Selena Gomez’s Biography
Selena Gomez is a super popular multitalented singer & actress, producer & designer, dancer & model. She’s an icon and international superstar, her songs always on top of the charts, while crowds of fans going crazy to meet her! But her way to pedestal wasn’t that easy…
Selena & her childhood
“My mom & dad were separated, but they stay as a good friends. But at the same time of the split, it felt hard…”
Selena Marie Gomez was born on 22 July 1992 in a small town “Grand Prairie” in Texas, USA. Her mom Mandy Cornett is half Italian and was adopted by American family, Mandy was just a 16 years old teen, when she already had Selena. Her dad Ricardo Gomez is from New Mexico, his family (Selena’s grandparents) have worked hard over 4 decades to gain United States citizenship. Selena is half Latina, and she’s very proud of her Mexican roots! Selena was 5 years old, when Mandy & Ricardo broke up after a very short time of marriage.
Selena was growing up kinda poor, Mandy was in college and worked at the same time, although grandparents always offered help, but Mandy tried to do all by herself. But sometimes Mandy didn’t have enough money to fill the car.
“I can remember about seven times when our car got stuck on the highway because we’d run out of gas money. But my mother saved up to take me to concerts. She took me to museums, aquariums, to teach me about the world, about what’s real.” – Selena opens up in an interview for Elle Magazine.
In 2006 Mandy married a supportive and loving man, Brian Teefey and finally changed her name to Mandy Teefey… Stepdad Brian, played a huge part in Selena’s life as he helped her with school and covered her from paparazzi.
“My mom did a lot of theater when I was younger, so I grew up around it, and I just always loved it” – Selena.
Mandy always wanted to be an actress and little Selena always been around her, while backstage and at the rehearsals in theaters, baby Sel looked at her mom and to entertain herself she repeated after her mom and performances she gave to Mandy indicated how talented she is. Selena loved acting this much, that wanted to be an actress too.
When Selena was 7 years old, instead of making a birthday party, she auditioned for kids TV show “Barney & Friends”, she impressed everyone on set and got her 1st role on TV.
Disney girl
After Selena’s first TV debut as Gianna on Barney & Friends, when Selena was 11, in 2004, she participated in an audition held by Disney Channel in Texas. The casting director have noticed the girl with an unforgettable smile and spark in her eyes from thousands of other talented kids, by winning this casting over, Selena got her ticket to Hollywood! First, Selena appeared in an episode on “Suite life with Zack and Cody” and then played mean girl Mikayla in “Hannah Montana”. In 2007 Sel won an audition again and got cast as the lead role of Alex Russo in the new Disney Channel’s TV series “Wizards of Waverly Place“. Wizards became a breakout for Selena’s acting career as a TV show had huge success!
Check out more HQ pics and outtakes of Alex Russo from Wizards Of Waverly Place in our photogallery at: gallery.armyofselenagomez.com
“Starring on Waverly Place was a dream come true for me, because it was something I had been working on for so long” – said Gomez in 2007.
In 2012 Wizards came to an end & Selena left Disney to continue her acting career on a big screen. Selena misses her fun Disney days so much, as she got friends, she won her 1st Emmy Award & became the first actress ever to bring Disney Channel this honoree, but the most importantly Selena won so many fan hearts while on Wizards!
Selena’s popularity skyrocketed as she became a Disney Channel’s princess, but her mom Mandy always reminded Selena to always stay true to herself and don’t let the fame change the real her. Sel also starred in so many other movies such as: “Another Cinderella Story“, “Princess Protection Program” and “Ramona & Beezus“.
Rockstar
Selena always had passion for music, as she always liked singing, at the open casting call on Disney Channel, young Sel said, that she wanted to be a singer as well, Selena even wrote her own song when she was in school, and she never misses a chance to sing the soundtracks to her movies by herself, as she sang “Everything Is Not What It Seems” the theme song for Wizards Of Waverly Place, which is technically was her 1st song ever she recorded or “Tell Me Something I Don’t Know” where Selena dancing dressed as a maid in the music video, which is the soundtrack for “Another Cinderella Story” and Selena’s first single she ever released that ended up peaking at #58 on Billboard Hot 100 and being on Selena’s debut CD.
“I’ve always said that I wanted to be in a band, not just a solo. Something different and cool. And I like having people with me to lean on, and people to write and have fun with.” – Selena
“I like pop-rock music, I guess you could say, sort of Avril Lavigne or Kelly Clarkson type of music” – Selena said in an interview in 2007.
Selena plays electric guitar and piano. Selena also admitted that she wants to have her own band.
And in 2008 Selena finally signed a record deal with the record label “Hollywood Records”. Then Selena formed her own band (just like she dreamed) and called it “Selena Gomez & The Scene”, and the works on her debut album officially started.
“I basically want to make music that is fun and that parents and kids can jump around to and have a good time too. I will be singing, and I learn drums and playing electric guitar.” – Selena in an interview for MTV in 2009.
Oh little did she know, that this fun, feel good music for parents and kids will turn her into multi platinum A-list singer a little bit later…
As Sel revealed to MTV, her debut album meant to be in a pop/rock style, being full of fun with energetic songs which will inspire people & will make them feel better! Selena Gomez & The Scene’s debut album “Kiss & Tell” came out on 29 September 2009, it sold over 66.000 copies in the 1st week and debuted from #9 on Billboard 200! Everyone was falling in love with Selena’s voice and music!
