Selena wanted nothing more than to be an American pop star. She was known as the “Mexican Madonna” for her outfits. Like Madonna, she didn’t need a last name. She was simply Selena.
At 23, Selena reached her goal as Queen of Tejano, a style of Mexican music mixed with an influence of other genres. But she never got a chance to celebrate. She was shot dead March 31, 1995 by Yolanda Saldivar.
Saldivar was founder and president of Selena’s fan club. She later ran Selena’s clothing boutiques. But Saldivar was fired after Selena’s father caught her siphoning money from the stores and club. Texas Monthly magazine said Saldivar was obsessed with Selena. She thought should wouldn’t exist if she couldn’t work for her. She was sentenced to life in prison and is up for parole in 2025.
“Dreaming of You,” Selena’s first English-language album, came out a few months after her death and debuted at number one on the Billboard Top 200 chart. Selena was the first Latin artist to debut at number one. She had seven number one songs on the Hot Latin Songs Chart and 14 more in the top 10.
Two Americans, Tom Snow and Franne Golde, wrote our Song of the Day “Dreaming of You” in 1989 for the group The Jets, but they turned it down. Selena recorded it several weeks before she was killed. The song reached number 22 on the Billboard Top 100 chart.
Selena hasn’t been forgotten. Jennifer Lopez starred in the well-received 1997 movie “Selena.” Netflix told her story in a limited series.
In 2020, Billboard magazine put her in third place on their list of "Greatest Latino Artists of All Time", based on both Latin albums and Latin songs chart.
Song of the Day is created by Sheldon Zoldan, and produced for WGCU by Pam James.
