How famous was Selena...

I live in a town in Texas called Laredo. It's right on the border. In order for you to understand what Selena meant to people, you have to understand the culture here in south Texas. This part of the US is very opinionated and is usually set in a negative light. Mostly everyone is bilingual and even fuse the two languages into what is known as "Tex-Mex," (or "spanglish"). This really is a bi-cultural region. Selena's home, Corpus Christi, is 150 miles from both Laredo and San Antonio (where Selena opened one of her boutiques and where her killer is from). Tejano radio stations were permeated by her music in the early '90s. Selena would tour all of south Texas and eventually became hugely popular in Mexico - HER TWO MAIN DEMOGRAPHICS...basically any Latin-populated part of the country knew her. She was also big in Cali, where she won a Grammy in 1994. I was 4 years old when she passed away, but let me tell you, she was HUGE here (and still is)!

She passed away in the process of recording her first English album "Dreaming of You." Unfortunately, it wasn't completed but was released three months after her murder - it was a massive success and catapulted Selena into an international icon.

By the way, her family does not exploit her. Believe it or not, they have to pay royalties to her label, EMI, whenever they want to use one of her songs!

Hope I answered your question!

Like Cielo mentioned, my Mom told me about her death as well. I remember it like it was yesterday, I didn't know much about her then, but love her music now. My Mom actually has one of the blouses from Selena's line of clothing. I was living in San Antonio at the time, and Texas all my life. She was very popular there, and most people in Texas know about her and know some of her music.

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I used to live in texas and when i was a little girl my parents and their friends were big fans and saw her perform. She was just getting started when her life was cut short. She did when a grammy though...lets not forget that.

In '95 my musical taste didn't include a lot of pop or mexican music so when I heard about the uproar over her death, I didn't really understand why it affected so many people so deeply. I had barely even heard of her. Actually it took about 5 years after her death for her music to even begin to significantly enter my consciousness. The beautiful song 'I Could Fall In Love' began to grow on me and over the last few years I have learned to really appreciate who she was and feel the loss of her tragic passing.

Today I watched the movie for the first time and have to admit it was a very emotional experience for me. J-Lo did a great job with the role and I thought the movie was done fairly well. The actor cast to play young Selena looks amazingly like the REAL young Selena. She undoubtedly was headed for huge stardom and with english being her first language she had all the potential to be an english-language superstar. She truly would've been the next Gloria Estefan. With her last album debuting at #1 she became the fastest-selling female artist of all time (surpassing Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston). However, at the time of her passing I'd have to venture that she wasn't all that well-known in the US, other than in areas with high spanish-speaking populations and obviously in her home state.

On a side note, I went to Corpus Christi a week ago and wish I had seen the movie beforehand. I saw her memorial statue but next time I take the 2-hr drive I'm definately visiting all the historically significant places, her grave, her home, her museum, etc. What an amazing little woman she was - she'll be missed by millions for many years to come.

She was well known but she truly became a star after she died.

My Love http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y230/Devenir83/loves.jpg

I am from central Mexico and I remember the day she was murder because we were listening the radio and the guy there was playing Selena's song and saying "recordando a Selena" we didn't know what he was talking about and later we found out that she was killed, she was so popular in Mexico on those days, she was on a soap opera on the Mexican tv with Eric Estrada, lots of people in Mexico knew who she was, hey! even me who was not really into that kind of music, I love her music now, there are a few bands and singers from Texas who are well known in whole Mexico, like Bobby Pulido and La Mafia. Just remember not because you don't know much about her it doesn't mean that she was not famous. If I ever have a daugther her name is going to be Selena.

She was pretty well known. Not just in Mexico or latin countries. You'd be surprised at how many people she reached with her music.

Every now and then look around, drink it in.Cause this is it.It might all be gone tomorrow.