Editing Selena (section)

=== 1971–1988: Early life and career beginnings ===
Selena Quintanilla was born on April 16, 1971, at Freeport Community Hospital in [[Freeport, Texas]].<ref name=":0">{{cite web|last=Guerra |first=Joey |url=https://preview.houstonchronicle.com/selena/the-doctor-who-delivered-a-baby-selena-was-17001553 |title=The doctor who delivered a baby Selena was presidential hopeful Ron Paul &#124; Datebook |publisher=Preview.houstonchronicle.com |date= |accessdate=April 1, 2022}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Ong |first=Danielle |date=February 14, 2020 |title=The Untold Truth About Selena Quintanilla: The Mexican Madonna |url=https://www.latinpost.com/articles/143584/20200214/selena-quintanilla-the-mexican-madonna.htm |access-date=August 11, 2024 |website=Latin Post}}</ref><!-- Do not change the birthplace back to Lake Jackson. Even though Selena lived in Lake Jackson, she wasn't really born there. She was actually born in Freeport because the hospital she was born at is in Freeport. Many reliable sources say Lake Jackson is her birthplace when her birth hospital is in Freeport. --> She was the youngest child of Marcella Ofelia Quintanilla (née Samora), who was Mexican-American with some [[Cherokee ancestry]],{{sfn|Patoski|1996|p=20|ps=: "she was Mexican-American (and part Cherokee Indian)"}} and [[Abraham Quintanilla|Abraham Quintanilla Jr.]], a [[Mexican American]] former musician.<ref name=biographyselena>{{cite web|title=Selena, the Queen of Tejano Music|url=http://www.legacy.com/ns/news-story.aspx?t=selena-the-queen-of-tejano-music&id=312|publisher=[[Legacy.com]]|access-date=October 11, 2011}}</ref> The obstetrician-gynecologist at her birth was future [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] member [[Ron Paul]].<ref name=":0" /> Selena was raised as a [[Jehovah's Witness]].<ref>{{cite web|first=Ellen |last=Bernstein |work=[[Corpus Christi Caller-Times]] |url=http://www.caller.com/news/1997/apr/16/birthday-hoopla-prohibited/ |title=Birthday hoopla is prohibited |date=April 16, 1997 |location=Corpus Christi, Texas |access-date=August 27, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090403065442/http://www.caller.com/ccct/home/article/0%2C1641%2CCCCT_800_3654650%2C00.html |archive-date=April 3, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Quintanilla Jr. noticed her musical abilities when she was six years old. He told ''[[People (magazine)|People]]'' magazine, "Her timing, her pitch were perfect, I could see it from day one." In 1980, Quintanilla Jr. opened his first Tex-Mex restaurant in [[Lake Jackson, Texas|Lake Jackson]], Papa Gayo's, where Selena and her siblings [[A.B. Quintanilla|Abraham III]] (on bass guitar) and Suzette Quintanilla (on drums) would often perform.<ref name=people>{{cite magazine|last1=Hewitt|first1=Bill|title=Before Her Time|magazine=[[People (magazine)|People]]|date=April 17, 1995|volume=43|issue=15|url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20105524,00.html|access-date=January 29, 2015}}</ref> The following year, the restaurant was forced to close after a recession caused by the [[1980s oil glut]]. The family declared bankruptcy and were evicted from their home.<ref name=people /><ref name="Daily News of Los Angeles">{{cite news|title=Viva Selena!|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=LA&p_theme=la&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EF66AFD71CC58A3&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|access-date=October 10, 2011|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Daily News]]|date=August 24, 1994|archive-date=October 21, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021190041/http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=LA&p_theme=la&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EF66AFD71CC58A3&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|url-status=dead}}</ref> They settled in [[Corpus Christi, Texas]]; Quintanilla Jr. became manager of the newly formed band [[Selena y Los Dinos]] and began promoting it.<ref name=NewYorkTimes>{{Cite news|title=Grammy Winning Singer Selena Killed in Shooting at Texas Motel|page=1|author=Howe Verhovek, Sam|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=April 1, 1995}}</ref><ref name=people /><ref name="The Milwaukee Sentinel">{{Cite news |date=1995-04-01 |title=Latin singer Selena killed in Texas motel |url=https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings/title/hpcdygdpscgufbnrlerhnohlbvxptilv_ip-10-166-46-95_1744251459469 |access-date=2025-04-10 |work=[[Milwaukee Sentinel]] |page=2A |via=[[GenealogyBank.com]] |agency=Associated Press}}</ref> They needed the money and played on street corners, weddings, [[quinceañera]]s, and fairs.<ref name=people />{{sfn|Patoski|1996|p=53}}

