Early Life
Selena was born in Lake Jackson, Texas, as the youngest of three children born to a Mexican American father, Abraham Quintanilla Jr. and a half-Cherokee Native American mother, Marcella Ofelia (née Samora). She was raised as a Jehovah's Witness. Selena began singing at age three. When she was nine years old, her father launched a vocal group consisting of several of his children, Selena y Los Dinos. They initially performed at a restaurant the family operated, but went bankrupt soon thereafter. They moved to Corpus Christi, Texas, where they performed wherever they could - street corners, weddings, quinceañeras, and fairs. As Selena grew more popular, the demands of her performance and travel schedule began to interfere with her education. Her father took her out of school when she was in the eighth grade. At seventeen, she earned a high school diploma by the American School Program.
The band's efforts paid off in 1985, when fourteen-year-old Selena recorded her first album for a record company. Her father bought all of the original copies. It was re-released in 1995 as Mis Primeras Grabaciones. Over the next three years, not under a recording contract, she released six more albums.
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