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Abraham Quintanilla Jr., the father and manager of legendary Tejano singerSelena Quintanilla-Pérez, has died. He was 86.
Quintanilla's son, Abraham "A.B." Isaac Quintanilla III,announcedthe news on Instagram on Saturday. "It's with a heavy heart to let you guys know that my dad passed away today," he wrote. He did not provide a cause of death.
Born in Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1939, Quintanilla developed an interest in music as a teenager, founding a group called the Gumdrops before joining the Dinos when Lupe Barrera left the group.
The Dinos' single "So Hard to Tell" became a favorite of local Corpus Christi radio stations, as did its follow-up, "Give Me One More Chance." Quintanilla's time with the group was interrupted when he was drafted in 1961 and later stationed in Fort Lewis, Wash., where he met Marcella Samora.
Quintanilla married Samora in 1963 and returned to the Dinos, who pivoted to Spanish-language music with their 1964 album,Con Esta Copa. The band released four albums in the 1960s and achieved moderate success, but after welcoming two children with Samora, Quintanilla opted to leave the Dinos in 1969.
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The couple's third child, Selena, was born in 1971, and Quintanilla quickly recognized his daughter's musical gift. He established a family band, also named Los Dinos, with Selena on vocals, A.B. on bass, and his older daughter, Suzette, on drums.
Under Quintanilla's management, the group eventually signed with Freddie Records in 1984 and released six albums across various labels throughout the 1980s. Selena was rebranded as a solo artist with her 1989 album,Selena, though A.B. and Suzette continued to contribute to her recordings and play alongside her during live performances.
Abraham was credited as a songwriter and an executive producer onSelenaand on her Grammy-winning 1993 album,Selena Live.
After Selena's murder in 1995, Quintanilla became one of the guardians of his daughter's legacy and cofounded the Selena Foundation. He produced the 1997 biopicSelena, which starred Jennifer Lopez as the singer and Edward James Olmos as her father. He also co-directed the 2005 concert filmSelena ¡viveand executive-produced the 2020 biopic seriesSelena: The Series.
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Quintanilla is survived by his wife, Marcella; his son, A.B.; and his daughter, Suzette.
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