La Leyenda will be available as a 4CD box set, a 2CD deluxe
edition, and a single-disc hits collection. The box set includes
an exclusive Selena charm and an extensive, bound book with
personal messages from Selena's family, friends and fans, as well
as rare photos and art from her family's collection, and the 2CD
deluxe edition features an extensive booklet. All three
configurations will also be available for download purchase,
accompanied by digital booklets with the personal messages,
photos and artwork.
The tragic events of March 31, 1995, the day American Tejano
music's reigning queen, Selena, was murdered at the age of 23 in
her hometown of Corpus Christi, Texas, remain vividly and
sorrowfully imprinted in the minds of her family and other loved
ones and her legions of devoted fans around the world. The CD and
digital booklets for La Leyenda include heartfelt messages from
many of Selena's most ardent supporters, including her parents,
husband, siblings and other family members, friends and fans,
recounting special memories, favorite songs and other personal
recollections of the beautiful and talented singer.
Selena began performing professionally at the age of 9, backed by
a second generation of her her Abraham's band, Los Dinos. The
band's members included Selena's sister, Suzette, who played
drums, her brother, Abraham, who played bass and wrote or
co-wrote many of Selena's songs, and lead guitarist Chris Perez,
whom Selena married in 1992.
In 1987, when she was just 16 years old, Selena was honored with
two major Tejano Music Awards, for Performer of the Year and
Female Vocalist of the Year. In 1989, she was the first artist to
be signed by EMI Latin, and the following year, she released her
self-titled debut album. Her next album, Ven Conmigo, released in
1991, was the first Tejano album to be certified gold by the
RIAA, with U.S. sales totaling more than 500,000 copies.
Selena's 1993 concert album, Live, won the Grammy Award for Best
Mexican-American Album. In 1994, she released the double-platinum
certified Amor Prohibido, which held the #1 position on
Billboard's Top Latin Albums chart for 20 weeks and was a fixture
on the chart for 145 total weeks.
At the start of 1995, Selena was at work in the studio,
a new album with English and Spanish lyrics. Dreaming Of You was
conceived by Selena as a bridge to connect more closely with her
many English-speaking fans. Tragically, Selena was killed before
the album's release, just three weeks after she set the
still-standing attendance record at Houston's Astrodome with her
final concert. As people around the world were united in shocked
mourning for one of popular music's most promising and brightest
young stars, Selena's previously released albums re-entered the
charts and she set new, as-yet-unbroken records for the most
concurrent titles at the top of the Top Latin Albums chart with
the entire Top 4 (April 22, 1995) and Top 5 (May 6, 1995).
Released in July 1995, Dreaming Of You debuted at #1 on
Billboard's Top 200 Albums, Top Latin Albums and Latin Pop charts
and was certified triple-platinum by the RIAA upon its release.
The album reigned at #1 for 44 weeks on the Top Latin Albums
chart, and its title track and "I Could Fall In Love" were
high-ranking hits across multiple Billboard singles and radio
airplay charts.
Today, Selena's Amor Prohibido and her Ones hits collection
consistently rank among the Top 20 titles on Billboard's Top
Latin Catalog chart.
La Leyenda gathers Selena's top hits and fan favorites for a
career-spanning celebration of her vibrant music and life. The
box set includes 82 tracks on four CDs, grouped by musical style,
language and version as follows: Disc 1: Cumbias y Pop; Disc 2:
Tejano y Rancheras; Disc 3: English; Disc 4: Live. The 2CD deluxe
edition features a selection of 30 stellar tracks from the box
set, and the single-disc collection includes 15 essential tracks
which are also contained in the box set and in the 2CD package.