Selena Quintanilla – Perez was a singer, songwriter, actress, model, spokesperson and fashion designer born on 16th April 1971 in Lake Jackson, Texas USA, of Cherokee ancestry through her mother, and Mexican-American through her father. Selena was one of the most successful Mexican-American entertainers of the late 20th century, being named “top Latin artist of the ‘90s” and “best-selling Latin artist of the decade” by Billboard magazine, and referred to as Queen of Tejano music and the “Tejano Madona”. She passed away in 1995.
Have you ever wondered how rich Selena Quintanilla-Perez was? According to sources it has been estimated that Selena Quintanilla-Perez’s net worth was $10 million, accumulated through an extraordinarily successful career in the entertainment industry, based primarily on music but also comprising other branches such as acting, fashion and design. Having built an exceptionally lucrative career as a public personality, her net worth increased significantly.
Selena Quintanilla – Perez Net Worth $10 Million
Selena was the youngest child in the family – her father encouraged her interest in music, being an ex-musician himself, even taking her out of school on occasions, but she matriculated and enrolled at Pacific Western University, studying business administration. However, her debut on the entertainment scene had come when she was nine years old, with the “Selena y Los Dinos” band which consisted of her other siblings, and she started her professional career in 1982, when she began recording and building her music career despite often being turned down due to performing Tejano music – a male-dominated genre, but from 1987, she won the Tejano Music Award in the category for Female Vocalist of the Year nine consecutive times.
However, “Selena” was signed by EMI Latin, and began releasing albums – “Entre a Mi Mundo” (1992) was listed first on the U.S. Billboard Regional Mexican Albums chart for 19 weeks and was considered a leap in her musical career. Her success continued to flourish as her next year’s album “Live!” won earned the Best Mexican/American Album award at the 1994 Grammy Awards, making it the first album of a Tejano artist to achieve this. “Amor Prohibido” came out in 1994 and instantly became one of the best-selling Latin albums in the US – the following year it was nominated for a Grammy award for Best Mexican/American Album and won Record of the Year at the 1995 Tejano Music Awards. Selena and her music were constantly acclaimed for making Tejano music one of the most popular Latin music genres, and launching this kind of music more widely into the entertainment industry, and having achieved such wide popularity, Selena started also recording songs in English.
However, singing was not her only talent, and Selena also started her own line of clothing. Both of her newly opened salons called “Selena Etc.” were notably successful, and helped rank her among the Hispanic musicians with the highest income in 1993 and 1994. In addition, Selena also had an acting venture, when she briefly appeared in “Don Juan De Marco” (1995) next to Johnny Depp and Marlon Brando.
During – partly because of – her career, she became a spokesperson and a role model for young women, donating much of her time to civic causes. Sadly, in March 1995, Selena’s friend and ex-employee at her Selena Etc. boutiques, Yolanda Saldivar shot her dead in a hotel room in Texas following an argument about embezzlement on Yolanda’s part. Saldivar was then captured by the police and given a life sentence in the Mountain View Unit in Gatesville, Texas. Selena’s crossover album “Dreaming of You” was released posthumously, and Selena becamethe first Latin artist who debuted atop the Billboard 200.
Privately, Selena began a relationship with her guitarist Chris Perez after he joined her band. The couple married in April 1992, but had a difficult start due to her father’s hostility towards their relationship. Selena died on 31st March 1995 in Corpus Christi, Texas.
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