Remembering Selena, 26 years later.

Selena Quintanilla-Perez was widely known as “The Queen of Tejano.” Her life was cut short on March 31, 1995. Yolanda Saldívar, her friend and fan club president shot and killed Quintanilla-Pérez, widely known around the world as Selena.

According to her husband and guitarist, Chris Perez, “It was traumatic. It was the hardest thing up until that point that I had ever had to go through. I miss her face, her laughter. She was just an amazing soul, an amazing spirit. I used to never tell people I love them or I miss them or just give them gifts just because. I learned those things and many, many other things from her.”

Selena has had six albums of posthumously released material reach No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart. Her album “Dreaming of You,” which came out less than four months after her death, was the first album by a Latin artist to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Selena was nominated for 86 awards, with 67 wins. She won 36 Tejano Music Awards, 14 Billboard Latin Music Awards, 10 Lo Nuestro Awards, five BMI Awards and one award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. She was also awarded with 2 Grammy Awards as well.

It was 26 years ago, Feb. 26, 1995, when Selena Quintanilla-Pérez performed her last televised concert. The record breaking sold-out show, took place at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, when it was still in the Astrodome.

Selena debuted the iconic purple jumpsuit at that show that was recreated for Jennifer Lopez in the 1997 “Selena” film. The outfit is permanently displayed at the Selena Museum in Corpus Christi.

This was Selena’s third consecutive Rodeo performance at the Astrodome and set the all-time attendance record with 66,994 people. It was also the third time in a row Selena broke the record. 

She has continued to break records and gain fans, even after her passing. Although Selena is gone, her legacy will continue to live on.