The first part of "Selena: The Series" (opens in new tab) will be available on Netflix on December 4, allowing longtime fans of Selena Quintanilla-Perez to not only delve deeper into the acclaimed Tejano singer's life than ever before, but soon to become Selena A new generation of fans will also experience for the first time the magic of "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom," "Como la Flor," and rhinestone-studded bustiers and bra tops. Before we dive into the show starring Christian Serratos (opens in new tab), let's take a quick look back at some of Selena's career highlights: first female tejano artist to win the Grammy Award for Best Mexican/American Album in 1994, first Latino artist, and became the first Latino artist to have an album debut at #1 on the Billboard 200.

Sadly, despite these and many other great successes through her brief but groundbreaking solo career, Selena's life story is often overshadowed by her tragic death in 1995 at the young age of only 23. Here we present the full story of Selena's death and its impact on the United States and the world.

The Grammy Award winner was shot and killed by Yolanda Saldivar on March 31, 1995, two weeks before her 24th birthday. Saldivar was a close friend of Selena's, founder and president of her fan club, and manager of Selena Etc. boutiques in San Antonio and Corpus Christi, Texas. However, in the months leading up to Selena's death, her father, Abraham Quintanilla Jr. received several complaints about Saldivar's poor management skills and his failure to send fan club memorabilia to paying customers, and after investigating the situation, he found that reports of her murder trial (new tab opens in new tab) revealed that Saldivar had embezzled more than $30,000 from the boutique and fan club.

Quintanilla Jr. confronted Saldivar and warned his daughter to cut ties with her, but Selena hesitated; on March 31, Selena accompanied Saldivar to the Days Inn Motel where he was staying in Corpus Christi. The singer allegedly asked Saldivar for financial statements and other evidence to deny the embezzlement claim, which resulted in Saldivar removing a handgun from his wallet and shooting Selena in the shoulder. Selena ran to the motel lobby for help, but soon collapsed and was pronounced dead at Corpus Christi Memorial Hospital.

Meanwhile, Saldivar attempted to flee the scene of the crime, but was soon stuck in a nine-hour standoff with police and the FBI during which she reportedly turned the gun on herself and tearfully talked on the phone with negotiators for several hours (opens in new tab). She was eventually arrested, convicted (opens in new tab), and sentenced in October 1995 to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years in 2025.

Selena's funeral was held on April 3 in her hometown of Corpus Christi. The day before, an open casket ceremony attended by 40,000 fans was held at Bayfront Auditorium, which was later renamed Serena Auditorium. Her funeral was broadcast live on the radio, attended by about 600 people, and held at Seaside Memorial Park.

The tragedy was front-page news for days, reportedly showing publishers the size of the Hispanic news market, after which People en Español, Newsweek en Español, and Latina magazines were launched. Countless celebrities have publicly paid tribute to Selena, and Gloria Estefan and Madonna (opens in new tab) have reportedly contacted the Quintanilla family directly to express their condolences.

In addition, shortly before Selena's 24th birthday, then-Governor George W. Bush declared April 16 "Selena Day" in Texas. In 2019, local legislators introduced a bill (open in new tab) that would make "Selena Day" not just an honor, but an official state holiday.

Twenty-five years after Selena's death, her music continues to be widely popular. In fact, with the July 1995 release of her crossover album Dreaming of You (opens in new tab), Selena became only the third woman, after Janet Jackson and Mariah Carey, to sell over 300,000 copies in the first week of an album. The album also became the first Hispanic artist to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart and the first solo album released posthumously.In 2017, "Dreaming of You," which sold nearly 3 million copies, was the best-selling (in new tab open) Latin album in the United States.

Beyond the continued relevance of her music, the singer has been further immortalized in countless ways: a 1997 biopic starring Jennifer Lopez, induction into the Billboard Latin Music Hall of Fame in 1995, tribute concerts by family members and former band members in 2005 in 2017; additional registrations to the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2017 (which had a larger audience than any other star unveiling ceremony); and the 2016 MAC Cosmetics anniversary collection (opens in new tab).

And in her hometown, a life-size bronze statue of Selena named "Mirador de la Flor" was installed on the Corpus Christi bayfront. The city also held a two-day festival, Fiesta de la Flor (open in a new tab), in her honor each year from 2015-2020.