What is Suzette Quintanilla doing now? Abraham Quintanilla’s only surviving daughter’s life explored following father’s passing

According to ABC News, Abraham Quintanilla Jr., the father of late Tejano superstar Selena Quintanilla and a central figure behind one of Latin music’s most influential families, has passed away at the age of 86. The announcement was shared on Saturday, December 13, through an Instagram post by his son, Abraham “A.B.” Quintanilla III.

"It’s with a heavy heart to let you guys know that my Dad passed away today," A.B. wrote,

He paired the message with a photo of Abraham Quintanilla accompanied by Pedro Infante’s song "Cien Años."

As reported by Esquire on December 12, 2020, Suzette Quintanilla and Selena were not only sisters but also bandmates and close confidantes. Selena’s murder at just 23 years old deeply altered Suzette’s life, leading her to step away from performing as a musician. In the years that followed, Suzette committed herself to honoring her sister’s legacy while supporting opportunities for other Latin-American musicians.

She also oversaw licensing efforts connected to Selena’s image, including MAC’s highly successful makeup collaborations. The partnership began with a capsule collection in 2015 and later expanded with the MAC x Selena line released in April 2020, a project Suzette regarded as an extension of Selena’s love for cosmetics.

Inside Selena’s journey and the overprotectiveness she faced from Abraham Quintanilla:

According to The New York Times, the Quintanilla family settled in Corpus Christi along the Texas Gulf Coast in 1982, when Selena was about 10 years old. The move placed the family band in dance halls and nightclubs, where it gradually established a presence within Tejano music, a genre blending Mexican traditions with American pop.

Performing as Selena y Los Dinos, the band gained wider attention in 1985 after appearing on “The Johnny Canales Show,” a bilingual variety program with a massive audience. Selena, still a teenager, delivered one of her earliest live television performances during the broadcast.

As touring continued across Texas and Mexico, Selena’s recognition grew. In 1987, she received the Tejano Music Award for Female Entertainer of the Year. Her rise culminated in 1994, when “Selena Live” earned a Grammy Award for Best Mexican-American Album.

While her career advanced, Abraham Quintanilla maintained firm control over the band. His protectiveness intensified after Chris Perez joined as a guitarist and developed a relationship with Selena. In his 2012 memoir, “To Selena, With Love,” Mr. Perez recalled Abraham Quintanilla's reaction upon learning that the two had been holding hands.

“I don’t know what’s going on with you guys, but whatever it is, it stops right now,” Mr. Perez remembered him saying.

“If you say a single word about this conversation to Selena, I will deny it, and she’s going to believe me.”

Abraham Quintanilla later acknowledged those concerns in an interview with Texas Monthly.

“What if they got married and he pulled her out of the band?” he said.

“All the work we did all those years would go down the tubes.”

Selena and Mr. Perez ultimately married in 1992, eloping without Abraham Quintanilla's blessing.

“After that, I accepted him as part of the family. What else could I do?” Abraham Quintanilla told Texas Monthly.

“Everybody had their own lives, but we were still a family,” Abraham Quintanilla added.

In 1995, Selena was shot and killed at the age of 23 by the former manager of her fan club. Her death sent shock waves through her expanding fan base in the United States and Mexico and across the Tejano music industry.

Suzette Quintanilla’s life after Selena: Music, memory, and responsibility

As Esquire noted in 2020, Suzette Quintanilla stopped playing drums after her sister died. It closed one chapter of her life, though it didn’t remove her from the industry that had shaped her family.

Her work continued quietly. Suzette ran Q Productions as its CEO and President, the Latin music production company started by her father, Abraham Quintanilla Jr. The label kept its focus on Tejano music and on artists connected to that world, including Selena Y Los Dinos. There was more than the label. Suzette also took responsibility for The Selena Museum in Corpus Christi, Texas. Fans came to see the awards, the stage costumes, the things Selena had worn and touched. The red Porsche convertible drew its own crowd, lingering longer than most exhibits.

Every so often, visitors ran into Suzette herself. Sometimes they saw her father too. Those moments weren’t planned, and they weren’t advertised.

"When you walk in through that door, you feel [Selena],” Suzette told Entertainment Tonight.

"You get a sense of who she was as a person and as an artist. It feels personable, just like she was. When you walk in here, you can feel her in here."

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Tribute concerts remained part of the work. Suzette organized them. She attended them. One, more than the rest, stayed in people’s memory.

In 2005, Selena ¡Vive! reunited the members of Los Dinos in public for the first time since Selena’s death. The show happened in Houston. Jennifer Lopez opened it. Univision aired the broadcast, which later stood as the most-watched Spanish-language television special in U.S. history.

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