Selena Quintanilla and Chris Pérez.Photo:Chris Perez Instagram
Chris Perez Instagram
Selena Quintanilla’s relationship with her husband Chris Pérez started as forbidden love.
TheGrammy-winning singer and icon — who was dubbed the “Queen of Tejano Music” and the “Tex-Mex Madonna” for her mastery of the Tejano style that fuses Tex-Mex, pop and polka — met Chris when he joined her band, Selena y Los Dinos, as a guitarist in 1990.
In the 2021 documentary episodeTrue Hollywood Story: Death of Innocence,Chris toldE! Entertainmentthat Selena’s death was the “hardest thing” he ever had to deal with, and the loss still affects him today.
“I miss her face, her laughter. She was just an amazing soul, an amazing spirit,” he told the outlet.
After Selena’s death, Chris continued his music career and won a Grammy with his own band in 2000. He has two children from a second marriage that ended in divorce, but credits Selena for helping him open up emotionally and playing a large role in the trajectory of his life. Nearly three decades after her death, the musician keeps honoring her legacy on social media and in interviews.
So who is Selena Quintanilla’s husband? Here’s everything to know about Chris Pérez and his relationship with the late singer.
They met when Chris joined Selena’s band
Selena y Los Dinos' album for ‘Quiero.'.GP Productions
GP Productions
Chris wrote about his involvement with Selena’s band on social media in 2020, just after the release of theNetflixshowSelena: The Series.
Chris highlighted the rest of the band member’s talents as well, like Selena’s sister Suzette played the drums. “I will forever respect the band and the people involved in it," he added.
They fell in love on a trip to Mexico
Selena Quintanilla and Chris Pérez sitting together for a photo.Chris Perez Instagram
Still, Selena and Chris kept their relationship strictly professional in the early days after he joined the band. However, sparks flew when the band took a trip to Mexico.
In his 2013 memoir,To Selena, with Love, Chris wrote that their relationship deepened while the band was on a trip to Acapulco, courtesy of Selena’s sponsor,Coca-Cola. On that trip, Selena was “truly free to be herself,” he wrote, and they sat next to each other at dinner throughout the trip. Their feelings turned outwardly romantic on the flight back to the U.S.
Turbulence on the flight was bad, and Selena held Chris’ hand the entire trip, he told theAnything for Selenapodcast in the 2021 episode “Selena and Chris.”
“[I thought], ‘maybe she was just being [a friend], she knows I’m freaking out from the turbulence,’ ” he explained. “At the same time, I knew there were sparks.”
Selena and Chris eloped in 1992
Selena Quintanilla and Chris Pérez take a picture together.Chris Perez Instagram
Selena and Chris began their relationship in secret, knowing that Selena’s father, Abraham Quintanilla, would not approve. The two snuck around as their relationship grew, and confessed their feelings to each other while on tour.
“We were in Laredo when we had our conversation about how we both felt the same way about each other. Selena had the biggest smile on her face when we were walking back to the bus afterward,” Chris toldTexas Monthlyin 2010. “I’m smiling right now just thinking about it. I wanted to tell her, ‘Hey, quit smiling! You’re going to give it away.’ ”
When Abraham found out about their relationship, he kicked Chris out of the band. Although Selena insisted that he be let back in, her dad had the final word. Shortly after, though, the couple eloped on April 2, 1992, at a Texas courthouse — Chris in jeans and a T-shirt for the quick, casual ceremony, perTexas Monthly.
On what would have been their 25th wedding anniversary in 2017, Chris posted a heartfelt messageon Facebookalongside a photo of the pair’s marriage license.
“It’s hard to believe that today marks 25 years since Selena and I decided that the only way to be together…was to run away and get married (at 20 and 22 years old) in secret,” he wrote. “What a rollercoaster ride that day was.”
After their wedding, the two were no longer shy about their relationship. At the 1993 Tejano Music Awards, Selena thanked Chris onstage after accepting the award for female entertainer of the year.
