Selena Quintanilla (Research Paper)

The precious gift of life was taken too soon for such a talented and gifted woman as Selena Quintanilla. As an inspiration to all kinds of people, Selena touched the hearts of many and the announcement of her death created a wave of solemness to people all over the country. Selena was a fierce woman of whom many looked up to. She used her voice to help others by taking part in actions to stop the abuse of drugs of others and helped raise awareness and education on AIDS. Her vibrant stage presence and fierce attitude attributed to the nickname of the 'Latina Madonna'. Her music reached out and touched many people while her roots stayed in Hispanic music.        

As her full name of Selena Quintanilla, she the youngest with two other siblings. Born in Lake Jackson Texas, about fifty miles south of Houston, on April 16, 1971, Selena was born into a Latino household where she was taught to be bilingual in English and Spanish. Her life and love of music derived from her father of whom was a musician and artist himself. The interesting music type that he played was called Tejano which combines some Mexican style sounds with other contrasting sounds such as rock and pop. With Abraham Quintanilla's experience in the music industry, Selena took the stage early in her life. She was the lead of her family band called Selena y Los Dinos.         

With Selena y Los Dinos is where Selena Quintanilla first began getting noticed and becoming more well known to people. She decided that it was time to move on and try recording her own music which gained her more popularity. EMI record label signed Selena and her career took off. She was gifted with Grammy awards that she earned such as the achievement for Best Mexican American Album which she won at the 36th annual Grammy Awards. Her songs hit the top of charts as he album was loved by many as well.        

Selena Quintanilla's life was short lived as she was killed suddenly in late March of the year 1995. She was shot by the president of her own fan club, Yolanda Salvador, of whom she knew. This came about in Corpus Christi Texas, about 170 miles from her hometown. Fans of Selena mourned the loss of her life as it was taken at such a young age as 23 years old. A movie was created in honor of Selena Quintanilla's beautiful life that was stripped away from her too soon.  

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