Abraham Quintanilla Jr., the father of late Tejano star Selena Quintanilla who served as her manager and steward of her legacy, has died. He was 86.
Quintanilla Jr.’s death was announced on Instagram by his son, Abraham “A.B.” Quintanilla III.
“It’s with a heavy heart to let you guys know that my Dad passed away today,” the younger Quintanilla wrote in his caption alongisde a photo of his father.
The cause of death is not yet known.
Born in Corpus Christi, Texas on Feb. 22, 1939, Quintanilla Jr. was a musician himself, performing in the band Los Dinos before leaving the group to focus on raising a family.
After recognizing his daughter Selena’s vocal talent, he revived the Dinos as a family band, Selena y Los Dinos, which also included A.B. and Suzette Quintanilla, on bass and the drums, respectively, with the family patriarch serving as the manager of the group. Selena’s future husband Chris Pérez, played guitar in the band.
“I got married and started to have children, and that dream started to fade away. I got settled down raising a family,” Quintanilla Jr. told the San Antonio Express-News in 2022. “Then I started teaching my kids what I loved. Music. Eventually, they got so good that my dream that I had that had faded became their dream.”
The group experienced success in Tejano music in the late 1980s, laying the foundation for Selena’s crossover success.
Selena was murdered in 1995 by the president of her fan club, Yolanda Saldívar, and Quintanilla Jr. became the main guardian of her legacy.
“I was always trying to protect my kids. And I guess, maybe, I overprotected them where they had no knowledge of the outside world. I grew up in the streets, so I know that world. That’s the reason why I became very overprotective with my children,” Quintanilla Jr. told the San Antonio Express-News, alluding to his daughter’s murder. “But as overprotective as I was, I let the wolf into the chicken coop.”
He executive produced the 1997 biopic Selena, in which his daughter was played by Jennifer Lopez, and Edward James Olmos portrayed Quintanilla. He was played by Ricardo Chavira in the 2020-2021 Netflix series Selena: The Series, which Quintanilla Jr. also executive produced.
Netflix in November released the documentary Selena y Los Dinos: A Family Legacy, which explores Selena’s rise with the group. The film, executive produced by A.B. and Suzette Quintanilla, was nominated for best music documentary at the IDA Documentary Awards, won the audience award at the Miami Film Festival and received the U.S. documentary special jury award in archival storytelling at Sundance.
In the documentary, Quintanilla Jr. recalls the first time he brought Selena to a record label in San Antonio.
“At first, they were skeptical because it’s a girl — and a young girl,” he says. “I said, ‘Well, let’s give it a try one time,’ and we recorded a song.” She was signed quickly thereafter.
He released his memoir, A Father’s Dream: My Family’s Journey in Music, in 2021.
In addition to his children A.B. and Suzette, Quintanilla is survived by his wife Marcella.
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