Selena’s sister Suzette Quintanilla has revealed the touching memories that returned watching her late sibling in unearthed footage.
30 years after she was murdered by the president of her fan club, the life of the beloved Tejano singer is the subject of the new Netflix documentary, Selena y Los Dinos: A Family’s Legacy, a film made up of never-before-seen footage and interviews with the slain songstress.
Suzette, 58, and director Isabel Castro went through the recordings to create the film, and the process naturally brought up specific memories from her past – and served as a reminder of all the hard work they put into their musical careers and their modest upbringings.
‘It gave me that good feeling of how life was,’ Suzette told Today of watching the recordings. ‘I was telling Isabel, like, “Oh, my God, I saw some of the footage, and I remember I was whistling when she bought those shoes” or…different little key moments like clothing. Because we were sisters, we would shop a lot together.
‘But what I did walk away with was, I had a really good feeling of like, “Wow, I know we worked really hard.” It was a reminder of what we did come from, which was nothing, and that we created something memorable that still resonates with people. I’m very grateful that our music is still relevant to this day.
‘One of the things that I’m really proud about this documentary is it truly tells and showcases the importance of each one of us and what we bring to our band. Yes, clearly Selena was a star and she was the forefront of our band.
Selena’s sister Suzette Quintanilla has revealed the childhood memories that returned watching her late sibling in unearthed footage
Suzette, pictured October, said watching the footage reminded her of all the hard work they put into their career and their modest beginnings
‘But there were other main factors that made our vision. I think that Isabel was able to really showcase the magnitude of what we each brought, and that’s why we are here talking about our documentary.’
Suzette told Today her heart ‘will forever be broken’ by the death of her sister.
‘It’s still broken and it will forever be broken, and that’s life,’ she said. ‘I’ll probably go home, I’ll go back to the hotel, probably have a good cry because I’m going down memory lane today, but it’s OK. It’s a good cry and there’s nothing wrong with crying here and there.
‘I do miss her tremendously, but I’m in a place where we’re celebrating not just Selena, but what we accomplished as a whole and as a family. That’s what this documentary is about.
‘I hope that my words resonate because what we can only do is celebrate the ones that are no longer with us anymore and keep their memory present.’
Selena was thrust into the limelight with hit songs such as Como La Flor and Dreaming Of You before becoming the first Tejano singer to win a Grammy in 1994 for Best Mexican/American Album.
She was one of the most celebrated Mexican artists of the 20th Century and was even dubbed the Queen of Tejano Music – a musical style that blends Mexican and American influences which she brought into the mainstream.
The singer, who launched her own chain of boutiques to market the flamboyant costumes that had become her trademark, was on the cusp of global stardom aged just 23.
The life of the beloved Tejano singer is the subject of a new Netflix documentary, Selena y Los Dinos: A Family’s Legacy, a film made up of never-before-seen footage and interviews with the slain songstress
But her life was heartbreakingly cut short when she was fatally shot by Yolanda Saldivar, the president of her fan club, in 1995.
An album, Dreaming Of You, was released posthumously in July of 1995 and debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 albums chart, a first for a Latin recording artist.
In 1997, the biopic Selena was released, which further cemented the late singer’s music as a cultural force, while also giving Jennifer Lopez her breakout performance as the title star.
Amid the release of Netflix documentary Selena y Los Dinos: A Family Legacy, new details from the star’s autopsy report have emerged – showing the extent of her devastating injuries.
The Nueces County Medical Examiner rushed the report two-and-a-half hours after the Grammy winner was murdered, due to intense public interest in the case.
The film offers a never an intimate look at the life of the beloved Tejano singer
It’s now available for streaming on Netflix
Selena’s green sweatshirt – where the bullet passed through – was mysteriously missing after her body arrived from the Corpus Christi Memorial Medical Center. Meanwhile, ‘blood [was] present over many areas’ of her clothing.
The bullet severed the singer’s right subclavian artery and perforated her right upper pulmonary lobe [lung] before exiting the front of her chest, and had it gone one millimeter higher or lower she might have survived.
Coroner Lloyd White ruled Selena’s death a homicide because of ‘massive bleeding due to a perforating gunshot wound of the thorax [chest].’
Saldívar claimed the gunshot was an accident and pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.
The then 35-year-old was ultimately found guilty of first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
