In the same year, the United States Social Security Administration ranked the name Selena
one of the 100 most popular names for newborn girls.
[249]
In December 1999, Selena was
named the "top Latin artist of the '90s" and "Best selling Latin artist of the decade"
by Billboard for her fourteen top-ten singles in the Top Latin Songs chart, including seven
number-one hits.
[250]
She was the best-selling Latin female singer of the 1990s in the US and
Mexico.
[251]
Selena was named "Best Female Vocalist of the '80s" and "Best Female Vocalist of
the '90s" at the 2010 Tejano Music Awards.
[84]
There has been continuing belief that Selena
would have achieved greater career success had it not been for her death.
[76][252][253]
Selena's
work has influenced a number of entertainers including Beyoncé,
[254]
Demi Lovato,
[254]
Lady
Gaga,
[255]
Nelly Furtado, Ricky Martin,
[256]
Paula DeAnda, Yolanda Perez,
[257]
3LW,
[258]
Marc
Anthony,
[161]
Christina Aguilera, Shakira,
[256]
Ivy Queen,
[259]
Fanny Lú, Don Omar, Kat
Deluna,
[254]
Eva Longoria,
[260]
Wyclef Jean,
[261]
Daddy Yankee,
[254]
Aventura,
[262]
Jennifer
Pena,
[254]
Angelo Garcia,
[263]
Jenni Rivera,
[264]
David Archuleta,
[254]
Tito Nieves, Manny
Manuel,
[265]
Girl in a Coma,
[266]
Karen Rodriguez,
[267]
Solange Knowles,
[268]
Katy
Perry,
[254]
Drake,
[269]
Ashlee Simpson,
[270]
Q'orianka Kilcher,
[243]
Selena Gomez,
[254]
Enrique
Iglesias,
[256]
Becky G,
[271]
and Meghan Trainor.
[272]
Mariah Carey remarked on her death during
an interview with MTV stating that Selena's death was shocking to her because of "the way it
had happened so abruptly in a young life."
[273]
George W. Bush, who declared April 16 as
Selena Day in Texas, said that Selena represented "the essence of south Texas culture." who
never forgot where she came from.
[274]
Talk show host and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey, called
Selena's life "short but significant" during her March 1997 episode of The Oprah Winfrey
Show.
[275]
Posthumous film and honors
In the months following her death, a number of honors and tributes were erected. Several
proposals were brought into question such as renaming streets, public parks, food
products,
[276]
and auditoriums.
[277]
The Spirit of Hope Award was created in Selena's honor in
1996,
[278]
and was awarded to Latin artists who participated in humanitarian and civic
causes.
[279]
On March 16, 2011, the United States Post Office released a "Latin Legends"
memorial stamp to honor Selena, Carlos Gardel, Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, and Carmen
Miranda.
[280]
In February 2014, the Albany, NY Times Union named her one of "100 Coolest
Americans in History".
[281]
In 1997 Selena was commemorated with a museum and
a bronze life-sized statue (Mirador de la Flor in Corpus Christi), which are visited by hundreds
of fans each week.
[282]
Selena was inducted into the Billboard Latin Music Hall of Fame,
[283]
the Hard Rock Cafe's Hall
of Fame in 1995,
[98]
the South Texas Music Hall of Fame,
[88]
and the Tejano Music Hall of Fame
in 2001.
[185]
She was named one of the 20 most influential Texans of all time.
[88]
She was
ranked fifth of the "100 most influential Latin musicians of the 20th century" according to
the Orange County Register.
[284]
The singer has been called a slew of honorific titles by media
outlets; including the "Queen of Latin music",
[285]
the "Chicana Elvis",
[286]
the "Queen of hybrid
pop culture", the "Hispanic Marilyn Monroe",
[168]
the "Tupac Shakur of Latin music",
[287]
the
"Corpus Christi queen",
[288]
and the "people's princess".
[289][290]
She has been compared to
Madonna by the media more than any other celebrity,
[291]
in terms of her fashion sense.
[9][292]
Mexican actress Salma Hayek was originally asked to play the role of Selena in a biopic film
produced by the Quintanilla family and Warner Bros.
[293]
Hayek turned the role down, feeling
that it was "too early" to base a movie on Selena and that it would be too emotional since
Selena's death was still being covered on national television.
[294][295]
Puerto Rican American
actress Jennifer Lopez replaced Hayek, which drew criticism because of her ancestry.
[296]
Over
21,000 people auditioned for the title role, becoming the second largest turn out since the
search for Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind in 1939.
[297][298]
Gregory Nava served as the
director for the film, which was released on March 21, 1997. After the film's release, fans
changed their views on Lopez after seeing her performance in the movie. Selena opened in
1,850 theaters worldwide and grossed $11,615,722, making it the second-highest debut for
that week.
[299]
With a production budget of $20 million, the film grossed a total of $35 million
domestically.
[299]
The film was a commercial and critical success
[300]
and is often cited by critics