Musakao: How Suzette Quintanilla Works to Continue Her Sister Selena's Legacy

Selena: The Series is a two-part series about Selena Quintanilla, the Queen of Tejano music.
Noemí Gonzalez plays Suzette Quintanilla, Selena's older sister who was a drummer in Selena y Los Dinos.
Suzette was involved in the creation of the show. Here's where the real Suzette is today.

Selena: The Series is a new Netflix show focusing on the early days of Selena Quintanilla, the Queen of Tejano music whose astronomical trajectory was cut tragically short in 1995. But the show gives equal focus to Selena's family members, like her father Abraham, mother Marcella, brother A.B., and sister Suzette.

At the end of filming Selena: The Series, the real Suzette Quintanilla met the show's leading ladies: Noemí Gonzalez (Suzette), Christian Serratos (Selena), and Seidy Lopez (Marcella). "We had a wonderful time with her. It went from a half-hour session to an hour-and-a-half. It was beautiful," Gonzalez says.

Though Gonzalez met her character's inspiration, Gonzalez did not work with Suzette to shape the part. "Because of COVID, the [Quintanilla] family wasn't able to come to set. That gave an opportunity for objective shaping of Suzette's character. I had my own personal history, the archives, the series, and creative license. We see her now as a person who continues to lead Selena's legacy," Gonzalez says.

As a member of Selena y Los Dinos, the real Suzette was a witness to Selena's rise to fame. Today, she works to further Selena's legacy. This is where Suzette, 53, is now.

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She retired from drumming in 1995, but still is involved in the music industry.

Selena's story ended in senseless tragedy. In 1995, Selena was murdered by Yolanda Saldívar, the manager of her fan club.

In the aftermath, Suzette halted her music career. No longer a drummer, Suzette is still involved with her family's music production company, Q-Productions. Founded in 1993, Q-Productions signs Tejano groups, like Los Tres Reyes and Jennifer Peña. Q-Productions also spearheads Selena-centric initiatives, like a limited-edition collaboration with MAC or Selena tribute concerts.

"Selena isn't here physically anymore, but her legacy is," Suzette told PopSugar in 2017.

selena quintanilla honored posthumously with star on the hollywood walk of fame

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Suzette works to further Selena's legacy as manager of the Selena Museum.

Suzette works as the manager of the Selena Museum, which compiles memorabilia from Selena's career, including her original outfits and her beloved red Porsche. Some visitors to the Corpus Christi, TX museum wrote that they got to meet Suzette and Abraham.

"When you walk in through that door, you feel [Selena], you get a sense of who she was, as a person, as an artist," Suzette told ET. "It feels personable, just like she was. When you walk in here, you can feel her in here."

She posts throwbacks on her Facebook page.

Want to see behind-the-scenes highlights from Selena's career, but can't make it all the way to the Selena Museum in Corpus Christi? Easy: Head to Suzette's Facebook page, where she posts about her life now, and her life then.