Who is singer and actor Selena Gomez?
Selena Marie Gomez, known professionally as Selena Gomez, is an American singer, actor, producer, and entrepreneur born on July 22, 1992, in Grand Prairie, Texas. She first gained wide recognition as a child actor and later became known for playing Alex Russo on Disney Channel’s Wizards of Waverly Place. As a recording artist, Gomez has released pop albums both with her former band Selena Gomez & the Scene and as a solo performer. Her work has earned major music, television, and film recognition, while her business ventures include the cosmetics company Rare Beauty.
Background/biography
Gomez is the daughter of former stage actor Amanda Dawn “Mandy” Teefey and Ricardo Joel Gomez. Her mother named her after the late Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla. After her parents separated when she was young, Gomez was primarily raised by her mother in the Dallas-area community of Grand Prairie.
Her interest in performing developed after watching her mother prepare for stage productions. Gomez began acting as a child, appearing on the children’s television series Barney & Friends in the early 2000s. She later moved into Disney Channel productions, which provided the platform for her broader acting and music career.
Music and acting career
- Barney & Friends — child acting role as Gianna, appearing during the early 2000s.
- Wizards of Waverly Place — played Alex Russo in the Disney Channel series, which ran from 2007 to 2012.
- Selena Gomez & the Scene — fronted the pop band behind albums including Kiss & Tell (2009), A Year Without Rain (2010), and When the Sun Goes Down (2011).
- “Love You Like a Love Song” — a single by Selena Gomez & the Scene, released in 2011.
- Stars Dance — Gomez’s debut solo studio album, released in 2013.
- “Good for You” — solo single featuring ASAP Rocky, released in 2015.
- Revival — solo studio album, released in 2015.
- “Lose You to Love Me” — released in 2019 and became Gomez’s first song to reach number one on the US Billboard Hot 100.
- Rare — solo studio album, released in 2020.
- Only Murders in the Building — stars as Mabel Mora and serves as an executive producer on the comedy-mystery series.
- Emilia Pérez — appeared in the 2024 musical crime film.
Gomez’s music is generally associated with pop, dance-pop, electropop, and contemporary R&B influences. Alongside recording and performing, she has developed a substantial television production career through her company July Moon Productions. Her producing credits include the Netflix drama series 13 Reasons Why and the cooking program Selena + Chef.
Health advocacy and public openness
Gomez has publicly discussed living with lupus, an autoimmune disease. In 2017, she revealed that she had received a kidney transplant related to complications from lupus; actor Francia Raisa was the donor.
She has also spoken publicly about mental-health issues and said in 2020 that she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Her advocacy work includes the Rare Impact Fund, created in connection with Rare Beauty to support mental-health services and education for young people.
Net worth
Selena Gomez’s wealth has been publicly estimated at around $1.3 billion by Bloomberg in 2024, an estimate linked largely to the reported value of her stake in Rare Beauty. Such figures are estimates rather than confirmed personal financial disclosures. Her income sources have included music sales and streaming, concert activity, acting and producing fees, brand partnerships, and her beauty business.
Did you know?
- Gomez was named after Selena Quintanilla, the influential Tejano singer known professionally as Selena.
- She became a UNICEF Ambassador in 2009 and was, at the time, one of the organization’s youngest ambassadors.
- Her first television acting work included Barney & Friends, where she appeared alongside fellow future performer Demi Lovato.
- She launched Rare Beauty in 2020, with the brand emphasizing a message against unrealistic standards of beauty.
- Gomez hosted the HBO Max cooking series Selena + Chef, in which she learned recipes remotely from professional chefs.
- She was an executive producer as well as a performer on Only Murders in the Building.
