Table of Biography
Abraham Quintanilla Jr. is a singer-turned-songwriter and producer. Abraham Quintanilla Jr. is best known as the father of the late Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla. He is now the founder of the Selena Foundation.
Early Life
Abraham Quintanilla Jr. was born on February 20, 1939. He is 83 years old male. Likewise, he was born in Corpus Christi, Texas. Thus, he is an American by nationality.
Similarly, he is of the birth sign Pisces. He was born to parents Maria Tereza Calderon( Mother) and Abraham Gonzalez Quintanilla Sr. ( Father).
For a living, his parents used to glean vegetables, cotton, and fruits. However, later his father Abraham Quintanilla Sr, worked as an autobody repairman to feed his family.
Abraham Jr. was born in a family of eight, including 5 of his siblings. Although the names of his siblings are not known yet.
Caption: Abraham Quintanilla Jr. when he was 15 years old. Source: Instagram
Education
Abraham Quintanilla Jr. went to Roy Miller High School located in his city. He wasn’t quite the studious type. Thus, formed a choir along with his high school friends called the Gumdrops. Abraham was an eager fellow.
He was interested in music and wanted to experiment with his capabilities. Hence, he quit high school in his senior year to pursue his dreams. However, his mother didn’t fancy this decision of his.
Abraham Quintanilla Jr. – Net Worth 2023
According to different websites, his net worth is said to be around $10 million. Abraham is a record producer and the founder of the Selena foundation as well.
Although the details regarding his salary and other assets are not available at the moment, it is safe to say that he has a decent income.
Relationship Status
Abraham Quintanilla Jr. is a family man who is married to Marcella Samora. He met his wife while he was in the military and the couple got married in the year 1963. He is the father of three children. His firstborn was named after him Abraham Isaac Quintanilla III.
Similarly, his second child Suzette Michelle Quintanilla was born in the year 1967. His second daughter Selena was born in April of 1971. He loves his family dearly. However, he and his entire family had to face the very tragic loss of his beloved daughter Selena.
Caption: A family picture of Abraham including his wife and son. Source: Instagram
Selena Quintanilla
His third child Selena was born on April 16, 1971, at the Freeport Community Hospital. Selena had a gift for music and her father recognized it at a very young age. He decided to fulfill his dreams through his children.
Without wasting any more time he engaged her in training her vocals. He formed a band taking reference from his prior band and named it Selena y Los Dinos which translates to Selena and The Guys.
He even opened a restaurant named PapaGayos so that Selena could perform in front of people. However, due to the after-effects of World War II, the place was shut down. After being evicted from their own homes, he still hadn’t given up on his dreams.
He along with his daughter performed in different social gatherings like weddings, parties, and many other social events. After going through many obstacles in life, Selena was finally signed by Freddie Records in the year 1984.
However, soon after the release of her first record, she was moved to Cara Records by her father. With time Selena’s career grew and she along with her bands reached new heights. Selena has won a Grammy in the past for her album “Best Mexican-American Album”.
However, happiness didn’t last long for Selena and her family. On March 31, 1995, Selena was brutally murdered by a woman named Yolanda Saldivar. Yolanda was the president of the Selena fan club and manager of Selena boutiques.
Professional Life
Abraham Quintanilla Jr. first gave wings to his dream of becoming a professional singer in the year 1957, when he heard his alumni classmates performing. Just then, he happened to know that one of the band members was quitting the group and was lacking a vocalist.
That is when he shot his shot and approached the band. The band was called ” Los Dinos”. The band released its first song in the year 1959. The title of the song was “So Hard To Tell”, and the song instantly became popular at a radio station in Abraham’s hometown.
Similar to their first song, their song single was also a hit and received ample airplay in South Texas. After this particular song, their popularity as a musical band grew further.
However, it wasn’t always happy day for the Los Dinos. The band faced extreme racial discrimination and hatred from people as they belonged to Mexican descent. Their shows were canceled just cause they were Mexican Americans.
Likewise, they were denied various accommodations while they traveled out of their town to perform. Unlike their previous songs, their third and fourth songs didn’t do quite well.
The band didn’t release new music for quite a while as he was drafted into military service in the year 1961 and discharged in 1963. After he rejoined the band, they began to explore new forms of music like American pop, and Rock and Roll.
More about Los Dino’s
One evening when the band was performing for a Mexican crowd, the audience demanded them to sing Spanish- Mexican songs. Unfortunately, the band didn’t know how any Mexican music and had to face humiliation after the angry crowd hissed at them.
Due to various reasons, the band changed their genre to Chicano Rocks and recorded their first record in the new genre in the year 1964. Their new song Con Esta Copa which translates to With This Cup was one of the band’s most popular songs ever put out.
However, with time and new bands with greater potential emerging, Los Dino’s popularity was fading away. He decided to leave the band as he had to support his family. The band carried on without him for a few years but later officially disbanded.
Caption: Abraham Quintanilla Jr. and his daughter Selena were photographed together. Source: Hip Latina
Dow Chemical
After quitting the band, he started to work for Dow Chemical as a full-time worker. However, he is not working there at the present. He most likely quit his job at Dow Chemical after the death of his daughter Selena.
More about his career
Abraham Quintanilla Jr. started to develop albums that couldn’t see light while his daughter was still alive. After the death of his daughter Selena, he was involved in a lot of projects that involved the talks of his daughter Selena. He was invited to different television shows to talk about his late daughter.
Likewise, there are a few documentaries and movies that talk about Selena in which he is involved. Similarly, he along with the rest of his family even started a foundation called the Selena Foundation to help children in crisis.
Body Measurements
Abraham has black hair and dark brown eyes. Other than these, the rest of his body measurement is not available on the web at the moment. Further details are still under review.
Abraham Quintanilla Jr. – Social Media
Unlike most other people he is much of a social media person. Hence, Abraham Quintanilla Jr. doesn’t have any social media accounts. However, his son does post pictures of him on various occasions on his account.