About Selena Gomez
Gomez began her acting career on the children's television series Barney & Friends (2002–2004). As a teenager, she rose to prominence for starring as Alex Russo on the Disney Channel television series Wizards of Waverly Place (2007–2012). Alongside her television career, Gomez appeared in the films Another Cinderella Story (2008), Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie (2009), Ramona and Beezus (2010), Monte Carlo (2011), Spring Breakers (2012), Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016), and The Dead Don't Die (2019), and voiced Mavis in the Hotel Transylvania film franchise (2012–2022).
Gomez executive produced the Netflix television series 13 Reasons Why (2017–2020) and Living Undocumented (2019) through her production company, July Moon Productions. Additionally, she executive produces and stars in the HBO Max cooking series Selena + Chef (2020–2022) and the Hulu mystery-comedy series Only Murders in the Building (2021–present). The latter earned Gomez critical praise, and nominations for a Golden Globe Award, and as producer, a Primetime Emmy Award.
Gomez released three albums with her former band, Selena Gomez & the Scene, all of which reached the top ten of the US Billboard 200 and were certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA): Kiss & Tell (2009), A Year Without Rain (2010), and When the Sun Goes Down (2011). Her debut solo album, Stars Dance (2013), topped the U.S. Billboard 200, while its lead single, "Come & Get It", reached the top ten in the US Billboard Hot 100. Gomez's second studio album Revival (2015), debuted at number one in the US, was certified platinum by the RIAA, and spawned three US top-ten entries: "Good for You", "Same Old Love", "Hands to Myself". Her third studio album, Rare (2020), became her third consecutive number one in the US, and its lead single, "Lose You to Love Me", her first number-one song in the US and Canada. In 2021, she released the Spanish-language EP Revelación, for which she received a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Album.
She has received various accolades and was named Billboard's Woman of the Year in 2017, and she also broke 16 Guinness World Records. Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2020. She has a large following on social media and is the most followed woman on Instagram. Gomez's other ventures include makeup, clothing, handbag and fragrance lines. She has worked with many charitable organizations and served as a UNICEF ambassador since age 17.
Selena Marie Gomez was born on July 22, 1992, in Grand Prairie, Texas,to Ricardo Joel Gomez and Texas-born former stage actress Mandy Teefey.She was named after Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla, who died in 1995.Her father is of Mexican descent, while her mother, who was adopted, has Italian ancestry.Gomez's paternal grandparents emigrated to Texas from Monterrey in the 1970s.Of her heritage, Gomez has said she is "a proud third-generation American-Mexican"and "My family does have quinceañeras, and we go to the communion church. We do everything that's Catholic, but we don't really have anything traditional except go to the park and have barbecues on Sundays after church."Gomez was fluent in Spanish until age seven.Her parents divorced when she was five years old, and she remained with her mother.Gomez has two younger half-sisters and a younger stepbrother: Gracie Elliot Teefey, through Mandy and her second husband, Brian Teefey,and Victoria "Tori" and Marcus Gomez, through Ricardo and his second wife, Sara.She earned her high-school diploma through homeschooling in May 2010.
Gomez was born when her mother was 16 years old.The family had financial troubles throughout Gomez's childhood, her mother struggling to provide for the pair. At one point, Gomez recalls that they had to search for quarters just to get gas for their car. Her mother later recalled that the two would frequently walk to their local dollar store to buy spaghetti for dinner.Gomez has said, "I was frustrated that my parents weren't together, and never saw the light at the end of the tunnel where my mom was working hard to provide a better life for me. I'm terrified of what I would have become if I'd stayed [in Texas]."She later added that her mother "was really strong around me. Having me at 16 had to have been a big responsibility. She gave up everything for me, had three jobs, supported me, sacrificed her life for me." Gomez had a close relationship with her grandparents as a child and appeared in various pageants. Her grandparents often took care of her while her parents finished their schooling, and she has said they "raised her" until she found success in show business.
Gomez was involved in the UR Votes Count campaign, which encouraged teenagers to learn more about 2008 presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain.The following year, Gomez became the ambassador of DoSomething after being involved with the charity Island Dog, which helped dogs in Puerto Rico. Gomez updated fans on her blog at MySpace: "We are spending the day feeding puppies, washing them and hanging out with them. After we spend the day with them we are sending these dogs to different places in the U.S the no-kill dog shelters so they can find a home […]."She joined while filming Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie in Puerto Rico.Gomez has also been involved with the charity RAISE Hope For Congo, an initiative of the Enough Project, to help raise awareness for conflict minerals and violence against Congolese women.
