Selena performs April 24, 1994, at Hemisfair Plaza in San Antonio.

Selena performs April 24, 1994, at Hemisfair Plaza in San Antonio.

Sung Park/Polaris

It’s been 31 years since the sudden and tragic death of Grammy-winning Tejana songstress Selena Quintanilla. If she had not been murdered by Yolanda Saldivar, she would’ve celebrated her 55th birthday today.

Still, the lifeblood of her legacy flows strong through her music, and fans cherish her memory. In honor of the cumbia queen and her brief but beautiful life, here are five little-known facts about her.

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Selena had a cameo in the movie ‘Don Juan DeMarco’ as a mariachi singer

Aside from being an internationally famous singer, Selena was also an actress. She had a small part in the 1995 film “Don Juan DeMarco” featuring Marlon Brando, Johnny Depp and Faye Dunaway. She played a mariachi performer.

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During her scene, Selena can be heard belting out the song “El Toro Relajo” as a live band accompanies her at a dance club. It was filmed in the summer of 1994. The movie came out in April 1995, just one week after her death.

Selena’s ‘Bidi Bidi Bom Bom’ song began as a sound check jam

History is filled with happy accidents — and the way Selena’s iconic song “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom” came about seems to be one of them. According to an October 2017 report from Latin Times, the hit began as a spontaneous sound check jam that came about as Selena was vocalizing into the mic during band rehearsals. The melody was the same, but the lyrics were different.

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According to Los Dinos member Pete Astudillo, the lyrics started off as an ad-libbed “itty bitty bubbles” that later transformed into “bidi bidi bom bom,” an onomatopoeia for the sound a heart makes.

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In a recently released performance video, Selena can be heard singing the song in English with its original lyrics, which were about a fish swimming free in the sea: “If I had one wish, I would like to be a fish and I’d swim, swim swim under the sea I’d be so free.”

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Selena and Beyoncé met at a Houston mall

Selena served as a huge inspiration for countless artists, including Beyoncé Knowles. Before Queen Bey built her own music empire, however, the two ran into each other at a mall in Houston. 

“I did actually meet Selena in the Galleria Mall in Houston,” Beyoncé said in an MTV interview. “But I didn’t say much to Selena because I wasn’t a celebrity, and I just saw her and said hello, kept it moving.” 

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Beyoncé went on to say that she listened to Selena frequently on the radio while growing up in Texas, and that her music helped her in the studio while she was pursuing her own career as a singer. 

“Definitely growing up in Texas, I heard her on the radio, and I think listening to her albums, even though I didn’t know exactly what she was singing, it helped me in the studio,” Beyoncé said. 

Doctors initially mistook the pregnancy of Selena’s mother as a tumor

Selena Quintanilla performs for the crowd Aug. 12, 1989, during a dance following the Feria de las Flores queen's contest at Memorial Coliseum in Corpus Christi.

Selena Quintanilla performs for the crowd Aug. 12, 1989, during a dance following the Feria de las Flores queen’s contest at Memorial Coliseum in Corpus Christi.

CORPUS CHRISTI CALLER-TIMES FILE/AP

According to a Texas Monthly report on Abraham Quintanilla’s memoir, Selena came as a surprise. At first, a doctor believed Marcella Quintanilla’s pregnancy with Selena was a tumor during the early stages. Although the doctor wanted to operate, Selena’s family searched for a second opinion, which confirmed Marcella’s pregnancy. 

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The family had been planning for a boy, but when Marcella gave birth to a girl, they had to think of a name. Meanwhile, a mother in a room next door had just given birth to a boy. She suggested the Quintanillas use the name she would have given her own daughter, had her baby been born a girl: Selena. 

Selena and Chris Perez declared their love for one another at a Pizza Hut 

Selena is pictured April 24, 1994, with her husband, Chris Perez, before their performance at Hemisfair Plaza in San Antonio.

Selena is pictured April 24, 1994, with her husband, Chris Perez, before their performance at Hemisfair Plaza in San Antonio.

Sung Park/Polaris

In his 2012 memoir “To Selena, With Love,” Chris Perez included details about his star-crossed love story with the late songstress — including the claim that he and Selena confessed their love for one another at a Pizza Hut.

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According to a report from Harper’s Bazaar, the two felt an attraction budding soon after Perez began playing for Selena’s band. Although Perez had a girlfriend back home in San Antonio, they confessed their feelings to one another at the pizza restaurant, and decided to pursue a secret romance from there on out. The two later eloped in April 1992. 

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