Amor Prohibido

"Amor Prohibido" is the title song of American Tejano singer Selena's fourth studio album of the same name (1994). Released as the lead single through EMI Latin on April 13, 1994, it was written by Selena, her brother and music producer A. B. Quintanilla, and her band's backup vocalist Pete Astudillo. A popular interpretation compares it to Romeo and Juliet. The Tejano cumbia dance-pop song was acclaimed by music critics, who cited it as one of the singer's most popular singles. It topped the United States Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart for nine consecutive weeks, her first number-one as a solo artist, and became the most successful US Latin single of 1994. It has since been certified 7× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting sales of 420,000 copies. A duet version with Samo was posthumously released in 2012, reaching number eight on the US Latin Pop Songs chart. "Amor Prohibido" received the Tejano Music Award for Single of the Year, and was Regional Mexican Song of the Year at the Lo Nuestro and Billboard Latin Music Awards. "Amor Prohibido" was the first Spanish-language song to receive a Broadcast Music Award in the pop field in 1996. Many musicians have covered "Amor Prohibido", including Mexican pop singer Thalía, glam rock band Moderatto, Finnish singer Meiju Suvas, American entertainers Jennifer Lopez and Keke Palmer, and Latin singer Shoshana (no relation to Broadway singer Shoshana Bean). Background and production Selena wanted to write and record a song based on the story of her grandparents, who fell in love despite their different social classes. The singer was inspired by love letters written by her grandmother who wrote about her experiences as a maid to a wealthy family and her infatuation with their son. Her grandmother was forbidden to formulate a relationship with him because of her social class and described it as a "forbidden love". The singer suggested the idea to her brother and music producer A. B. Quintanilla, who began co-writing the track with her and Selena y Los Dinos backup vocalist Pete Astudillo. "Amor Prohibido" was recorded at a studio in San Antonio, Texas. Selena's husband, Chris Pérez wrote in his 2012 memoir that during its recording session "there was a noticeable difference between her voice on ["Amor Prohibido"] and [the songs on] Entre a Mi Mundo (1992), especially.