As her popularity as a singer grew, the demands of Selena's performance and travel schedule began to interfere with her education. Her father took her out of school when she was in the eighth grade.<ref name="queen">{{cite news |last=Mitchell|first=Rick|title=Selena, the making of the queen of Tejano |url=http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/metropolitan/selena/95/05/21/legend.html |newspaper=[[Houston Chronicle]]|date=May 21, 1995|access-date=February 1, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070709024550/http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/metropolitan/selena/95/05/21/legend.html|archive-date=July 9, 2007}}</ref> Her teacher Marilyn Greer disapproved of Selena's musical career.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Dixon |first=Christine Liwag |date=2020-02-12 |title=The Untold Truth Of Selena Quintanilla |url=https://www.thelist.com/188362/the-untold-truth-of-selena-quintanilla/ |access-date=2025-02-09 |website=The List |language=en-US}}</ref> She threatened to report Quintanilla Jr. to the [[Texas Board of Education]], believing the conditions to which Selena was exposed were inappropriate for a girl her age.<ref name=":2" /> Quintanilla Jr. told Greer to "mind her business". Other teachers expressed their concerns when they noticed how tired Selena appeared when she arrived at school.{{sfn|Arrarás|1997|p=58}} At seventeen, Selena earned a high school diploma from the [[American School of Correspondence]] in [[Chicago]]{{sfn|Patoski|1996|p=59}} and was also accepted at [[Louisiana State University]].{{sfn|Patoski|1996|p=111}} She enrolled at [[California Miramar University|Pacific Western University]], taking up business administration as her major subject.<ref name="biotexas">{{cite web|last1=Orozco |first1=Cynthia |author-link=Cynthia Orozco|date=August 31, 2010 |title=Selena Biography |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fquxg |access-date=September 27, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150908063732/https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fquxg |archive-date=September 8, 2015 |url-status=live |website=Texas State Historical Association}}</ref>

Quintanilla Jr. refurbished an old bus; he named it "Big Bertha" and the family used it as their tour bus.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Barba |first=Joanna |date=2023-09-01 |title=Is That Big Bertha at the Selena Museum? A.B. Clears It Up |url=https://klaq.com/tour-buses-at-the-selena-museum/ |access-date=2025-02-09 |website=95.5 KLAQ |language=en}}</ref> In the first years of touring, the family sang for food and barely had enough money to pay for gasoline.{{sfn|Arrarás|1997|p=56}} In 1984, Selena recorded her first [[LP record]], ''[[Selena y Los Dinos (album)|Selena y Los Dinos]]'', for Freddie Records.<ref>{{cite news|last=Schone|first=Mark|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/bw/stories/2004-10-31/sweet-music |title=Sweet Music|newspaper=[[Bloomberg Businessweek]]|date=October 31, 2004|access-date=January 29, 2015}}</ref> Despite wanting to record English-language songs, Selena recorded [[Tejano music]] compositions; a male-dominated, Spanish-language genre{{sfn|Miguel|2002|p=118}} with German influences{{sfn|Sobek|2012|p=631}} of [[polka]], [[jazz]], and [[country music]], popularized by Mexicans living in the United States.{{sfn|Miguel|2002|p=3}}

Quintanilla Jr. believed that Selena should record musical compositions related to her heritage.<ref name=pbs>{{Cite episode |number=3|title=The Chicano Wave|series=Latin Music USA |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/latinmusicusa/index.html#/en/wat/03/07|access-date=April 19, 2015 |network=[[PBS]] |minutes=30 |quote=Selena wanted to sing American pop music, but her father had learned some hard lessons playing music in Texas with a band he'd had years before called Los Dinos.}}</ref> During the recording sessions for the album, Selena had to learn Spanish phonetically with guidance from her father.{{sfn|Arrarás|1997|p=256}} In 1985, to promote the album, Selena appeared on the ''[[Johnny Canales|Johnny Canales Show]]'', a popular Spanish-language radio program, on which she continued to appear for several years. Selena was discovered by musician Rudy Trevino, founder of the [[Tejano Music Awards]], where she won the [[Tejano Music Award for Female Vocalist of the Year|Female Vocalist of the Year]] award in 1987 and for nine consecutive years after.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Morales |first1=Tatiana|title=Fans, Family Remember Selena|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fans-family-remember-selena/|access-date=January 29, 2015|publisher=[[CBS News]]|date=October 16, 2002}}</ref>

The band was often turned down by Texas music venues because of the members' ages and because Selena was their lead singer.{{sfn|Arrarás|1997|pp=56–57}} Her father was often told by promoters that Selena would never be successful because she was a woman in a genre historically dominated by men.{{sfn|Patoski|1996|p=112}} By 1988, Selena had released five more LP records; ''[[Alpha (Selena album)|Alpha]]'' (1986), ''[[Muñequito de Trapo]]'' (1987), ''[[And the Winner Is... (Selena album)|And the Winner Is...]]'' (1987), ''[[Preciosa (album)|Preciosa]]'' (1988), and ''[[Dulce Amor (album)|Dulce Amor]]'' (1988).{{sfn|Patoski|1996|p=63}}