Selena Quintanilla-P�rez (April 16, 1971 - March 31, 1995), best known simply as Selena, was a Mexican American singer who has been called "The Queen of Tejano music (Honorific nicknames in popular music)". The youngest child of a Mexican-American couple, Selena released her first album at the age of twelve. She won Female Vocalist of the Year at the 1987 Tejano Music Awards and landed a recording contract with EMI a few years later. Her fame grew throughout the early 1990s, especially in Spanish-speaking countries.

Selena attained further notability in North America after she was murdered at the age of 23 by Yolanda Sald�var, the president of her fan club. On April 12, 1995, two weeks after her death, George W. Bush, governor of Texas (list of Governors of Texas) at the time, declared her birthday "Selena Day" in Texas. Warner Bros. produced Selena (Selena (film)), a film based on her life starring Jennifer Lopez in 1997. Selenas life was also the basis of the musical Selena Forever starring Veronica Vazquez as Selena. As of June 2006, Selena was commemorated with a museum and a bronze (bronze sculpture) life-sized statue (Mirador de la Flor in Corpus Christi, Texas), which are visited by hundreds of fans each week.