SELENA’S LEGACY LIVES ON

Seventeen years after tragically losing her life, Selena's legacy continues to thrive.

Her new album "Enamorada de Ti" has been released and ranked among the top 10 Latin albums when the pre-order campaign was launched. The album features music from the "Queen of Tejano" in a new light with artists including Selena Gomez and Don Omar in duet styled songs.

 

 "People en Español" magazine featured Selena on the cover this month announcing the new album.

 

Her husband, Chris Perez, also released a book, "To Selena, With Love" this month about their relationship. When Perez was at a book signing at H-E-B plus!, the store sold nearly 400 copies within two hours. According to the book's publishing company Penguin Group, Nielsen BookScan named Perez's Spanish version of the book the best-selling title for that genre in the United States for the week it came out.

 

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In two to three weeks VISA will release a prepaid debit card featuring Selena.

 

Selena's sister, Suzette Quintanilla, said it makes her happy that her legacy has continued.

When Selena died, one of the things that her father, Abraham Quintanilla, adamantly said he was going to do was make sure she wasn't forgotten.

 

"As a family I think we've tried our best to do that," Suzette Quintanilla said. "And of course Selena's fans have always been there to support her legacy."

 

Selena was on the verge of international stardom before her death. Billboard awarded her "Top Latin Artist of the '90s" and "Best-selling Latin Artist of the Decade" for having 14 songs in the top 10 Latin songs chart with seven No. 1 hits, according to EMI Records. The record company also said Selena also was the first artist to simultaneously have five Spanish releases in the Billboard top 200 albums chart.

 

Beyond her success, Suzette Quintanilla credited Selena's ability to connect to people in other ways.

 

Not only did she have tremendous vocal talent and physical beauty, but you could see her genuine personality come through her interviews, she said.

 

She believes Latinas especially can identify with her because she wasn't blonde-haired with blue eyes.

 

"She was 'morenita,' dark with black hair, and I think that the mass majority can identify with her," she said.

 

Musician Ethan Walker, 20, said many people can connect with her in different ways including through her fashion, music and hospitality.

 

"You don't have to like Spanish music to like her," Walker said. "She touched all cultures and all kinds of people over the world."

 

And the fans keep coming.

 

The family said the Selena museum is frequented each day by children who weren't born when Selena was alive, wanting to know more about their new idol.

 

Abraham Quintanilla said the museum had 400 to 500 visitors each day during spring break, and up to 700 people on the last Friday of spring break.

 

Selena impersonator Abdeel Avila, who showed up to the Telemundo Selena tribute filming at her statue Thursday said there will be many more generations of Selena fans in the future.

 

"The little ones will keep finding out who she was as long as we keep doing tribute events like this year after year," Avila said.

 

Another Selena impersonator at the event was Marissa Cortez, 11, who owns 20 Selena outfits and knows almost all of the star's songs.

 

"She was a beautiful person and she inspires me," Cortez said. "It is my dream to be an entertainer like Selena when I'm older."

 

Suzette Quintanilla said the anniversary of Selena's death is by no means a celebration.

"We will call each other, and try to play it off like hey how are you doing?" Suzette Quintanilla said. "In a way we try to see how everyone is, but we don't address it."

 

While sitting in the leopard recording room in Q-Productions, Abraham Quintanilla said the family remembers Selena every day.

 

"How can we not?" he said motioning to the room while Selena's music from her new album blared from the speakers.

 

Warner Bros. produced Selena, a film based on her life starring Jennifer Lopez, in 1997. Selena's life was also the basis of the musical Selena Forever starring Veronica Vazquez as Selena. In June 2006 Selena was commemorated with a life-sized bronze statue (Mirador de la Flor in Corpus Christi, Texas) and a Selena museum opened there.