An American guitarist, songwriter, and author Christopher Gilbert Pérez who was born on August 14, 1969, is mostly known for his role as the lead guitarist for the Tejano band “Selena y Los Dinos”. He was married to the frontwoman of the group, Selena from April 2, 1992, and later remarried Vanessa Villanueva as Selena died in 2001with a family of four and got a divorce in 2008.
Life of Chris Perez
Pérez is from a small town called San Antonio in Texas. In 1986 he joined Shelly Lares’ band. In the late 1980s, Pérez was respected among Texan musicians for his guitar skills. That caught A.B.Quintanilla’s Attention; At this time, Quintanilla was looking for another guitarist for the band Selena y Los Dinos, which he produced. A year or two after Pérez joined the band, he and Selena began a personal relationship.
Selena’s father, Abraham Quintanilla, forced her to end their relationship because he believed the image of Perez could damage her career. They ignored his threats to break up the group and continued their relationship. Quintanilla Jr. fired Pérez from the gang and forbade Selena to go with him.
In the early 1990s, Pérez was arrested in San Antonio for drunk driving but was released without charge. Within months of his first arrest, Pérez was involved in an incident involving vandalism in a hotel room; he and two members of Selena and Los Dinos got drunk and started fighting in a room, smashing the door and drilling holes in the walls. On March 31, 1995, Selena was shot dead by her former boyfriend and former manager of her boutiques. Yolanda Saldívar.Selena’s murder scattered Pérez, who started abusing drugs and alcohol.
Career of Chris Perez
Pérez formed the Chris Pérez Band and began writing songs for their debut album, they signed with Hollywood Records and released their first album, Resurrection, which won a Grammy Award for Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album. The band broke up after the release of their second album Una Noche Mas (2002). Pérez continued in the music business and often played with the groups of his brother-in-law AB, the Kumbia Kings, and the Kumbia All Starz. He left both groups and formed another band in 2010 (the Chris Pérez Project, which included Puerto Rican singer Angel Ferrer). In 2012 Pérez wrote a book about his relationship with Selena called “A Selena, con Amor”. It was received positively by critics and fans.
According to The Dallas Morning News and other sources, Chris Pérez is known to be a shy person. Carlos Valdez, the District Attorney who prosecuted Yolanda Saldivar, described Chris as a shy and uncomfortable person when in the spotlight, and this was on the headlines of the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. His inability to speak about himself during an interview was also discussed in Valdez’s book. Valdez said the music business was not a job for Chris, who enjoyed being a guitarist and called it his “reason for existence”. Valdez thinks he’s “honest”. , sincere and someone you trust and believe in. “
Leila Cobo of Billboard magazine believed his musical styles included contemporary cumbia music, reminiscent of music produced by A.B., R&B, rap, and funk music. Chuck Taylor, a Billboard editor, called The Chris Pérez Project’s debut album “lots of classic rock elements”. SunSentinel’s David Cazares called Pérez’s debut album “average rock music”. The San Antonio ExpressNews said that “Resurrection was fun, pop-rock-pop-rock-groove and tejano-soul.” Pérez is known for using Latin American genres like cumbia and Latin rock.
In 1997 a biopic film was released known as, Selena, and Pérez was portrayed by Jon Seda while actor Jesse Posey portrayed him in Selena: The Series.
