Selena was born on April 16, 1971, in Lake Jackson, Texas. Her career began in 1989 with her debut album, working alongside her brother and her family. Her impact on Tejano music was almost immediate and widespread everywhere.
Selena’s life was unfortunately cut short on March 30, 1995. Selena passed away at the young age of 23.
Her legacy didn’t stop there. Her songs have traversed generations and she became an icon in Latin music and the Tejanos subgenres. Her album, Dreaming of You, released after her death, was a bestseller, making me the third female artist to sell over 300,000 units in one week.
Documentaries and movies have been made in her honor. Even her fans continue to include her songs in their playlists. Let’s not stop there, somewhere in the world there is a person with a tattoo about Selena, and somewhere in the world, there is a mural with her face. Somewhere, someone is singing her songs in karaoke or reading about her for the first time.
It is out of this love and impact on our lives that Selena Day was founded.
Selena Day was first founded in 1995 by Texas radio station KQXX-FM as a way to commemorate the life and work of Selena Quintanilla-Perez.
April 16 became the celebration and honor for the life and legacy of Selena. Since 1995, people have commemorated her life in different ways; Fans get nostalgic for her songs or watch movies about her. Selena is commemorated from the smallest to the largest way, and I’m sure her legacy won’t enter anytime soon.
If you want to commemorate her or celebrate Selena’s day in any way, I recommend that you listen to her album released posthumously through Warner Music Latina in August 2022.
Selena was real, and even 27 years after her passing, her posthumous album deserves the same recognition. Thanks to her family, this compilation of Selenas could be out there, demonstrating her dedication and songwriting blueprint all over.
Since the album’s release, there has been some controversy among listeners about whether or not Selena’s voice or instrumentation should have been authentic. We need to keep in mind MOONCHILD MIXES is also a tribute to Selena Quintanilla, not only her fans.
The album is a tribute to her story and legacy. Of course, it won’t be the same, but the love of her family and her fans made this album possible for the newest generations.
We can’t lie; she was and still is a true icon. All of her songs in this album can reflect that. It can reflect her love and passion when she was alive.
Cover image by Cosima Rangel, El Paso, TX.
