According to a former employee at Selena Quintanilla’s now-closed boutique, the woman who fatally shot her gave off eerie signs that she was a fake.
On April 16, thousands of fans took to social media to pay tribute to the late trailblazing Mexican-American singer, who would have turned 54 that day.
Selena, whose shocking murder by Yolanda Saldivar on March 31, 1995, rocked the music industry and fans who followed the rising star who had just won her first Grammy Award, is commemorated in her home state of Texas every April 16.
Hope Galvan remembers Selena’s vivacious personality vividly, more than three decades after she first met the Bidi Bidi Bom Bom singer.
Galvan, then 27, started working at Selena’s clothing and salon boutique in Corpus Christi, about two hours southeast of San Antonio, in 1994.
“She was in person exactly as her videos show. “I remember when we were all gathered around Selena doing plain manicures on each other while my friend Tony was doing hers,” Galvan told The Sun.
“I was sitting next to her and that was a beautiful memory.”
When I first met [Selena and Yolanda] and were both sitting across from me, Yolanda came across pretending to be something she’s not.”
Hope Galvan, an employee at Selena’s boutique in 1994
Galvan recalled speaking with Selena and Yolanda, the former manager of the singer’s fan club who was denied parole on March 27 for the violent 1995 murder, at a hotel in downtown Corpus Christi.
“I remember my hair being long and full. Selena said, “Get up and turn around!” I want you to do my hair exactly like yours.” Galvan said.
However, during the interview, Galvan had one thought.
“I thought to myself, ‘this doesn’t match,” she recalled of Selena and Saldivar’s collaboration.
“When I first met them and were both sitting across from me, Yolanda came across pretending to be something she’s not.”
Galvan still cherishes the message Selena left on her voicemail recorder.
“She called my house and left a voicemail message: ‘Hello, Esperanza, this is Selena from Selena and Boutique. “Can you call me back as soon as you receive this message?” she exclaimed.
“My ex-husband and I would replay her message over and over again. We couldn’t believe she called and didn’t have someone else do it.
“That’s the kind of person she was—spirited and humble. She wasn’t arrogant or proud; she was all Chicana like us, Tex-Mex.
FRIENDSHIP BLOSSOMED
Martin Gomez met Selena when he was 27 years old and working as an executive in training at Dillard’s department store.
According to Gomez, Selena persuaded him to work for her as her personal fashion designer, and a relationship quickly developed.
“It was weird; we just became friends, and I believe she had never met a fashion designer. Gomez told The Sun that they just became friends.
Gomez, who is also an author and lecturer, stated that he and Selena would spend hours in his studio discussing fashion.
“For me, one of the biggest joys that I have in my memories with her was that my studio was upstairs to Q-Productions and she had an area where she would practice,” according to him.
“And she didn’t practice a lot because she didn’t need to, but sometimes before performances she would come up in sweats, I would be sketching and working, and a lot of times she would have music on, she would be twirling, and that’s where I would sketch, I would just illustrate what I wanted her to wear.”
She was so ridiculously talented. And it’s more than entertainment, it was her presence, that’s one thing if you had never seen her it was beyond, she was beyond amazing.
Martin Gomez, Selena’s personal designer
Gomez recalled being blown away when he first heard Selena sing, saying, “It’s funny because the first time I heard her sing was while riding in her Porsche.”
“She was singing along to a sample of what would be her first CD, Amor Prohibido.
“And I’d never heard her sing before, so seeing her live was absolutely incredible. I instantly thought, wow.
“I can’t tell you how much star power she had because of her voice. If you removed all of the percussion and instrumentals and only heard her voice, you’d be astounded.
“Her voice was powerful, like really powerful, and her personality, and if you look at her videos and how she stood, she was very graceful.
“She moved like a dancer, despite never having trained as one, and she was simply amazing. When you saw her perform, it was insane.
“She was incredibly talented. And it was more than just entertainment; it was her presence, which, if you hadn’t seen her before, was incredible.”
Gomez went on, “A lot of really touching memories are very private because she was such a sensitive girl.
“You have no idea how much fun it was to work with her.” We’d giggle like two small girls. We’d laugh and dance, and it was probably the most fun I’d ever had at work.
“One of the fond memories I have was literally sitting on a design table and just talking fashion, and me sketching like a madman.
“Those were the most amazing memories I have, and literally just gossiping because we were both newlyweds.
“I had just married my wife, she had just married Chris [Perez], so we were always talking about what was going on in our lives because we were so busy. It was two years, but still.”
