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Yo seguio mi pasiones en el deporte de beisbol.

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Yo seguio mi pasiones en el deporte de beisbol.

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CLOSE

Tejano superstar Selena Quintanilla knew how to get a crowd to their feet. That was certainly the case in West Texas.

Now all these years later the Caller-Times is sharing rarely seen photos from the Abilene Reporter-News of her performing in the 1980s.

Selena y Los Dinos introduced Greg Jaklewicz to Tejano Music.

Jaklewicz was an arts and entertainment reporter at the Abilene Reporter-News in the 1980s when he first saw the band perform live.

"Our news clerk back then, she knew I was covering entertainment, so she told me I needed to check out this band," Jaklewicz said. "(Selena) was an emerging artist at the time. They had hundreds of fans come out to their shows.

"As I was learning about Tejano music, she was emerging," he said.

Jaklewicz shot photos of the shows, chatted with Selena and often with her father, Abraham Quintanilla II, he said.

Selena y los Dinos performs in Abilene in this undated file photo. (Photo: Abilene Reporter-News file)

More: Everything you need to know about Selena Quintanilla Perez

Jaklewicz is now the news director at the Abilene Reporter-News. He was in Corpus Christi on Thursday for the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors Conference, and shared his photos with the Caller-Times.

The Abilene Reporter-News is a sister paper of the Caller-Times, both part of the USA Today Network.

Jaklewicz said he went to about a dozen Selena y Los Dinos concerts during the late '80s and early '90s. Some were at the Abilene Civic Center and others at local dance halls, he said.

With most of other performers, fans would grab a partner and hit the dance floor, but as soon as Selena got on stage, fans would flock to be near her, Jaklewicz said.

"Girls were infatuated with her, they dressed like her, they loved her," Jaklewicz said. "It was such a frenzy when (Selena y Los Dinos) got on stage, it was more of a concert experience than just a dance."

Selena y los Dinos perform in Abilene in this undated photo. (Photo: Abilene Reporter-News file)

When Jaklewicz heard of Selena's death, he urged his editors to publish a story about it, he said. The newspaper ran a feature days later, and Jaklewicz wrote a column about his experiences at her shows.

"We found that fans in Abilene were also creating memorials for her. People just loved her," he said. "She was on the verge of getting bigger."

More about Fiesta de la Flor:

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Check out these rare photos of Selena Quintanilla performing in West Texas in 1980s

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CLOSE Tejano superstar Selena Quintanilla knew how to get a crowd to their feet. That was certainly the case in West Texas. Now all these years later the Caller-Times is sharing rarely seen photos from the Abilene Reporter-News of her performing in the 1980s. Selena y Los Dinos introduced Greg Jaklewicz to Tejano Music.

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Known as the 'Queen of Tejano Music,' Selena Quintanilla was a beloved Latin recording artist who was killed by the president of her fan club at the age of 23.

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Selena was no ordinary queen. She was the queen of Tejano music. Her empire included music fans from the United States and Mexico and beyond. Her songs crossed international borders and sung in English and Spanish.

To help celebrate the day of her birth, I asked San Antonio photographer Al Rendon, who knew her well, to take us back to the days when Selena ruled the Tejano radio waves and media.

Rendon began following Selena's career when she earned recognition at the Tejano Music Awards in the late 1980s. Selena, who had started her band, Selena y Los Dinos, when she was eleven years old, was a rising young star by her early teens.

In 1992, the recording company Capital Records EMI Latin had a problem-no one liked the photos proposed for the new album which was due in the stores that spring. Thus, Rendon got his big break to photograph Selena for the cover of her upcoming album, Entre a mi Mundo. (Come into my World).

On a cold winter day, Selena's bus pulled up to the studio that Rendon had rented for this emergency situation. The band was on its way to a venue, and there wasn't much time. Rendon remembers that Selena came in with only her family. She brought along several outfits that she had designed herself.

Rendon could not have known at the time, but this album would be her breakthrough creation. Her songs recorded in Entre a mi Mundo were influenced by R&B, pop, and disco, but also by her personal style of Columbian cumbias. Selena believed that this rich blend of music required special clothing design. She loved fashion design almost as much as singing her music.

The photo shoot went extremely well. Selena's charm and humility were evident from the start. Rendon's challenges were that Selena and her dad did not agree on what outfits she was to wear. Finally, her dad left the room and Selena posed for what would be an iconic photo- Selena in a mid-drift top, black and white stripped sleeves, sparkling pants and her arms lifting her long black hair.

Selena really liked the photo and, as a result, there would be many other photo shoots for Rendon. In addition, he photographed Selena at various performances and at the Tejano Music Awards. In the studio, as on the stage, she was a natural performer and required few directions, according to Rendon.

