Christina Aguilera will reportedly sing a duet with the legend via a hologram on the stage of “The Voice” on May 24th, during the show’s finale. However, no one connected to the show has confirmed the performance. “I am sworn to secrecy,” Aguilera told ET Online. “I can’t say anything, but I’m very excited about the finale. Very exciting things happening.”
Whitney Houston died of a drug overdose in 2012, the night before the Grammys in Los Angeles at the age of 48. Definitely too soon for such an iconic musical career.
Most of us know the Latin artists that have been inspired by La Reina del Tex-Mex, Selena Quintanilla, like Becky G, Jennifer Lopez, Selena Gomez, etc. However, perhaps you didn’t know that Mother Monster aka Lady Gaga was inspired by Selena or that fellow Texan, Beyoncé, not only met Selena but also grew up listening to her on the radio. Here’s a list of 8 artists you probably didn’t know that also loved Selena.
Lady Gaga
For The Daily Telegraph, the Rain on Me singer was quoted saying that she was inspired by Selena’s bustiers for her concert outfits, as well as her career. Lady Gaga also tweeted back in the day that a Selena shirt was one of her favorites.
Leaving for Korea in less than a week!!!! Wearing my favorite t shirt today. It might be the raddest ever. pic.twitter.com/qSLvnqoq
During a 1999 New York Daily News interview, the late singer Whitney Houston mentioned that she was inspired by Selena Quintanilla: “What she did in the English market was brilliant”.
Beyoncé
Queen Bey loved her fellow Texan, Selena. On one occasion during an MTV Tr3s interview, Beyoncé talked about meeting Selena at the Galleria Mall in Houston. She also mentioned how she would listen to Selena on the radio and even though she didn’t speak Spanish, listening to Selena helped her with her pronunciation.
Meghan Trainor
The All About That Bass singer told Entertainment Tonight that when she met Jennifer Lopez, she said: “Selena the movie was the reason I wanted to become a singer”.
Ashlee Simpson
American singer-songwriter Ashlee Simpson told MTV TR3s during an interview that she had always been a fan of Selena and that “Dreaming of You” was her favorite song.
Texas native, Solange Knowles covered “I Could Fall In Love With You” during her 2013-2014 World Tour. Solange has called Selena “one of her favorite artists growing up”.
HAIM
Pop-rock sister band HAIM told Glide Magazine that Selena the movie was their collective favorite movie.
Kacey Musgraves
Texans just love La Reina. Kacey Musgraves covered “Como La Flor” at the Houston Rodeo, and before performing told the crowd: “I love the queen Selena just as much as you do. This is our chance to honor her, by singing as loud as we can together.”
Luis Fonsi is kicking off 2021 with a new single. The Puerto Rican superstar premiered the music video for “Vacío” on Feb. 18 featuring rising Boricua singer Rauw Alejandro. The guys put a new spin on the classic “A Puro Dolor” by Son By Four.
Luis Fonsi throws it back to his románticas.
“I called Omar Alfanno, the writer of ‘A Puro Dolo,’ who is a dear friend,” Fonsi tells Latido Music. “I told him what my idea was [with ‘Vacío’] and he loved it. He gave me his blessing, so I wrote a new song around a few of those lines from ‘A Puro Dolor’ to bring back that nostalgia of those old romantic tunes that have been a part of my career as well. It’s a fresh production. It sounds like today, but it has that DNA of a true, old-school ballad.”
The world got to know Luis Fonsi through his global smash hit “Despacito” with Daddy Yankee in 2017. The remix with Canadian pop star Justin Bieber took the song to new heights. That was a big moment in Fonsi’s music career that spans over 20 years.
Fonsi released his first album, the fittingly-titled Comenzaré, in 1998. While he was on the come-up, he got the opportunity of a lifetime to feature on Christina Aguilera’s debut Latin album Mi Reflejo in 2000. The two collaborated on “Si No Te Hubiera Conocido.” Luis Fonsi scored multiple Billboard Hot Latin Songs No. 1s in the years that followed and one of the biggest hits was “No Me Doy Por Vencido” in 2008. That was his career-defining romantic ballad.
“Despacito” remains the second most-viewed music video on YouTube with over 7.2 billion views. The hits did not stop there. Later in 2017, he teamed up with Demi Lovato for “Échame La Culpa,” which sits impressively with over 2 billion views.
