Selena Quintanilla’s Dad Abraham Quintanilla Jr. Dead at 86

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Selena Quintanilla’s family is bidding farewell to their beloved patriarch.

Abraham Quintanilla, the father of the late Tejano music star Selena and a key figure in the formation of her family band, Selena y Los Dinos, passed away on December 13th at the age of 86.

Abraham Quintanilla III, son of Abraham Quintanilla Jr., shared the sad news on Instagram, posting a photo of his father with the message, “It is with a heavy heart that I share the news of my Dad’s passing today…”

Further details on his passing, including a cause of death, have not been shared.

Abraham Quintanilla was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, and initially pursued a music career with the band Los Dinos. He later left the group in the late 1960s to focus on raising his family with his wife, Marcella Quintanilla. When he realized his daughter had a talent for singing, he motivated his children to form a band, even though they weren’t immediately enthusiastic. A.B. played bass, Selena sang lead vocals, and Suzette Quintanilla played the drums.

As Selena y Los Dinos became more popular in the Latin music scene, Abraham Quintanilla Jr. continued managing the band, heavily influencing their choices and creative process. This continued until Selena’s tragic death in 1995, after which the group broke up.

Since Selena’s death, Abraham has been instrumental in keeping her memory alive, even while navigating his own personal challenges. He initially didn’t approve of Selena’s relationship with guitarist Chris Pérez, but later came to accept it. Years later, in 2016, they had a public disagreement over a television series Chris proposed about Selena, but they were able to reconcile five years after that.

Abraham recently shared memories of his late daughter in the Netflix documentary Selena y Los Dinos, which came out in November. He’s been depicted on screen before, first by Edward James Olmos in the 1997 film Selena, and later by Ricardo Chavira in the two-season TV drama Selena: The Series, which ran from 2020 to 2021.

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2025-12-13 19:17