Abraham Quintanilla Jr., the father and longtime manager of late Tejano star Selena Quintanilla, has died at the age of 86. His son, A.B. Quintanilla III, announced the news on Instagram on December 13, 2025. No cause of death was disclosed.
Background and Career
Abraham Isaac Quintanilla Jr. was born in 1939 in Corpus Christi, Texas. He began his music career as a teenager, joining the vocal group the Dinos in 1956. In the late 1960s, he left the band to focus on raising his family, which included his wife Marcella and children A.B., Suzette, and Selena.
Recognizing Selena's talent at a young age, Quintanilla managed her career and formed the family band Selena y Los Dinos, with A.B. on bass, Suzette on drums, and later Selena's husband Chris Pérez on guitar. He guided Selena from a popular Tejano singer in Texas to a global pop sensation in the 1990s, with hits like “Como la Flor,” “Amor Prohibido,” and “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom.” Selena earned the title Queen of Tejano and revolutionized the male-dominated genre.
On the Billboard charts, Selena had 24 entries on Top Latin Albums, including seven No. 1s like Amor Prohibido and the posthumous Dreaming of You. She also topped Regional Mexican Albums and Latin Pop Albums charts multiple times.
Family Legacy and Loss
Selena was fatally shot at age 23 in March 1995 by her former fan club president, Yolanda Saldívar, who remains in prison after a recent parole denial. After her death, Quintanilla managed her estate until passing duties to Suzette around 2016.
A.B. Quintanilla shared the news of his father's passing in an emotional Instagram post, writing, “It’s with a heavy heart to let you guys know that my Dad passed away today…” He reflected on the ongoing pain of losing Selena 30 years ago and now his father, noting, “Losing my Dad hits differently.” A.B. described his father as a “tough cookie” whose business instincts shaped their careers, adding, “Today I feel my heart is shattered in a million pieces…I feel so sorry for my Mom who has to live with the pain of losing her baby and her husband.”
In a 2022 Billboard interview, Quintanilla recalled discovering Selena's talent: “I found out she had the talent to sing when she was six-and-a-half years old… I would teach her how to sing in Spanish… She was a good student in learning music.”