From 2009 to 2012, Gomez was involved in "Disney's Friends for Change", an organization which promoted "environmentally-friendly behavior", and appeared in its public service announcements.Gomez, Demi Lovato, Miley Cyrus, and the Jonas Brothers recorded the charity single "Send It On" as the ad hoc musical team "Disney's Friends For Change", all of whose proceeds were donated into the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund.The song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 20.In April 2012, Gomez was named ambassador to the Ryan Seacrest Foundation.The year before, Gomez made an appearance at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia during a Ryan Seacrest Foundation broadcast from the hospital's multimedia center.She was also a spokesperson for State Farm Insurance and appeared in numerous television commercials, which aired on the Disney Channel, to raise awareness of being a safe driver.Gomez provided the narration for Girl Rising (2013), a CNN documentary film, which focused on the power of female education as it followed seven girls around the world who sought to overcome obstacles and follow their dreams.
Gomez attended the We Day California youth empowerment event in Los Angeles in 2018 and 2019. During the 2018 event, Gomez introduced Nellie Mainor, a young fan who had a rare kidney disease.Her participation in We Day 2019 was her first appearance after an extended break from the spotlight.Gomez continued her partnership with WE Charity when she traveled to Kenya in December 2019 to meet the local community and visit schools built by the organization.
During the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season, Gomez made a donation to fight Australia wildfires and urged followers to do the same.In 2020, she created the Rare Impact Fund by Rare Beauty to help "young people gain access to mental health resources", and is committed to raise US$100 million over the next ten years.For each episode of her HBO Max cooking show Selena + Chef, the show donates $10,000 to the charity of the Chef's choice, often food related.In 2021, over two seasons of the show, $360,000 was raised for nonprofit organizations.
Gomez has been referred to as "Dance-pop Princess" by several media outlets,and various journalists regard her as a "triple threat", owing to her successful singing, performing, and acting careers.The Guardian credits her with popularizing "whisper pop", a style of pop music characterized by soft, hushed and breathy vocals. In 2017, Time magazine honored her as one of the "women who are changing the world" on its First Women Leaders list. In 2020, Gomez received the Art Award from Hispanic Heritage Foundation for her impact on global culture via her music, filmography and advocacy.In 2022, People named Gomez as one of 15 women who are "changing the music industry today".Variety considers her a key personality in global media, owing to her "multi-hyphenate" presence incorporating music, films, television, cosmetics, and social activism.Gomez was also included in The Hollywood Reporter's Power 100 list as one of the most powerful women in entertainment.
Gomez advocates for various causes. She is known for frequently raising awareness on mental health.In 2019, she received the McLean Award for mental health advocacy.The Stanford Healthcare Innovation Lab honored her with the first ever Mental Health Innovations Award for Excellence in Mental Health Advocacy in 2022.That year, she also received the Morton E. Ruderman Award in Inclusion by the Ruderman Family Foundation.Gomez has shown support for the LGBT community. She joined numerous celebrities to write a "love letter" during pride month, as a part of Billboard's 30 Days of Pride during the month of June 2016. She also collaborated with 23 other artists for the charity single "Hands", a tribute for the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting, to raise funds for Equality Florida's Pulse Victims Fund, GLAAD, and the GLBT Community Center of Central Florida.That year, she donated proceeds of her Revival Tour concert in North Carolina to fight the state's recent legislation known as the "bathroom law;" The law, repealed in 2017, required people to use public restrooms in line with their birth gender unless they had fully transitioned.
In the wake of the Alabama abortion ban in May 2019, Gomez spoke out on Instagram in favor of abortion rights in the United States.Amidst Roe v. Wade being overturned in June 2022, Gomez stated she is "not happy" and that "men need to stand up and also speak against this issue. It's also the amount of women that are hurting."Gomez is a critic of racism and supported the Black Lives Matter movement, lending her Instagram account to Alicia Garza, co-creator of Black Lives Matter and one of the founders of Black Futures Lab, in June 2020.In May 2021, Gomez participated in the VAX Live: The Concert to Reunite the World concert organized by Global Citizen to promote the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines worldwide through the COVAX program. The event urged people to ask their governments to pledge $22.1 billion in aid to the vaccine distribution.In May 2022, MTV partnered with Gomez and the Rare Impact Fund by Rare Beauty to host the Mental Health Youth Action Forum at the White House in coordination with the Biden-Harris Administration.
