11 Celebrity Quotes That Show Selena Quintanilla’s Lasting Impact

Netflix’s Selena: The Series has captivated viewers since its December 2020 release, offering fans a nostalgic look into the life and career of the “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom” singer, who tragically passed in 1995. According to these actors and musicians, her impact is as strong as ever.

“There's this joy that you feel when you listen to Selena,” Ally Brooke, who sang in tribute to the singer at Premios Juventud 2020, told Entertainment Tonight. “The passion in her voice and the pain she exudes through her emotions, it really touches your soul.”

“She changed the world with music, with an immense talent, and with her undeniable identity as a Latina. She became a star that dazzled her fans, that constantly inspires, and that always shines,” Karol G, who has a tattoo in honor of the singer, told ET before Premios Juventud.

Selena: The Series features a real-life moment in which Tina Knowles and a young Beyoncé met the Tejano icon at a mall. “She was so talented, so I’m very happy that, even though she didn't know who I was, I’m still so excited that I got that opportunity,” she told MTV in 2007.

“My dad and mom were huge fans. My name was going to be Priscilla, but my cousin actually took the name when she was born six months before me,” Selena Gomez told a Sacramento radio station in 2016. “They actually loved [Selena’s] music, so they just named me after her.”

Two decades after its 1997 release, Jennifer Lopez spoke to Billboard about starring as Quintanilla in her biopic. “She had a sense of living in the moment, living in the present, and following her heart,” she said. “For me, that was the biggest lesson.”

Eva Longoria spoke to Quintanilla’s legacy at her 2017 Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony. “Growing up, there was no reflection of me on TV or in music, and that all changed with Selena y Los Dinos,” the Texas native said, per a USA Today report. “Selena was a small-town girl with a big heart.”

“I love the queen Selena just as much as you do,” said Kacey Musgraves before singing “Como La Flor” at RodeoHouston in 2019, nearly 24 years after Quintanilla's final performance at the event. “This is our chance to honor her by singing as loud as we can together.”

"Selena was the only person that I looked up to that was American and also Latina, and she celebrated both cultures," actress Jackie Cruz told E! News just before 2017's Fiesta de la Flor, where she bonded with Quintanilla's family. In 2015, she posted a cover of "Como La Flor."

“I just think that her music is timeless and her spirit will live on forever, and that's something that should forever be acknowledged and celebrated,” Adrienne Houghton told ET in 2017. “I don't think people really understand the impact that Selena had on so many of us.”

Nodding to a Selena scene where she eats pizza, Demi Lovato credits Quintanilla for helping her through her eating disorder. “Selena lived her truth every day. She didn’t care what people thought of her, and she lived her life according to her values: music and family,” she said in 2020.

At Selena ¡VIVE! 2005, Gloria Estefan performed "I Could Fall in Love." Roughly translated to English, she said afterward: “Selena made us fall in love with her voice, her smile, her music. Thank you, Quintanilla family, and thank you, Selena, for so much love. We always love her.”