Not only is Fonsi working on his new album, but also he’s giving advice to music hopefuls for the new season of The Voice that’s premiering on March 1. Kelly Clarkson tapped him as her Battle Advisor. In an exclusive interview, Fonsi talked with us about “Vacío,” The Voice, and a few of his greatest hits.
What was the experience like to work with Rauw Alejandro for “Vacío”?
Rauw is cool. He’s got that fresh sound. Great artist. Very talented. Amazing onstage. He’s got that great tone and delivery. I thought he had the perfect voice to fit with my voice in this song. We had talked about working together for awhile and I thought that this was the perfect song. He really is such a star. What he’s done in the last couple of years has been amazing. I love what he brought to the table on this song.
Now I want to go through some of your greatest hits. Do you remember working with Christina Aguilera for her Spanish album?
How could you not remember working with her? She’s amazing. That was awhile back. That was like 1999 or something like that. We were both starting out and she was putting out her first Spanish album. I got to sing a beautiful ballad called “Si No Te Hubiera Conocido.” I got to work with her in the studio and see her sing in front of the mic, which was awesome. She’s great. One of the best voices out there still to this day.
What’s one of your favorite memories of “No Me Doy Por Vencido”?
“No Me Doy Por Vencido” is one of the biggest songs in my career. I think it’s tough to narrow it down just to one memory. I think in general the message of the song is what sticks with me. The song started out as a love song, but it turned into an anthem of hope. We’ve used the song for different important events and campaigns. To me, that song has such a powerful message. It’s bigger than just a love song. It’s bringing hope to people. It’s about not giving up. To be able to kind of give [people] hope through a song is a lot more powerful than I would’ve ever imagined. It’s a very special song.
I feel the message is very relevant to the COVID-19 pandemic we’re living through.
Oh yeah! I wrote that song a long time ago with Claudia Brant, and during the first or second month of the lockdown when we were all stuck at home, we did a virtual writing session and we rewrote “No Me Doy Por Vencido.” Changing the lyrics, kind of adjusting them to this situation that we’re living now. I haven’t recorded it. I’ll do something with it eventually. It’s really cool. It still talks about love. It talks about reuniting. Like the light at the end of the tunnel. It has the hope and love backbone, but it has to do a lot with what we’re going through now.
What do you think of the impact “Despacito” made on the industry?
It’s a blessing to be a part of something so big. Again, it’s just another song. We write these songs and the moment you write them, you don’t really know what’s going to happen with them. Or sometimes you run into these surprises like “Despacito” where it becomes a global phenomenon. It goes No. 1 in places where Spanish songs had never been played. I’m proud. I’m blessed. I’m grateful to have worked with amazing people like Daddy Yankee. Like Justin Bieber for the remix and everyone else involved in the song. My co-writer Erika Ender. The producers Mauricio Rengifo and Andrés Torres. It was really a team effort and it’s a song that obviously changed my career forever.
What was the experience like to work with Demi Lovato on “Echáme La Culpa”?
She’s awesome! One of the coolest recording sessions I’ve ever been a part of. She really wanted to sing in Spanish and she was so excited. We did the song in Spanish and English, but it was like she was more excited about the Spanish version. And she nailed it! She nailed it from the beginning. There was really not much for me to say to her. I probably corrected her once or twice in the pronunciation, but she came prepared and she brought it. She’s an amazing, amazing, amazing vocalist.
You’re going to be a battle advisor on The Voice. What was the experience like to work with Kelly Clarkson?
She’s awesome. What you see is what you get. She’s honest. She’s funny. She’s talented. She’s humble and she’s been very supportive of my career. She invited me to her show and it speaks a lot that she wanted me to be a part of her team as a Battle Advisor for the new season. She supports Latin music and I’m grateful for that. She’s everything you hope she would be. She’s the real deal, a true star, and just one of the coolest people on this planet.
A lot of new music. Obviously, everything starts today with “Vacío.” This is literally the beginning of what this new album will be. I’ve done nothing but write and record during the last 10 months, so I have a bunch of songs. Great collaborations coming up. I really think the album will be out probably [in the] third or fourth quarter this year. The songs are there and I’m really eager for everybody to hear them.
