AUSTIN (KXAN) — New music from the queen of Tejano is coming.
It was announced that a new Selena album is scheduled to be released next month. Abraham Quintanilla, father and manager of Selena, told Latin Groove News the album will feature more than a dozen songs, produced by her brother, A.B. Quintanilla.
The album will include a mixture of unreleased and newly arranged tracks. For example, if the song was originally a cumbia, it could be given new life as a ballad. One track is a song Selena recorded when she was just 13 years old. The song has been digitally modified to sound like Selena most of her fans are familiar with.
"If you listen to it, you know, she sounds on these recordings like she did right before she passed away," said Quintanilla.
But not all fans are excited about the new release. One fan wrote, "it's not authentic." Other commenters accuse the family of profiting off the slain singer. Quintanilla is aware of the criticism, and in the interview, he mentions the backlash he's received from fans for continuing to release music following Selena's death.
"A lot of the public doesn't know anything about music contracts," said Quintanilla. "Some of these contracts from the record company that were signed 26 years ago when Selena was alive — they're still alive today." The businessman said, at first, social media comments would get to him, but now he doesn't care what people say.
But for the Quintanilla family, it's always been a family affair. Suzette Quintanilla, Selena's sister is also lending a hand in the project, designing the album art.
"I said right after she passed away that I was going to try to keep her memory alive through her music, and we have done that," Quintanilla said in the interview. "Twenty-six years later, Selena is very present in today's music world."
No official release date has been announced. The album comes nearly three decades after her death. Selena was murdered at a motel in Corpus Christi almost 27 years ago. She was shot and killed by the president of her fan club, Yolanda Saldivar. She's currently serving a life sentence in Gatesville, Texas and could be eligible for parole in 2025.
