Chris Pérez

Christopher Gilbert Pérez (born August 14, 1969) is an American guitarist, best known as lead guitarist for the Tejano band Selena y Los Dinos.

Christopher Pérez was born on August 14, 1969, in San Antonio, Texas to Gilbert Pérez, a computer programmer, and Carmen Medina.

He is of Mexican-American ancestry.

Perez's parents divorced in 1974, when he was four years old.

His mother remarried in 1978.

Pérez learned to play the French horn in middle school and joined his school's concert band with his mother's support.

He decided to teach himself to play electric guitar despite his mother's disapproval due to the negative stereotypes associated with the rock-and-roll world.

Pérez's favorite musicians were Van Halen, Mötley Crüe, Def Leppard, Kiss, the Scorpions, Ozzy Osbourne and Iron Maiden.

By the late 1980s, Pérez was respected among Tejano musicians for his guitar skills.

This caught A.B. Quintanilla's attention; at the time, A.B. was seeking another guitarist for the band he produced, Selena y Los Dinos.

Between one and two years after Pérez joined the band, he and Selena began a personal relationship.

Selena's father, Abraham Quintanilla, forced them to end their relationship because he felt Pérez's image might damage Selena's career.

They ignored his threats that he would disband the group, and continued their relationship.

Abraham fired Pérez from the band, forbidding Selena to go with him.

In 1986, he began his tenure by joining Shelly Lares' band.

Pérez was asked by Tony Lares to join his cousin Shelly Lares' band in 1986.

Lares told Pérez that Shelly performed Tejano music—a mixture of traditional Mexican folk music, polkas and country music sung in Spanish or English.

Pérez disliked Tejano music and wrote in To Selena, With Love that he joined Shelly's band with "foot-dragging resistance" because this job paid more than working at the library.

He became Shelly's musical director after Tony left the group, and co-wrote three songs for Shelly's debut album in 1989.

His guitar playing received a positive reception from the band and its fans.

Around this time, he also formed a rock band with two friends and planned to leave Shelly's band.

Roger Garcia, lead guitarist for Selena y Los Dinos, married and left the music business in 1989.

The group's bassist, A.B. Quintanilla III, had heard good things about Pérez from other Tejano groups.

He and other band members went to watch Pérez rehearse with Shelly.

Quintanilla invited Chris to one of Selena's performances, and asked if he was interested in playing with Selena y Los Dinos.

He also grew to admire Ricky Martin during the 1990s.

Many of his guitar solos are inspired by Carlos Santana.

Pérez wanted to run away to Los Angeles, California to start a rock band when he was seventeen.

At the time, he shared an apartment with his father and worked at a library.

He married the frontwoman of the group, Selena, on April 2, 1992.

Pérez grew up in San Antonio, Texas as one of two children of Gilbert Pérez and Carmen Medina.

Pérez wed Selena in 1992.

On March 31, 1995, Selena was shot and killed by her former friend and former manager of her boutiques, Yolanda Saldívar.

Selena's murder greatly devastated Pérez, who began abusing drugs and alcohol.

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 disbanded after their second album, Una Noche Mas (2002), was released.

Pérez continued in the music business and often played with A.B.'s groups, the Kumbia Kings and the Kumbia All Starz.

He left both groups and formed another band (the Chris Pérez Project, which included American singer Angel Ferrer) in 2010.

In 2012, Pérez wrote a book about his relationship with Selena, entitled To Selena, with Love.