How Suzette Quintanilla is Keeping Her Sister Selena’s Memory Alive

The Netflix series “Selena” tells the story of Selena Quintanilla and shows the special relationship that the singer, who was tragically murdered, had with her sister, Suzette Quintanilla. The series showcases the sisters’ childhood and teen years and everything they had in common, from love to music. Suzette and Selena weren’t just sisters, they were also bandmates and confidantes. However, when Selena was killed at just 23 years old, Suzette’s world was turned upside down, and she stopped performing as a musical artist.

Since then, Suzette has dedicated her life to commemorating her sister’s legacy and creating opportunities for other Latin American musicians. She has become a highly important reference for the community and a significant figure in the music industry as CEO and president of Q Productions, the Latin music production company founded by her father, Abraham Quintanilla Jr. 

Photo Credit: Instagram @suzettesyld

Suzette works at the record label and promotes Tejano musicians like Selena and Los Dinos. She also oversees the management of the Selena Museum, located in the Quintanilla family’s hometown of Corpus Christi, Texas, where fans can view the singer’s awards, stage costumes, and even her red convertible Porsche. Some visitors have reported meeting Suzette and Quintanilla Jr in person, who enjoy hanging out with Selena´s fans.”When you walk through that door, you feel Selena. You realize who she was as a person and as an artist. You feel it as a friendly place, just like her. When you walk in here, you can feel her here,” Suzette said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight when describing the Selena Museum.

Photo Credit: Instagram @suzettesyld

Suzette also handles applications for licenses to use her sister’s likeness. The most important is the best-selling MAC cosmetics collection inspired by the singer’s signature makeup style. Suzette sees the collaboration as a continuation of Selena’s passion for cosmetics.

“When Selena passed away, one of the three things I was working on was her clothing line, a makeup line, and a perfume line. I promised myself that by the time I left this world, I would achieve what she started; what she wanted from the heart,” she stated in another part of that interview.

Suzette organizes and attends all the Selena tribute concerts. Perhaps the most memorable one of them all was the Selena !VIVE! performance in 2005, when members of the band Los Dinos reunited publicly for the first time since her death. Held in Houston and opened by Jennifer Lopez, who played Selena in the eponymous biopic of her life in 1997, the event was broadcast on Univision and remains the most-watched Spanish-language television special in U.S. history. 

Selena: The Series and legal issues

Suzette is one of the executive producers of Selena: The Series, along with her father. However, creating the series has not been easy; she and Quintanilla Jr were taken to court by Moctesuma Esparza, the producer of the 1997 film Selena, who claimed that Quintanilla Jr. sold him the rights to Selena’s life. In a million-dollar lawsuit, Esparza argued that by leaving him out of the Netflix series, Quintanilla Jr. breached his contract. Meanwhile, Netflix has stated they have the right to make a “highly transformative, biographical television series that involves a matter of public interest.” The overwhelming success of the second part of the series seems to have confirmed that Selena’s family made the right decision. 

Photo Credit: Instagram @suzettesyld

“We all have dreams and we all have goals and even Selena isn’t here, that doesn’t change this story. Inspiring one person is victory for me. There is only one person I wish was watching this with all of us,” wrote Suzette on her social media. 

Suzette’s Personal life

Photo Credit: Instagram @suzetteslyd

Selena: The Series also goes into depth about Suzette’s personal life. While in her early twenties, she met and fell in love with Bill Arriaga. The couple dated for years before getting married in 1993, and together they have a son, Jovan, who Suzette says “has her sister’s smile.”