SAN ANTONIO — Editor's note: The video above is from a 2021 story.
Selena fans, get ready. A new album is coming out in April – a quarter of a century after Selena Quintanilla-Perez, 23, was shot to death in Corpus Christi by the founder of her fan club.
According to the Queen of Tejano's father, Abraham Quintanilla, 83, "beautiful arrangements" of his late daughter's songs will be on the album to be released by Warner Music.
"It's a total of 13 songs," he said.
Quintanilla shared details about the album in a virtual interview on Latin Groove News' "On the Record" with Jose Rosario last Thursday.
"My son, AB, worked on this album," he said. "Some of the songs are done in ballads and some are cumbias. What's unique about it is not only is the music completely new arrangements, but my son worked on Selena's voice with the computers."
The first song on the album, for example, was recorded when she was 13, but sounds more recent, her father explained.
"If you listen to it, you know, she sounds on these recordings like she did right before she passed away... It's kind of amazing," he told Rosario.
The two discussed Selena's legacy, even more than a quarter of a century later.
"Selena's been gone 26 years now... It's amazing how fast time flies. What amazes me (and my family) is 26 years later, the public still remembers Selena, you know," Quintanilla said of his daughter. "They haven't let go of her. So they're waiting for a project like this to come out. I know that it will be well-received by the public."
Quintanilla spoke about his daughter's recent success, being honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2021 Grammys.
"I said that right after she passed away, that I was going to try to keep her memory alive through her music - and I think we have done that. 26 years later Selena is very present in today's music world," he said.
Suzette, Selena's sister, is working to create the album cover design, Quintanilla pointed out.
He shared his view about how he's been portrayed in the media and addressed those who have criticized him over the years. He said the public doesn't realize that his daughter's music contracts always involved four partners, her sister, brother and himself.
"Today in social media, they can say a lot of mean things about a person," he said. "At first, it used to bother me, but now, I don't care what they say – I know what I'm doing."