Although Selena Quintanilla is gone, her legacy still lives on, thanks to her family, including her father, Abraham Quintanilla; her mother, Marcella Quintanilla; and her siblings, AB Quintanilla III and Suzette Quintanilla.
After her death at the hands of her former fan club president, Yolanda Saldívar, on March 31, 1995, Selena’s loved ones paid tribute to her memory in numerous ways. They worked on several film and TV projects, including the 1997 film Selena starring Jennifer Lopez, executive produced by Abraham, a 2020 Netflix series Selena: Seriesproduced by AB and Suzette, her posthumous Moon child mixes album, which AB produced in 2022, and the memoirs of Abraham.
“In my opinion, she’s still alive because you deal with all her stuff and do things for her every day that sometimes I forget she’s not here with us anymore,” Abraham said. Party tonight in March 2017. “So in a way, it’s hard to explain, in my opinion, she’s alive.”
Selena’s life and career in photos
At the height of her fame, Selena, known as the “Queen of Tejano Music,” had seven No. 1 hits, according to Board, and became the first Tejano artist to win a Grammy. Her fifth album, I dream about youwhich was released three months after her death, was the first predominantly Spanish album to reach number one in the US Board 200 and was ranked as the best-selling Latin album of the last 25 years in 2017.
So who are Selena Quintanilla’s family members? Here’s everything you need to know about the people who knew her best and their relationships with the late singer.
Her parents have been married since 1963
Selena Quintanilla’s parents Abraham and Marcella Quintanilla at an event.
Suzette Quintanilla’s Instagram
Abraham and Marcella Quintanilla (née Samora) reportedly met in Tacoma, Washington while he was stationed at McChord Air Force Base. They got married on June 8, 1963.
The couple had their first child, Abraham Isaac “AB” Quintanilla III, six months later on December 13, 1963. He was followed by Suzette, who was born on June 29, 1967, and Selena, who rounded out the family on April 16, 1971. .
Together they raised their family in the coastal town of Corpus Christi, Texas, near the US-Mexico border.
AB celebrated his parents’ wedding anniversary on Instagram in 2023. “Would like to congratulate my parents on their 60th anniversary!!!” he wrote. “6 decades of marriage…Wow!!! I love you all 💜💜💜.”
Abraham was the first family musician
Abraham managed Selena and her band, Selena y Los Dinos, which included AB on bass, Suzette on drums and her husband Chris Pérez on guitar. Before Selena’s career, Abraham sang in his own band, Los Dinos.
Abraham joined the group made up of his high school classmates in 1957 and together they released several records.
Following the buzz of their 1959 single “So Hard to Tell,” Los Dinos played venues across the Lone Star State, including Abraham’s home of Corpus Christi. According to the book by biographer Joe Nick Patoski Selena: Como La Flor, the group received a fair amount of radio airplay, but Selena’s father, who was also an active duty member of the Air Force from 1961 to 1963, left the group in 1969. Los Dinos continued to play and record music until 1974, when they disbanded.
According to AB, Abraham’s early experience in the music industry allowed him to recognize Selena’s immense talent. “There are a lot of families that think, ‘My kids are talented, they sing, they’re great,’ but my dad, being a musician, saw something that we didn’t,” he told PEOPLE in March 2020.
Abraham said of his younger daughter in 1995: “Her timing, her performance was perfect. I saw it from day one.”
Suzette inspired Selena’s song “No Me Queda Más”
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Abraham Quintanilla, Marcella Quintanilla, Suzette Quintanilla, AB Quintanilla III and Isis Sauceda during People En Espanol’s Festival in San Antonio, Texas on September 1, 2012.
Danny Bollinger/WireImage
Abraham revealed that his favorite Selena song, “No Me Queda Más,” was inspired by his older daughter Suzette.
“He wrote this song [keyboard player] Ricky Vela,” he once said in an interview. “At that time, Ricky Vela was in love with my daughter Suzette. But Suzette never knew anything about it. Suzette met her now husband Bill and they got married. That’s how Ricky wrote that song.”
Abraham recalled that Selena had tears in her eyes when she recorded the song. “Her eyes narrowed because she knew how Ricky felt,” he added.
Who is Selena Quintanilla’s husband? All about Chris Pérez
Suzette opened up her home to Jennifer Lopez while filming Selena
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Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Vela, Suzette Quintanilla, AB Quintanilla III and Chris Pérez on stage after performing a musical tribute to Selena at the 2015 Billboard Latin Music Awards.
Rodrigo Varela/Getty
To learn more about the woman she was chosen to play, Lopez moved in with Suzette at her home in Corpus Christi during filming. Selena, according to E! On the line.
Lopez opened up about his experience on Apple Music Beats 1 radio in 2019: “It was a beautiful period in my life and it taught me so much about life. I slept inside [Selena’s] bed at home. I talked to the whole family. I spent time with them. It can be melancholy and beautiful at the same time.”
Suzette and Lopez reunited in September 2017 during one of the actress’ residency shows at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. “[It] it’s always good to see jennifer and it seems like old times when we hung out during filming Selena movie,” said Suzette ET. “[I] don’t see her often.”
She added that she appreciated Lopez’s respect for her late sibling. “It always makes me feel good inside when I hear her talk about what my sister means to her,” she said. “How Jennifer sees her not just as an artist but as a person.”
Selena would have nine nieces and nephews
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AB Quintanilla with his family on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood, California on November 3, 2017.
Michael Tran/FilmMagic
Selena would be the aunt of nine children.
Her older brother AB has eight children. His sons Svani and Gianni appeared with him on the cover People en Español In 2008, AB released a photo of his daughter Martika with Svani and Lopez during the filming of the movie in 2020 Selena.
Suzette and her husband Bill Arriaga have one son, Jovan Arriaga. “[He] wears my sister’s smile,” Suzette once wrote on Facebook.
Quintanillas helped create a Netflix show based on Selena’s life
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The cast of the Netflix series ‘Selena: The Series.’. NETFLIX
On December 4, 2020, Netflix released the first part Selena: Series, a biographical drama based on Selena’s life. The second part dropped in May 2021.
As PEOPLE reported at the time, Selena’s family worked with the show’s creator and executive producer, Moisés Zamora, to bring the project to life. Additionally, both of Selena’s siblings served as executive producers on the show.
“We feel a great responsibility to honor her memory,” said Suzette The Hollywood Reporter in December 2018 when the project was first announced. “With this series, viewers will finally get the full story of Selena, our family and the impact she has had on all of our lives.”
In December 2020, Suzette thanked fans for the show’s success, captioning an Instagram photo of the show hitting #1 in the US that day. “GUYS!!! OMG!!! Waking up and seeing this is crazy and beautiful!” she wrote. “THANK YOU THANK YOU for the love you always gave to our family. 🙏💜.”
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Source: HIS Education