The Tejano Princess

Young, gorgeous, and vivacious.

It was rare to see Selena Quintanilla-Perez without a glowing smile. Her laughter was contagious. Her music was heartbreakingly magical.

At 23, the Texas beauty was murdered by the president of her own fan club.

The last word she heard before she collapsed to her death was "bitch."

Nothing is fair.

I had a very boring childhood because I never had the opportunity to associate with anybody my own age due to my career.

Although my Spanish is a little weak I feel that I am Mexican. I'm very proud of my roots and ever since I was little we played English music and country music aside from Tejano. It was something very natural for us.

I only dance with people I know. I don't dance with strangers unless they ask my dad for permission. I also enjoy seeing other people dance. Then I go backstage and practice the steps I saw.

The life of an artist isn't all glamorous. It's a lot of work. A lot of people think it's very easy. They think you always stay in good hotels, you buy good things, but it's not like that. You have to work hard like everybody else.

Really and truly, I can't imagine myself having an everyday job and going into an office. I love business. I have my own business aside from singing, but I can't picture myself going to the same place everyday. I don't know, it would be kind of a drag to me, I guess. I have gotten so used to traveling now.

I think I'm very a kindhearted person. I don't like to hurt people's feelings. If I do, it's not intentionally. I'm sincere and very honest. And I feel that nowadays a lot of people have lost that, but I think that starts in the home. My parents have taught me that. Being fair with people.

The reason I'm so appreciative of everything that's going on around me is cause I never expected it. Never dreamed...never in my wildest dreams thought I would come this far and I plan to keep that attitude.

What I do on stage, you won't catch me doing off stage. I mean, I think deep down I'm still kind of, like, timid and modest about a lot of things. But on stage, I release all that; I let it go.

So you can imagine how I felt when they called out my name. I cried in the back. It was just a great feeling.

If you have a dream, don't let anyone take it away.