Selena’s father, Abraham Isaac Quintanilla Jr., passed away Saturday at 86 years old, according to several sources, including his son A.B. Quintanilla, who shared the news in an Instagram post.
Quintanilla was the father of Tex-Mex singer Selena, who was murdered at the age of 23 on March 31, 1995, by her own manager, Yolanda Saldívar, who is serving a prison sentence for the crime.
He began his musical career as a member of the vocal group Los Dinos in 1956.
After discovering Selena’s vocal talent, he created the band Selena y Los Dinos, made up of Selena and her two older siblings, to develop her artistic potential.
Under his leadership, the group achieved great success in Tejano music in the late 1980s, which allowed Selena to launch a solo career and become one of the most acclaimed Latin music artists of all time.
After Selena’s murder in 1995, Quintanilla became an executive producer of a biographical film about her life, in which he was portrayed by actor Edward James Olmos.
