Today, I was going into an office building and I overheard a group of teenagers talking about Selena and singing "Bidi Bidi Bom Bom." Some of those kids weren't even alive when Selena died.I first heard her song "I Could Fall in Love with You" not long before she was shot and killed by the president of her fan club, an unstable woman who had stolen money from Selena's clothing boutiques. It's impossible not to wonder how far her star would have risen with her crossover album -- but I am glad that the album I have includes her Spanish language music, as her voice was, in my opinion, so much stronger on those songs, even though Spanish was not her first language.
It's amazing that those kids even know about her, considering how fast things get "old" and forgotten in our culture. All truth on the table, though, these were Latino kids. But they were still teenage Latino kids talking about Selena, not the newest, coolest young performer. 15 years after her death, Selena Quintanilla-Perez will live forever. I doubt however, that she would have wanted to become known in the wider community in the way that she did. It's always better to be a living legend. May she continue to rest in peace.
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