The reason Selena is trending today — and it's not because of Selena Gomez
Singer Selena Quintanilla topped Google Trends Friday — nearly 23 years after her death. While it wasn’t her birthday — that’s April 16 — and it wasn’t the anniversary of the day she was tragically shot at age 23 either (that’s March 31), the singer known simply as Selena attracted fans in droves.
They lined up early at the grocery store chain H-E-B for limited-edition, reusable shopping bags featuring the “Dreaming of You” singer’s face. Selena’s sister, Suzette, helped design the bags, and the company has pledged to donate $25,000 of the proceeds to the nonprofit Selena Foundation, which supports community and education programs.
The bags were priced at $2 each, and had a limit of two per person. They were sold in H-E-B’s Texas locations, as well as on the company’s website. But they weren’t available for long.
Company spokeswoman Dya Campos told the San Antonio Express-News that several stores sold out of the bags minutes after their release at 9 a.m. Online sales began at 12 p.m., and the retailer’s website appeared to be offline moments later.
Within 15 minutes of the bags going on sale in stores, one was featured on eBay, according to the newspaper. Five of the bags were on sale there within 30 minutes, with one going for $50.
Just got off the phone with @heb. They say the response to #Selena bag is overwhelming, website is having trouble keeping up. But as of 12:37 pm, HEB says you will stay be able to buy a bag online! Just keep hitting #Refresh. #khou11
— Melissa Correa (@MCorreaKHOU) March 2, 2018
Me trying to get my hands on one of those Selena bags on the @HEB website #Selena pic.twitter.com/QmQp2wMlwP
— Tomi @3Boys_OldLady (@3Boys_OldLady) March 2, 2018
Quintanilla won many fans as well as a Grammy in her short life. She was gunned down by the former president of her fan club on March 31, 1995.
But she has long loomed large in pop culture. In addition to her music, her story is widely known because of Jennifer Lopez’s depiction of her in 1997’s Selena, and also thanks to Selena Gomez, who was named after Quintanilla and has always been a fan.
The late Tejano singer has been remembered often in the past few months. In November, actress Eva Longoria helped unveil her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Google honored Selena with a Google Doodle in October.
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