Selena Gomez is of a rare breed. The Texas-born actress and singer had achieved worldwide fame by the time she turned 30. From her starring roles in the Disney Channel show Wizards of Waverly Place to the critically acclaimed Only Murders in the Building alongside Steve Martin and Martin Short, along with her massive hits like “Hands to Myself” and “Lose You to Love Me,” Gomez has built quite a legacy. Check out five facts you may not have known about her.
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1. She was named after Selena Quintanilla
Gomez takes her name from another iconic singer from Texas. Both of Gomez’s parents were huge fans of superstar Selena Quintanilla, a native of Corpus Christi, Texas. Gomez was born in 1992, three years before Quintanilla died. “I’m actually named after Selena Quintanilla. It gives me goosebumps sometimes because I was obsessed with Selena,” Gomez said during a season two episode of her show Selena + Chef. “I knew everything about her. I was just such a fan. My real name was going to be Priscilla, and my dad said, ‘No. I want her name to be Selena.”’
The actress actually got to meet the Quintanilla family early on in her career, which she called a “super emotional” experience in a 2016 radio interview.
2. Her favorite song she’s released is “Lose You to Love Me”
In 2019, Gomez released the emotional pop ballad “Lose You to Love Me” as the lead single from her album Rare which she co-wrote with friend Julia Michaels and fellow hit songwriters Justin Tranter, Mattias Larsson and Robin Fredriksson that was allegedly inspired by her breakup with Justin Bieber. The song became her first to hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2022, she told Entertainment Tonight that it’s her favorite song from her own catalog.
“It’s a very personal record to me,” she described to Audacy. “I wanted to get out a lot of the feelings I was experiencing, but in a way where it’s more saying I’m frustrated and I’m feeling these things and it’s complicated, but I’m okay with closing this chapter and moving forward, which is something I’ve had a hard time with in the past.”
[RELATED: The Meaning Behind the Lyrics of Selena Gomez’s New Song, “Single Soon”]
3. She released a Spanish-speaking EP Revelación
Gomez honored her Hispanic roots when she released her debut Spanish-speaking EP, Revelación in 2021. The project was a longtime dream of Gomez’s, who was fluent in Spanish until the age of seven. “This has been something I’ve wanted to do for 10 years, working on a Spanish project, because I’m so proud of my heritage, and just genuinely felt like I wanted this to happen,” she expressed to Zane Lowe (quote via Elle). “With all the division in the world, there’s something about Latin music that globally just makes people feel things.”
She co-wrote all but two of the seven songs on the EP that won universal acclaim. Gomez also received her first nomination for Best Latin Pop Album at the 2022 Grammy Awards.
4. She babysat Jessica Simpson’s daughter
Gomez may be a world-renowned star, but she’s never too busy to help out a fellow pop star. She proved this when she took Jessica Simpson’s 10-year-old daughter Maxwell to her first concert, Olivia Rodrigo. Maxwell is friends with one of Gomez’s younger sisters, so the superstar graciously offered to take them to the show.
“I was sad when Maxwell got to go to her first concert—Olivia Rodrigo she went to. Selena Gomez was her babysitter,” Simpson allegedly said on Instagram Live in 2022. “So thank you Olivia Rodrigo for that show. And thank you Selena for being a great babysitter.”
5. She’s supporting mental health awareness through Rare Beauty
Mental health has long been an important subject matter for Gomez, who has battled depression and anxiety as a result of lupus. The topic was at the forefront of her 2022 documentary My Mind & Me. Gomez is channeling her passion for mental health into her Rare Beauty company that launched in 2020. One percent of all sales from Rare Beauty are donated to the Rare Impact Fund, with the mission of raising $100 million by 2030 to expand mental health education and resources for youth worldwide.
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