Where Are Selena Quintanilla’s Parents Now? Inside Abraham and Marcella’s Lives

Selena Quintanilla’s parents, Marcella Quintanilla and Abraham Quintanilla, have dedicated their lives to honoring the late singer’s legacy.

The “Dreaming of You” singer was tragically killed by her former fan club president, Yolanda Saldívar, on March 31, 1995, when she was just 23 years old. Her childhood, rise to fame and stardom are being shared in the Netflix documentary, Selena y Los Dinos: A Family’s Legacy, which premiered on Nov. 17.

Both Marcella and Abraham participated in the documentary to shed light on their daughter’s legacy and her love of music.

“I feel, in a way, a comfort,” Marcella shared in the documentary. “It helps me that people show so much love for her to this day. They took her life, but we’re going to keep her alive through her music.”

Meanwhile, Abraham continues to work on keeping his daughter’s legacy alive. In addition to Selena, the couple are also parents to son A.B. Quintanilla III and daughter Suzette Quintanilla.

After Saldívar was denied parole in March 2025, Selena’s family shared that they were “grateful” for the decision made by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles in a statement on Instagram.

So who are Selena Quintanilla’s parents and where are they now? Here’s everything to know about Marcella Quintanilla and Abraham Quintanilla.

Her parents married in 1963

Abraham and Marcella reportedly met in Tacoma, Wash., while he was stationed at McChord Air Force Base. They tied the knot on June 8, 1963.

The couple welcomed their first child, Abraham Isaac “A.B.”, six months later on Dec. 13, 1963. He was followed by Suzette, who was born on June 29, 1967, and Selena, who rounded out the family on April 16, 1971.

Together, they raised their family in the coastal city of Corpus Christi, Texas, near the U.S.-Mexico border.

A.B. celebrated his parents’ wedding anniversary on Instagram in 2023. “I would love to congratulate my parents on their 60th anniversary!!!” he wrote. “6 decades of marriage…Wow!!! I love y’all 💜💜💜.”

Abraham was the first musician in the family

Abraham managed Selena and her band, Selena y Los Dinos, which featured A.B. on bass, Suzette on drums and Selena’s husband, Chris Pérez, on the guitar. Before Selena’s career, Abraham sang in a band of his own called Los Dinos.

Abraham joined the group, which was made up of his high school classmates, in 1957, and together they released several records.

Following the buzz of their 1959 single “So Hard to Tell,” Los Dinos played in venues around the Lone Star State, including Abraham’s home of Corpus Christi. Per biographer Joe Nick Patoski’s book Selena: Como La Flor, the group got a fair amount of radio play, but Selena’s father, who was also an active member of the Air Force from 1961 to 1963, left the group in 1969. Los Dinos continued to play and record music until 1974, when they disbanded.

According to A.B., Abraham’s early experiences in the music industry enabled him to recognize Selena’s tremendous talent. “There are a lot of families who think, ‘My kids are talented, they sing, they’re awesome,’ but my dad, as a musician, saw something that we didn’t,” he told PEOPLE in March 2020.

Abraham said of his younger daughter in 1995, “Her timing, her pitch were perfect. I could see it from day one.”

Marcella struggles to talk about her daughter

Prior to Marcella appearing in the Netflix documentary Selena y Los Dinos: A Family’s Legacy, she shied away from publicly talking about her daughter.

“My mother is a very emotional soul, and she still suffers from Selena’s loss, and she can’t express herself because she tends to start crying,” Suzette explained in the documentary.

However, the documentary’s director, Isabel Castro, and her all-Latina production team convinced Marcella to participate in her first interview since Selena’s death by placing an emphasis on respecting Selena’s life and story.

Abraham’s favorite Selena song was inspired by his elder daughter

Abraham revealed that his favorite Selena song, “No Me Queda Más,” was inspired by his older daughter, Suzette.

“That song was written by [keyboard player] Ricky Vela,” he once said in an interview. “At the time, Ricky Vela has a crush on my daughter Suzette. But Suzette never knew anything about it. Suzette met her now husband, Bill, and they got married. That’s how Ricky wrote that song.”

Abraham recalled that Selena had tears in her eyes when she recorded the song. “Her eyes were watering because she knew how Ricky felt,” he added.

The Quintanillas helped to create the Netflix show based on Selena’s life

On Dec. 4, 2020, Netflix released the first part of Selena: The Series, a biographical drama based on Selena’s life. The second part dropped in May 2021.

As PEOPLE reported at the time, Selena’s family worked with the show’s creator and executive producer, Moisés Zamora, to bring the project to life. In addition, both of Selena’s siblings were credited as executive producers on the series.

“We feel great responsibility to do justice to her memory,” Suzette told The Hollywood Reporter in December 2018 when the project was first announced. “With this series, viewers will finally get the full history of Selena, our family and the impact she has had on all of our lives.”

In December 2020, Suzette thanked fans for the series’ success, captioning a photo on Instagram of the show ranked at No. 1 in the U.S. that day. “GUYS!!! OMG!!! Waking up and seeing this is insane and Beautiful!” she wrote. “THANK YOU THANK YOU for this love you have always given to our family. 🙏💜.”