grammy award for the 1993 release of SELENA LIVE, her third release under the EMI Latin label.

That same year Selena also began her own business, Selena, Etc., Inc., which she used to launch her own line of clothing and to open two boutiques by the same name, one located in Corpus Christi, and the other in San Antonio, Texas. An extremely busy year for the 22-year-old singer turned entrepreneur, Selena also wrapped recording of her last Spanish-language album, AMOR PROHIBIDO. The success of this last album, which charted an astounding five singles in the top-ten of Billboard’s Latin 50, gave EMI Latin the confidence it needed to begin work on a crossover album that would take Selena into the English-language market. Finally, after years of sacrifice and hard work, it would seem that Selena and her family were on the verge of realizing their dreams of achieving success in the mainstream English market. Selena had already recorded four English-language tracks that were to be included on her EMI Records premiere later that year. Unfortunately, Selena would never get the opportunity to experience the tremendous mainstream and international success that was awaiting her.

Dubbed by her fans as the “Queen of Tejano” many of Selena’s hits were, and are still, rotated heavily on radio stations of every format. Although Selena’s prospects for stardom in the English-speaking music world were deterred by her demise, the posthumous release of the album DREAMING OF YOU gave a clear indication that Selena was, in fact, on her way to becoming a star in the English market as well.

Selena Quintanilla was the No. 1 female Latino star in the United States and Mexico before her untimely death on March 31, 1995, in Corpus Christi, Texas. By April 1995, Selena became the first recording artist to place five Spanish-language albums simultaneously on the Billboard 200. Her Grammy-nominated 1994 release AMOR PROHIBIDO went Platinum, as did her 1993 Grammy Award winning album SELENA LIVE and her 1992 album ENTRE A MI MUNDO. It quickly became evident that Selena and her music had reached far more people than anyone could have imagined. Since the release of the Multi-Platinum album, DREAMING OF YOU, Selena has sold more than 16 million albums worldwide.

A truly tragic end to a relatively short but remarkable life, the story of Selena’s rise to stardom was captured in the 1997 film, SELENA, which starred Jennifer Lopez and Edward James Olmos. Showing both the professional and personal struggles she encountered, the film also shined a light on the Mexican-American experience in the United States and the difficulties faced when trying to strike a balance between two cultures. A resonant message to people of all races and cultures, the film also brought much needed attention to the enormously underserved commercial and social needs of Latinos and helped to usher in a new wave of services and products marketed toward Hispanic consumers. In fact, so deeply felt by the Hispanic community was the tragedy of Selena’s death, that People magazine’s commemorative issue of Selena, which sold a record number of issues (over 1,000,000), ultimately spurred the creation of the now-popular magazine People En Espa..ol.

Today, Selena’s music continues to top Latin and pop charts throughout the world, and her accomplishments before and after her passing are still highly regarded by both fans and fellow musicians. From 1993 to 2002, Selena held the ..1 spot for the highest concert attendance record (66,994) at the annual Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. At the end of the last millennium, Billboard Magazine declared Selena the “Latin Artist of the Decade.” And in 2002, Selena was nominated for a Latin Billboard Award in the category of “Pop Album of the Year (Female)” for the posthumous release of LIVE, THE LAST CONCERT.

Now, Selena is once again honored by the gathering of her many fans to celebrate her life, her memory, and her music. Bringing together artists from various musical genres representing countries from throughout the world, Selena continues to affect us all.

With dignity and kindness she touched our hearts. With music she touched our souls.

Con dignidad y bondad ella toc.. nuestros corazones. Con la m..sica, nos toc.. el alma.