(CNN) — Selena Quintanilla Pérez was about to become a superstar across the United States when her sudden death shocked millions of people.
It’s been 27 years since the “Queen of Tex-Mex” was assassinated by the president of her fan club, but her songs and style still loom large in the memory of her fans.
MAC Cosmetics will launch a second makeup collection inspired by her, Netflix released a series based on her life in late 2020 and she was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame a couple of years ago.
As he continues to attract new generations of fans, here’s a look at how he’s impacted music and culture over the years:
His music inspired many stars
Jennifer Lopez starred in the 1997 Selena biopic.
The 23-year-old Grammy-winning singer has inspired the careers of numerous artists, including Demi Lovato, Camila Cabello, and Selena Gomez, who is named after the singer.
Selena may have shot to stardom in the early 1990s, but fans on both sides of the US-Mexico border continue to sing “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom” and “Como la Flor” to this day.
Songs from the 1995 crossover album “Dreaming of You,” which was released unfinished after Selena’s death, continue to hit stages across the country.
Solange has covered “I Could Fall in Love” on tour several times. Last year, Camila Cabello performed “Dreaming of You” at the Houston Rodeo and Ally Brooke sang it during the Miss Universe pageant.
“I never imagined I’d hear this song sung at a MISS UNIVERSE pageant! (Not the best recording I made on my phone) @allybrooke Thank you so much for this! I’m really honored that you chose this song and honored it her…,” Selena’s sister, Suzette Quintanilla, wrote on Instagram.
For Jennifer Lopez, her breakout role as Selena in the 1997 biopic “Selena,” which has become a cult classic with fans, was much more than a career breakthrough.
“He had a feeling of living in the moment, living in the present and following his heart,” Lopez told Billboard. “For me, that was the most important lesson.”
Showed others that it’s okay to celebrate your identity
Selena was both Mexican and American. She sang in Spanish and spoke mainly in English. She couldn’t be more proud of it and people took notice.
For many fans, it was the first time they saw someone who looked like them in the spotlight and thriving.
For that reason, Nathian Shae Rodriguez, a professor at San Diego State University, is teaching a class this semester using Selena’s influence to examine media representation.
“She gave me an identity in the media and she gave me a person that I could be,” he told CNN last year. “I could listen to music in Spanish and speak English at the same time. She existed somewhere in between and that’s how I felt.”
Her wardrobe basics are unforgettable
Selena owned two boutiques in Texas at the time of her death.
Selena was as passionate about fashion as she was about music. She wore elaborate outfits on stage and produced her own line of clothing and accessories.
She wore crop tops, hoop earrings, and dazzling bustiers that fans still remember and imitate.
After her performance at the Houston Rodeo, Cardi B said her look in the video for her hit song “Please Me” with Bruno Mars was inspired by Selena.
“This was the inspiration for ‘Please Me,'” she said in an Instagram video as she pointed to a photo of the singer in her bejeweled bustier paired with a purple leather jacket.
Hundreds of fans who idolize Selena’s signature bold lips asked MAC Cosmetics stores to launch a limited-edition makeup collection inspired by the singer in 2016. The company created the collection after 38,000 fans signed a petition calling for it to be released. did.
Purple-packaged lipsticks, eyeshadows, glosses and face powders quickly sold out in a matter of hours.