When Coca-Cola selected Selena for their promotional ads, they chose Rendon to handle the photography. In the past, Coca-Cola had used photographers from Los Angeles and New York. But with the advice of their ad guru, Lionel Sosa of San Antonio, they agreed to try Rendon.

The photo shooting for these ads was intense and complicated. Selena made shooting easier by coming prepared with a dozen colorful outfits, all which she had designed. After the successful photo sessions, she recognized Rendon's creative ability and made sure he would have future opportunities to photograph her on stage.

The year following her Entre a Mi Mundo album, Selena appeared in several telenovelas, including " Dos Mujeres, un Camino" (Two Women, One Road.) Her popularity was growing as evident by the 70,000 attendees who saw her perform at the Féria Expomex in Nuevo Laredo in September 1993. That same year over 55,000 fans saw her perform at the Houston Astrodome.

Her fan base expanded as more and more Mexican radio stations began playing her recordings. Selena's music had a special Latino rhythm and appealed to South America audiences as well. By 1994 she had also branched out to create her own line of clothing and make-up.

Her popularity extended beyond Tejano fans and to young girls of all races and color, Selena represented an ideal role model. She exhibited an extensive singing range and musical versatility as she belted out love songs, cumbias, and rancheras. In addition, her fans saw her as a beautiful and sexy person with an eye for designing new fashion styles.

Her fans adored her, which was no doubt a reason that Coca-Cola singled her out for promotions. She had that wholesome Tejana look. Some might say that she had the All-American look while others pointed to her tremendous sex appeal. Selena was indeed the first Latina mega star and her popularity during the early 1990s grew with every record release and every performance.

Her first Tejano album " Ven Conmigo " recorded in 1990 had sold over 500,000 copies by the time she received her Grammy Award in 1993. Despite her growing star status, she changed little and gave her fans abundant time and attention.

Her highly successful musical career and marriage to her band guitarist Chris Perez suggested an idyllic life. It seemed so to her. But her dream would soon turn in a horrendous nightmare.

Rendon recalled that Selena had a good heart and trusted many. Her trust was betrayed in March of 1995 as she opened a second Selena, Etc. store in San Antonio. That spring her family had discovered fraud and theft connected to a trusted business manager.

Her death at the hands of someone she had helped so much shocked family, friends and fans. It all seemed like a bad dream. Her friend Rendon remembers an astonishing amount of grieving and mourning that followed her tragic death. Every Latino community created altars to her and candles were lit in churches and homes.

Selena died in her adopted hometown of Corpus Christi, but not even death could silence her. Her music lives on. On April 16 of this year, she would have celebrated her 39th birthday. Her life is one that millions will never forget. Viva Selena.

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Selena was no ordinary queen. She was the queen of Tejano music. Her empire included music fans from the United States and Mexico and beyond. Her songs crossed international borders and sung in English and Spanish. To help celebrate the day of her birth, I asked San Antonio photographer Al Rendon, who knew her well, [...]

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Selena fans parade her photo down Hollywood Boulevard on Nov. 4, 2017, after the unveiling of the singer's Hollywood Walk of Fame star. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

In Selena, they saw themselves.

For many, it was the first time they saw a Latina, proud of her heritage, unapologetically herself in mainstream media.

For some, it was Jennifer Lopez's depiction of the singer in the 1997 film that became their introduction. One reader recalled "Baila esta cumbia" playing at a family wedding. Many were born after Selena was fatally shot in 1995, but they still felt the pain of losing a family member when they heard the news.

Some learned Spanish through her music. Others, like their star, felt at peace with not speaking it perfectly.

They'll tell you it was about the music. They'll also tell you it was about so much more.

Angelica Hernandez was so affected, she included Selena in her personal statement for law school applications. For Clarissa Aguilar, the musician became an inspiration to finish her doctoral degree from Texas A&M University. "The power of having someone who grew up just like you and looks like you succeed at that scale was beyond comprehension," Aguilar said in our call out to readers asking,"What does Selena mean to you?"

On Monday, which would have been Selena's 47th birthday, fans share their memories and express the ways her music and story affected their lives.

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In Selena, they saw themselves.For many, it was the first time they saw a Latina, proud of her heritage, unapologetically herself in mainstream media.For some, it was Jennifer Lopez's depiction of the singer in the 1997 film that became their introduction. One reader recalled "Baila esta cumbia" playing at a family wedding.

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Selena - Bidi Bidi Bom Bom (Live From Astrodome)

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Known as the 'Queen of Tejano Music,' Selena Quintanilla was a beloved Latin recording artist who was killed by the president of her fan club at the age of 23.