“I’d like to thank my husband. I love you,”Selena said.
Selena borrowed Chris' shirt for an iconic music video
Selena Quintanilla and Chris Pérez.Chris Perez Instagram
Chris was on set for Selena’s most iconic music video, “Amor Prohibido” (“Forbidden Love” in English), the title track of what became one of the best-selling Latin albums in the U.S.
Throughout the clip, which was released in 1994, the singer wears a red men’s button-down shirt tied in the front as she dances around the desert in Joshua Tree National Park.
According to theAnything for Selenapodcast, the day of the music video, Selena’s record label sent her a wardrobe full of options to wear. Instead, she chose a shirt she brought with her: Chris' red button-down.
On the anniversary of Selena’s death in 2021, Chris returned to Joshua Tree, California, to honor her memory. He posted a photo onInstagramof chairs overlooking the desert with the caption, “Get away they said…..OK…just me and some music….and a few beers…to the place Selena and I cameto film her Amor Prohibido video.”
He credits Selena with opening him up to love
Selena Quintanilla and Chris Pérez pose for a photo.Chris Perez Instagram
A few years later, Chris wed Venessa Villanueva in 2001, whom he met through mutual friends, and they welcomed their children Cassie and Noah. Although Chris and Venessa divorced in 2008, the guitarist still credits Selena for encouraging him to love — even after her death.
“She taught me a lot. I used to never tell people I love them … or I miss them, or just give them gifts just because,” Chris told E! Entertainment in 2021. “I learned those things and many, many other things from her.”
Though the couple had their ups and downs, the two talked about starting a family together before her death, Chris toldCNNin 2021. While he didn’t get the chance to welcome kids with Selena, in his memoirTo Selena, with Love, he notes that their relationship opened him up emotionally, allowing him to eventually have a family of his own.
“[Selena’s] way of being made me realize the power in being vulnerable,” Chris toldThe New York Postin 2020. “Like no matter what, you’re going to take your heart out, figuratively, and get on one knee and hand it to that other person. And I’d never done that.”
Chris is depicted in multiple Selena biopics
Jennifer Lopez as Selena Quintanilla and Jon Seda as Chris Pérez in ‘Selena’.Maximum Film / Alamy
Maximum Film / Alamy
“Hanging with my bro@chrispereznow at #rivachicago, thanks for showing us a great time! @navypierchicago @chicagojustice #friendsforlife,” Seda captioned anInstagram photoof the two enjoying a plate of desserts at a restaurant in Chicago.
In 2020, Netflix debutedSelena: The Seriesfollowing the star’s life and death, starringThe Walking Dead’sChristian Serratosas Selena and Jesse Posey (the younger brother ofTyler Posey) as Chris. While the guitarist wasn’t involved in the project,he connected with Jessewhen it was completed.
He carries on Selena’s legacy
Chris Pérez attends a ceremony honoring Selena Quintanilla with a star on The Hollywood Walk Of Fame on November 3, 2017.Tommaso Boddi/WireImage
Tommaso Boddi/WireImage
After Selena’s death, Chris formed the Chris Pérez Band — which won a Grammy Award in 2000 for their albumResurrection. It featured the song, “Best I Can,” which he dedicated to his late wife.
When Chris released his memoir,To Selena, with Love, he toldThe Hollywood Reporterthat he intended to carry on Selena’s legacy.
“For years, Selena’s fans have been wondering if I was ever going to write about her. Their voices had an impact on me but, more than anything else, I wanted to show a different side of her,” he told the outlet in 2012.
Chris continued, “People need to remember what she stood for, the values she had. If people remembered her in that way, I’d be happy and I’m sure she would be happy, too.”
“Let’s all continue to celebrate the greatness of #Selena and her music! Nobody did it (or still does it) quite like her,” Chris wrote onInstagram, announcing the release of Selena’s posthumous albumMoonchild Mixesin 2022. “Thanks to all of you, again, for keeping her legacy and her music alive.”
source: people.com