“The fact that I can say that I have a record is a dream come true to me, but it were not possible if it weren’t for my fans.” – Selena
After the release of “Kiss & Tell”, Selena made her fans absolutely happy by performing the first time ever at her own concert on 28 September 2009 at The Roxy Theater in Los Angeles!
Everything baby comes Naturally…
On 11 December 2009 the second single “Naturally” off the album “Kiss & Tell” have been released. That song was produced by Rock Mafia and was so different from all the others tunes on the album. “Naturally” was so catchy, in its release week the song became the most added on US Top 40/Pop radio, then it made to #1 on Billboard Dance Club Play Songs Chart and in April 2010 the song broke into Top 10 in the UK debuting at #4 on the biggest chart show “Big Top 40 UK”! Soon, Naturally was certified platinum in the US for selling over 1 million units in the country. Naturally had dizzying success and became breakout for Selena in music, that song turned Sel from a Disney’s sweetheart into pop-rock princess!
With every next album Selena released, she got more success and recognition… In 2013, Selena finally grew up and decided turn into a solo artist and “Stars Dance” became her 1st solo record… Stars Dance won over Jay-Z in a competition for #1 album debut on Billboard 200 chart! “Lose You To Love Me“, the lead single off her new, long awaited album “Rare” broke all the records in streaming and also brought Sel on the top of Billboard Hot 100 by debuting at No. 1 spot!
In 2021, Selena achieved another goal by releasing “Revelación” a fully Spanish EP with 7 songs on it, which was written by Selena herself and produced by hitmakers from Latin America such as Tainy and Jota Rosa, including two collaborations with Rauw Alejandro and Myke Towers… This Spanish project was kind of a dream come true for Selena because it was something she wanted to do for 10 years straight!
And the story continued as in March 2011 Selena released “Who Says”, that song wasn’t just 1st single off her 3rd studio album with The Scene “When The Sun Goes Down“, but also the song that inspired so many young people and became an anthem for the Selenators all around the world.
“This has been something I’ve wanted to do for 10 years, working on a Spanish project, because I’m so, so proud of my heritage, and just genuinely felt like I wanted this to happen, and it happened, and I feel like it’s the perfect timing.” – Selena in an interview for Apple Music.
Selena Texan girl
Selena is an international icon and global superstar, when she was on Disney she’s been officially titled as a “Teen Queen”, now she’s a businesswoman with her own beauty brand, which successfully changes the unrealistic standards of beauty, she’s one of the most influential persons on social media and one of the most followed superstars on Instagram, but despite all of that and even more, Sel isn’t like all the other celebrities.
Selena is still this simple girl from Texas, which will make your whole day just by smiling, you can still meet her on the streets or in the mall and have a conversation about how she changed your life and just laugh together, and sure she will let you take a selfie…
Selena adores animals and especially dogs, when Sel was younger she pet 6 dogs at the same, currently she has two adorable puppies: Winnie and Daisy.
Selena is crazy over food… She loves: sweets, ice-cream, pickles, pizza, Snickers and hot Cheetos, & more…
Selena likes to eat and cook this much, that in 2020 she started her own quarantine cooking show “Selena + Chef” where she messes around on the kitchen and learns new receipts from professional Chefs.
But more than food, Selena is crazy about her fans! All her projects always devoted to her fans and no matter what it is a new album or a new clothing line it’s always all for us! When Sel goes on tour, she does Meet & Greets, and she allows to meet her & hug her all the time. Selena always stands with a big smile on her face when she’s with Selenators!
“My fans mean the world to me, I always try to tell my fans, that I never can truly explain to them, how grateful I am for them” – Selena in an interview for “Girl Meets World” documentary.
Selena does a lot of charity work since her early start on Disney. She’s a member of “Make A Wish” and “Ryan Seacrest Foundations, only at sixteen years old, Selena became the youngest Unicef ambassador ever! Selena says that her ultimate goal is to change the world for a better, and she never misses a chance to help people or support charity projects, as she always uses her big platform to bring awareness for various problems around the world. Selena even started her own charity organization “The Rare Impact Fund” which main goal is to raise awareness for organizations that make mental health services more accessible. Find out more on our special page about Selena’s charity work: armyofselenagomez.com/charity
“Whenever I agree to come on board with a brand partner, I always make sure there is a charity aspect to the deal.” – Selena.
Selena loves to spend her time with family and friends, at the young age, she spent the summer’s by the pool with her cousins in Texas. Now as she got older, Selena likes to invite friends to her own house in Los Angeles, but often visits her family which still lives in TX! Selena has two little sisters: Grace from mom’s side & Victoria from dad’s side, and Selena is always there for them as they both always there for Selena! Just like her grandparents who always ready to support and cheer Selena up!
When Selena has a free time in her busy schedule, Sel prefers to go out and have fun at Disneyland, it’s differently her favorite place to visit in California or grab some fast food from KFC or Hooters and watch some horror movies with friends in cinema!
“We’d walk to the park, bring snacks and hang out. Other days we’d skateboarding in front of my house, enjoying the hot weather. Summer to me smells like a Texas BBQ. That was probably my favorite thing to do in the summer.” – Selena about her casual summer in Texas in interview for BOP.
