Amor Prohibido - Release

Release

Amor Prohibido was released in the United States and Mexico on March 13, 1994 in CD format, through EMI Latin. It was re-released in the US on September 22, 2002, with the addition of "Donde Queira que Estés", the music videos for "Amor Prohibido" and "No Me Queda Más", and spoken liner notes that contain commentary reviews of each song, provided by Selena's family, friends, and her former band. The album debuted at number three on the US Billboard Top Latin Albums chart of April 9. It was named "Greatest Gainer" on April 16, for its fast rise to number two, where it stayed behind Gloria Estefan's Mi Tierra for two consecutive weeks. Amor Prohibido fell to number three the following week, then regained the second slot for five consecutive weeks before it reached number one on June 11, 1994. It returned to the top of the chart three weeks after Selena's death, and held the number one spot for 16 consecutive weeks, replaced eventually by her posthumous crossover album, Dreaming of You.

Amor Prohibido debuted at number one on the Regional Mexican Albums chart on April 9, 1994, and stayed there for 48 consecutive weeks. It then fell to number two for three consecutive weeks before it regained number one for 27 weeks. It remained at number one for five weeks. The album had sold more than 500,000 copies by December 1994, a rare feat which, among Tejano artists, had previously only been accomplished by Selena and La Mafia. It was also a commercial success in Mexico. The album spawned five number-one singles in the US, and made Selena the only Hispanic artist to have done so,1 until Enrique Iglesias tied the record with five number-one singles from his 1996 self-titled debut. Amor Prohibido sold over 50,000 copies in the US, and was awarded gold status (RIAA) in April 1995, certified platinum in May and quadruple platinum (Latin) in April 1995, and in October 2002 was certified double platinum and 20× Disco De Platino, for shipments of 2,000,000 copies in the US.

The album debuted at number 183 on the Billboard 200 chart in its third month of release in the US, and re-entered the Billboard 200 chart at number 92 following Selena's murder. Before Selena's murder, Amor prohibido sold approximately 2,000 units a week; after her death, sales of the album increased by 135%. In April 1995, 28,238 copies were sold in one week. It peaked at number 29 after selling 54,753 copies, and rose to number 18 on the Heatseekers Albums chart in 1994. The album sold more than 500,000 copies in Mexico alone.

Amor Prohibido was among the best selling US albums of 1995. The album's success helped Tejano music to become accessible to a younger and wider audience than at any other time in its history, and was believed to have "opened the doors" to other Latin artists, such as Jennifer Lopez, Christina Aguilera, Enrique Iglesias, and Ricky Martin. José Behar, who had signed Selena to Capitol EMI Latin, said that Gloria Estefan opened the door, but Selena "blew it wide open" with Amor Prohibido.