Abraham Quintanilla Biography

Abraham Quintanilla is widely popularly known as an American singer, lyricist, record producer, and musician by profession. Abraham Quintanilla is popularly known as the father of late singer and songwriter Selena Quintanilla.

He was very passionate about music since his early childhood. Abraham Quintanilla began showcasing his talent in singing during his school days and back in 1957, he along with his alumni classmates joined the musical group.

After dropping out of college during their senior year, he joined a band named Selena Los Dinos, and back in 1959 they released their very first single “so hard to tell”, and he enjoyed most of the success but Quintanilla left all the stardom to look after his family, and today in this article we are going to discuss everything related to him and his family. So if you want to know everything, then furthermore go through this article till the end.

Abraham Quintanilla Early Life

Abraham Quintanilla Age

Abraham Quintanilla was born on 20th February 1939 in Corpus Christi in Texas USA. The name of his father was Abraham Gonzalez Quintanilla SR, and the name of his mother was Maria Tezera Calderon. According to Abraham date of birth age is 83 years old.

Abraham Quintanilla grew up in a catholic family, and his parents were initially Catholics, but when Quintanilla was 14 years old they became Jehovah’s witnesses. His parents were gleaners of fruits, vegetables, and cotton. He has five siblings and according to the reports he has spent most of his childhood in Texas. Abraham Quintanilla holds an American nationality. 

Abraham Quintanilla Education

Talking about the educational qualifications of Abraham Quintanilla, he went to Roy Miller High school and as mentioned earlier Abraham had developed an interest in music and has developed a passion for it from a very young age.

Abraham Quintanilla along with two of his fellow classmates formed a high school choir and called it “gumdrops”, he was so dedicated and had a passion for music. That he dropped out of school in order to pursue his career in the music industry.

This might sound like he had developed a passion for music from a very young age but his mother Tezera was not in his support, the fact he is living behind his studies to pursue his career in the music industry.

Abraham Quintanilla Young Career

Back in 1957 during his school days, Quintanilla saw a group that was comprised of his alumni classmates, and then he decided to join the group showing them his desire and his passion for music. At the time when the lead vocalist of the group left, Abraham Quintanilla joined the group as their vocalist, and he became an important member of their group.

Then due to his talent and his passion for music Quintanilla approached the band named “Dinos”, and he asked the group whether he could be a part of their group. The group provided a chance to Abraham and allowed him to practice with them. With this Quintanilla became the part of “Dinos” and he became their third voice.

During the early days, of his professional career in the “Dinos”, the band got paid thirty US Dollars, for their performances in the booked venue. Back in 1959, the band released their very single “so hard to tell”, on the J.W. Fox label which was owned by Johnny Herrera. This single was the turning for the band’s career, as this single became a classic hit on “KEYS”, which helped the band to earn bookings at sock hops in Corpus, Kingsville, and Woodsboro in Texas.

The second single was “Give me one chance”, and this song was composed by Teddy Randazzo, who has written songs for Little Anthony and the Imperials, and this single alone sold 150,000 copies. Even this single gained massive popularity throughout southern Texas. The band further recorded 10 English language revolutions per minute and went on covering the songs of the Beatles, Ray Stevens, Sam & Dave, and the five Americans.

Dinos even had to face discrimination and racism for being the Mexican descent during the initial days of their career in the 1960s. They faced many complications when a club owner thought that the band was Italian, and later on, he learned that the Dinos were Mexican Americans.

The most popular albums that were released by the band were ‘the Dainos’ (1965) ‘Con Esta Copa’ (1964), and ‘2000’ (1962) some of the most popular singles that were composed by the band.

Overseeing The Career Of Selena

Quintanilla left the band back in 1971 and settled back with his family to look after them. In October 1961, Quintanilla was drafted into the military and he was stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, situated near Tacoma

After quitting from the band Quintanilla moved with his family to Lake Jackson in Texas and began working as full-time support for his family. He even worked for Dow Chemical keeping his passion for music aside.

Back on April 16^th, 1971 Quintanilla along with his wife were blessed with a baby girl whom they named Selena Quintanilla.

Quintanilla discovered the talent of Selena Quintanilla’s singing talent at the very young age of 6, while he was teaching his son how to play guitar. So he decided to open a group where his children were involved.

Selena y Los Dinos was the vocalist, Abraham III was the bassist, and Suzette was the drummer. This group started singing during various occasions such as parties, weddings, and various other social gatherings which served as the main source of income for the family, especially after the shutdown of the Mexican restaurant which was called PapaGayos.

Talking about Selena Quintanilla’s career she has released six albums over the course of five years. The name of her six famous albums are  ‘Mis Primeras Grabaciones’ (1984), ‘Alpha’ (1986), ‘Munequito De Trapo’ (1986), ‘And The Winner Is…’ (1987), ‘Preciosa’ (1988), and ‘Dulce Amor’ (1988). Selena’s 1994 released album Amor Prohibido earned huge respect and gained such popularity that it became the bestselling Latin album of all time, and this album eventually sold five million copies worldwide.

Abraham Quintanilla’s Net Worth

The estimated net worth of Quintanilla is $10 million, which he earned from his various works such as singing, lyricist, and songwriter.  

Personal Life

Abraham Quintanilla Wife

As mentioned earlier, Abraham had left “Dinos” because he received the news that he had been drafted into the US military. During his service he came across his wife Marcella Samora and had fell for each other; the couple exchanged their wedding vows on 8th June 1963. The couple was blessed with three beautiful souls.

Death of Abraham Quintanilla’s Daughter

Selena was the youngest child of Abraham Quintanilla. The ultimate death of Selena Quintanilla brought a huge trauma in Abraham’s life and he suffered from depression, multiple physiological issues, and mental trauma.

On March 31, 1995, Selena Quintanilla was murdered by Yolanda Saldivar, who was her personal friend who managed her boutiques and she was even a member of Selena’s fan club. In the following years after the tragic moment, Quintanilla established a charitable organization and named it “The Selena Foundation”, through this foundation they would help children in crisis.

Quintanilla even made a number of television appearances to speak about Selena Quintanilla’s tragic death. Following her murder, he even produced a biography about Selena Quintanilla ’s life back in 1997, where Quintanilla was the co-producer.

Some Unkown Facts About Abraham Quintanilla

• He began his career with the name “Dinos”, back in the 1960s.
• Apart from being a musician, he has also served in the US military.
• He released several hit albums along with his bandmates, before joining the US military.
• He had discovered Selena Quintanilla’s magical voice while he was teaching his son to play guitar.
• He had even written a book on Selena Quintanilla’s life apart from producing a biography on her. 
• He is not very active on any social media platforms.

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