Selena Gomez

Selena Gomez - Quick Facts

Profile Overview of Selena Gomez

Selena Marie Gomez (born July 22, 1992) is an American actress, singer, songwriter, businesswoman, and producer. Gomez began her career as a child actress on the children's television series Barney & Friends (2002–2004), and emerged as a teen idol for her leading role as Alex Russo on the Disney Channel sitcom Wizards of Waverly Place (2007–2012). She signed with Hollywood Records in 2008 and formed the band Selena Gomez & the Scene, which released three albums: Kiss & Tell (2009), A Year Without Rain (2010), and When the Sun Goes Down (2011).

This profile of Selena Gomez covers Early Life and Family Background, Career and Rise to Fame, 2007–2012: Breakthrough with Disney and Selena Gomez & the Scene, 2012–2014: Stars Dance and films and 2015–2016: Revival.

Gomez has released three solo albums. The first of these, Stars Dance (2013), featured "Come & Get It". She followed it with Revival (2015), and reached the top five of the US Billboard Hot 100 with its singles "Good for You" and "Same Old Love". Rare (2020) produced the US number-one single "Lose You to Love Me". She also launched the Spanish EP Revelación (2021) and her fourth album I Said I Love You First (2025) with her husband Benny Blanco. Other collaborations include "We Don't Talk Anymore", "It Ain't Me", "Wolves", "Taki Taki" and "Calm Down".

She has starred in films, including Another Cinderella Story (2008), Monte Carlo (2011), Spring Breakers (2012), Hotel Transylvania film franchise (2012–2022), The Fundamentals of Caring (2016), The Dead Don't Die (2019), and Emilia Pérez (2024). Gomez has produced series such as 13 Reasons Why (2017–2020), and Selena + Chef (2020–2023), and has played a lead role in Only Murders in the Building since 2021. Her accolades include an Actor Award, an American Music Award, a Billboard Music Award, a Cannes Film Festival Award, two MTV Video Music Awards and 17 Guinness World Records.

Gomez is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and advocates for mental health and equality. She founded the cosmetic company Rare Beauty, which was valued at $2 billion, and the Rare Impact Fund. Recognized in listicles such as the Forbes 30 Under 30 (2016 and 2020) and Time 100 (2020), she has received various awards and honors, including Billboard's Woman of the Year (2017), and Latin Woman of the Year (2025). She is the most-followed woman on Instagram and one of the wealthiest musicians.

Early Life and Family Background of Selena Gomez

Selena Marie Gomez was born on July 22, 1992, in Grand Prairie, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. Her parents are Ricardo Joel Gomez and Texas-born former stage actress Amanda Dawn "Mandy" (née Cornett) Teefey. She was named after Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla. Her father is of Mexican descent, while her mother, who was adopted, has Italian ancestry. Gomez's paternal grandparents emigrated to Texas from Monterrey, Mexico in the 1970s. She has called herself "a proud third-generation American-Mexican", and once said: "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." Her Spanish fluency waned after age seven, when she began working on television.

Gomez's parents divorced when she was five years old, and she remained with her mother. Her mother and stepfather, Brian Teefey, later had a daughter, Gracie Elliot Teefey, born in 2013. Through her father and his second wife, Sara, she has a half-sister, Victoria "Tori" Gomez, and a stepbrother named Marcus. For most of her childhood, she was homeschooled, save for a brief period when she attended a traditional school as a young girl. She earned her high-school diploma through homeschooling in May 2010.

Gomez was born when her mother was 16 years old. The family faced financial difficulties during her childhood, with her mother struggling to provide for the pair. Gomez recalled that they once searched for quarters to buy gasoline for their car, and her mother later said they often walked to a nearby 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." 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.

Career and Rise to Fame of Selena Gomez

Gomez first gained an interest in pursuing a career in entertainment watching her mother prepare for stage productions. In 2002, she began her acting career on the children's television series Barney & Friends. She appeared in thirteen episodes between 2002 and 2004, as well as in two related direct-to-video films. Reflecting on the experience, she said, "I was shy when I was little [...] I didn't know what 'camera right' was. I didn't know what blocking was. I learned everything from Barney." After two seasons, she left the show when producers felt she had outgrown the role. Gomez later had small roles in the family film Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003) and the made-for-television film Walker, Texas Ranger: Trial by Fire (2005), and guest-starred in a 2006 episode of the Disney Channel series The Suite Life of Zack & Cody.

2007–2012: Breakthrough with Disney and Selena Gomez & the Scene

Gomez had a recurring role on the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana in 2007 as Mikayla, a rival pop star. She rose to prominence later that year after being cast in the lead role of Alex Russo on the Disney Channel sitcom Wizards of Waverly Place. Gomez and her mother later moved to Los Angeles. The series premiered in October 2007 and ran for four seasons. It became a major success for the network and established Gomez as a teen idol. The show received positive reviews, with critics highlighting Gomez's sarcastic delivery; Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times described her as "sweet and sassy" with "great comic timing". For her performance, she earned an ALMA Award and five consecutive Kids' Choice Awards for Favorite TV Actress.

In 2008, Gomez had a minor voice role in the animated film Horton Hears a Who!. She also starred as Mary Santiago, an aspiring dancer, in the direct-to-video teen musical comedy film Another Cinderella Story, the second installment in the A Cinderella Story series. Her performance earned her a Young Artist Award. She contributed songs to the film's soundtrack, including her debut single "Tell Me Something I Don't Know", which marked her first entry on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. At age 16, Gomez signed with Hollywood Records, and formed the production company July Moon Productions.

Source: adapted from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selena_Gomez), text available under CC BY-SA 4.0.