Selena to be honored with nearly 12-hour concert 25 years after Tejano music legend's death

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (KXAN) — Twenty-five years after her death, Tejano music superstar Selena will be honored with a massive tribute concert in San Antonio on May 9.

The concert will be held at the Alamodome and feature a lineup of prominent Latin artists, according to NBC News. The event will showcase the legacy and influence Selena — who was killed by her fan club president when she was 23 years old — continues to have on the Latinx population and artists.

Scheduled performers and participants include music superstar Pitbull, A.B. Quintanilla III Y Los Kumbia All Starz, former Fifth Harmony member and singer Ally Brooke and Ruben Ramos.

“Over the past 25 years, her influence and relevance has only grown through the generations,” Suzette Quintanilla, Selena’s sister and CEO and president of Q Productions, said in a news release.

At the time of her death, Selena was already widely considered “The Queen of Tejano Music” and the “Mexican Madonna” among the Latin community and she was preparing a major crossover album, “Dreaming of You,” which was released four months after her death.

News of the murder at a Corpus Christi Days Inn motel sparked global media coverage and introduced her and her music to English-speaking audiences.

The New York Times compared her status to that of other stars who died relatively young, like Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley.

Her death had a major impact among the Latin community and within Texas, where then-Governor and future President George W. Bush called her “the essence of south Texas culture.” He also declared April 16 as “Selena Day” in Texas.

Her death gained further attention when, in 1996, then-relatively unknown actress but future film and music superstar Jennifer Lopez won the role to play Selena in the 1997 film. The movie earned over $35 million at the box office and is widely credited with making Lopez a star.

“The impact that it had on my life, my career, it was a great thing for her to be my mentor,” Lopez told NBC’s TODAY Show in 2015. “It was an important part of my life. It still is.”

Selena has also had an impact on other big-name artists including Beyoncé, Drake, and Selena Gomez, who is named after her.

Gomez, a Texas native, said her parents were big fans and named her after the singer when she was born in 1992.

“My dad and mom were huge fans,” Gomez told Sacramento’s NOW 100.5 in 2016. “My name was going to be Priscilla, but my cousin actually took the name when she was born six months before me. They actually loved music, so they just named me after her.”

Beyoncé told MTV Tres in an interview that she once met the Tejano superstar.

“I did actually meet Selena in the Galleria Mall in Houston, but I didn’t say much to her because I wasn’t a celebrity. I just saw her and said hello and kept it moving. Definitely growing up in Texas, I heard her on the radio. I think listening to her album — even though I didn’t know exactly what she was saying — it helped me in the studio with my pronunciation. I think she is a legend. I admire her. She was so talented.”

Selena was a Grammy-award winner, had seven No. 1 hits and 14 more in the Top 10 Latin songs charts.

In November 2017, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The singer’s hometown of Corpus Christi has a popular museum featuring clothing worn by Selena, in addition to other merchandise and rarities.

Most recently, Netflix announced it was in production for “Selena: The Series,” which will reportedly follow her rise to fame all the way up until her death.

The series is set to debut this year with a season of six one-hour episodes.

The nearly 12-hour tribute concert will be held from noon to 11:45 p.m. and tickets range from $40 to $200. For more information and tickets, click here.