Selena Quintanilla-Perez now an icon in Tejano, and mainstream Latino, Texas, and pop culture was born to on April 16, 1971 to Abraham Jr. and Marcella Quintanilla. When Marcella gave birth to her they chose “Selena” at the suggestion of her hospital roommate. She was born at Freeport Community Hospital, just outside their hometown of Lake Jackson. Lake Jackson is a small community of 23,000, 75 miles from Houston. At the time of Selena’s birth, the Quintanillas had two other children. Abraham III who was 8, and Suzette who was 4. Abraham taught A.B, and Suzette how to play musical instruments at an early age. A.B was taught bass, and Suzette the drums. When Selena was three Abraham spent numerous hours working with A.B. and Suzette. Selena felt excluded and she confronted her father about it. She demanded to know why she could not learn an instrument. Abraham told Selena that she was too young, so Selena decided to sing instead.
Abraham saw Selena’s talent when she was six years old. Selena’s family garage was then converted into a soundproof studio. Selena’s dad bought a set of drums, and obtained a bass from a friend. Afterwards her father taught her how to sing in spanish. In the beginning Selena sung using phonetics. Before being taught how to sing in spanish, english had been Selena’s only, and first language. Selena could sing perfectly in spanish, but found it difficult to converse fluently in spanish. Selena relied on her smile, and personality to get by with spanish-language interviews. By December 1994, Selena had become fluent in the spanish language.
When Selena was 9, her father formed a family band with her brother, and sister called “Selena Y Los Dinos”. Selena, and her Siblings practiced almost every night. Selena was the only one who enjoyed the rehearsals. Selena’s Father opened up a restaurant in 1980. Selena Y Los Dinos would play there at