Selena Quintanilla Fans up in Arms Over Plans to Change Her Voice in Unreleased Songs

By Daniel S. Levine

The first collection of new music from the late Selena Quintanilla is coming out soon, but it's not a reason for fans to celebrate. Her family authorized the use of technology to make Selena's voice sound much older than she was when she recorded the song. Selena was murdered in Corpus Christi, Texas in 1995. She was 23.

The new album is called Moonchild Mixes and the first single, "Como Te Quiero Yo A Ti," was released on July 29. Although there have been many compilations and remix albums released since Selena's death, Moonchild Mixes is being billed as the first posthumous collection of new music. The first single was produced by her brother, A.B. Quintanilla. A.B. and Selena's sister Suzette Quintanilla appeared on Good Morning America last month to defend the new album, which will be out on Aug. 26.

"The younger generation are discovering her and they're searching her and they want to know more about her," Suzette said. "So that's why we felt it was really important to ... breathe new life into this old music, and have it created new for the newer generation."

'Ghoulish and exploitative'

The way her siblings brought "new life" to the song has proven controversial. A.B. said the original track, written by Ricky Vela, was recorded directly onto vinyl. "So we had to kind of fuse the old school ways with the new school ways. Clean Selena's vocals, put them on timing," A.B. told GMA. "And then we also pitched her vocal down just a hair to make her sound a little bit more mature." Selena was only a teenager when she recorded the song, so digital manipulation means fans won't hear the song the way it was recorded.

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'It will sound weird and messed up'

Suzette and A.B. shrugged off critics who think they might be sullying the memory of their beloved sister. "What critics? We don't care about them," Suzette told GMA. "As an artist and musicians and people that are in the public eye, you have to turn that off. We're still going to do what we want with our music, with our sister, with our band. And I hope people understand that everything that we do, we do it with loving care and with beauty."

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'Selena's dad & brother need to let her rest'

"What we're doing is honoring her memory, her legacy," A.B. added. "That's what it's about."

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'Completely distasteful'

Selena, known around the world as the Queen of Tejano music, has sold over 18 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling female Latin artists. In 1994, she was the first female Tejano artist to perform at the Grammys. Her 1994 album Selena Live! won the Best Mexican/American Album Grammy and she received a posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021. Her life has been dramatized twice, first in the 1997 movie Selena, which was Jennifer Lopez's breakout role. Christian Serratos placed Selena in the 2020-2021 Netflix series Selena: The Series.

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'[Her] family continues to exploit her for financial gain'

"Even 27 years after her death, Selena Quintanilla Perez's family continues to exploit her for financial gain, this time with a new album. I cannot stress enough how despicable those people are not only for this, but for how they continue to treat her widower, Chris Perez," one fan wrote.

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'God rest Selena Quintanilla's soul'

"Why does Selena Quintanilla have the worst luck with people even after death?" one fan wondered.

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