Gomez owned a $6.6 million mansion in Calabasas, Los Angeles. In 2014, she sold her mansion in Tarzana, Los Angeles for $3.5 million.In 2015, she purchased a mansion in Fort Worth, Texas for $3.5 million, and in October 2018 the mansion was sold.In 2020, Gomez moved to a $5 million mansion in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Encino.In the same year, she sold her house in Studio City, Los Angeles for $2.3 million.
Gomez was raised Catholic. At age 13, she wanted a purity ring, and her father went to the church and had it blessed. She has said, "He actually used me as an example for other kids: I'm going to keep my promise to myself, to my family and to God." Gomez stopped wearing the ring in 2010.In 2017, she said she did not like the term "religion" and that sometimes it "freaks me out," adding, "I don't know if it's necessarily that I believe in religion as much as I believe in faith and a relationship with God."In 2014, Gomez said that she listened to "Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)" by Hillsong United before performing at the 2014 American Music Awards.In 2016, she appeared at a Hillsong Young & Free concert in Los Angeles, leading worship by singing her song "Nobody".When a fan on Twitter asked her who the lyrics to "Nobody" refer to, Gomez replied that they refer to God.She also covered Hillsong Worship's song "Transfiguration" during her Revival Tour.As of 2020, she attends a different congregation in California, the Hillsong Church,and has said that she does not consider herself religious, but is more concerned with her faith and connection to God.
Gomez was diagnosed with lupus sometime between 2012 and early 2014. In September 2017, she revealed on Instagram that she had withdrawn from public events during the previous few months because she had received a kidney transplant from actress and friend Francia Raisa. During the transplant, an artery broke and emergency surgery was conducted to build a new artery using a vein from her leg.
Gomez has been open about her struggles with both anxiety and depression. She began pursuing therapy in her early twenties and also spent time in treatment facilities. When she reached 100 million Instagram followers, Gomez said she "sort of freaked out" and has since taken several extended breaks from social media, due in part to negative comments.In April 2020, she revealed she has bipolar disorder.
In October 2022, Gomez canceled an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon after testing positive for COVID-19. In November 2022, she revealed that she had an episode of psychosis in 2018.
Gomez dated singer Nick Jonas from 2008 to 2009. She appeared in the music video for his band's song "Burnin' Up". From December 2010 to March 2018, Gomez was in an on-again, off-again relationship with Canadian singer Justin Bieber.In 2015, she began dating Russian-German DJ Zedd shortly after recording their song "I Want You to Know". They broke up later that year.In January 2017, Gomez began dating Canadian singer-songwriter the Weeknd.They moved in together temporarily later on in September, but broke up a month later. Gomez regards Taylor Swift as her "only" friend in the industry; they have expressed their admiration for each other numerous times in the media since 2008, and their friendship has been widely covered by news outlets.
In 2014 at just 23 years old Selena stripped naked for her revival cover album. This was the first and last time she ever posed naked.In the picture Selena can be seen sitting in a suggestive position using her arms and legs to cover her top and bottom respectively, although several renditions of the picture exist like a black and white version and a version of her with shorts on in the original she was truly naked despite some people saying she wasn’t and it was just implied. The photographer that took the picture confirmed Selena was in fact completely naked. In 2023 she admitted in a podcast she regrets posing naked and wishes she wouldn’t have done it…despite this her nude picture is one of her most famous pictures having been viewed by an estimated 3 billion people.
Her tattoos: Upper back: pink watercolour rose with black ink dripping down her back; Back of neck: "LXXVI"; Left collarbone: cross; Behind right ear: "Rare"; Above right elbow: "6/19/17" (the date of her kidney transplant); Left upper thigh: hands joined in prayer draped with rosary beads; Base of left thumb: arrow pointing in towards palm; Inside right forearm below elbow: "4"; Right side of body: "1"; Left wrist: semicolon; Behind left ear: "g"; Right foot: "Sunshine"; MId back right side: "Love yourself" (in Arabic); Right hip: "God who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13); Right wrist: music note; Left hip: "x31"; Forearm: "angel"; Right ankle: "By God"
As of November 2024, Selena has amassed 423.0 million followers on Instagram, 58.2 million followers on TikTok & 34.8 million subscribers on her YouTube platform.
