Chris Perez Hopes Viewers Enjoy 'Selena: The Series'

It's been over two decades since her untimely death, but Selena Quintanilla-Pérez's music and influence still lives on to inspire fans both new and old. 

Plus, with the release of Netflix's Selena: The Series, many wonder where the real-life Chris Perez is today and what he thinks about the show.

Chris Perez was only in his early 20s when he and Selena married, but the now-48-year-old seems to never have gotten over the sudden and tragic loss of the love of his life. When the iconic Queen of Tejano music was gunned down by Yolanda Saldivar in a Corpus Christi motel room, Chris Perez withdrew from the world and went into mourning.

But all these years later, we can't help but wonder what happened to Selena's husband? What does Chris Perez do now and what has he been up to in the years since Selena's death? Does he have any thoughts about the Netflix series? Keep reading!

Back when Selena met Chris, he was already a well-known and respected Tejano musician with excellent guitar skills. He was recruited by Selena's older brother to join Selena y Los Dinos in the band's early days, and he soon began dating the band's lead, Selena.

Unfortunately for the love birds, Selena's father was adamantly against the relationship and kept threatening to break up the band if the couple didn't end things, even going so far as to fire Chris from the group. However, as viewers of the J. Lo biopic know, after the two eloped in 1993, there wasn't much more to be done except embrace Chris as part of the Quintanilla family.

Following the tragedy of Selena's death just three years after they married, Chris was so devastated that he turned to drugs and alcohol to fuel his grief. He later recalled that he couldn't eat for two whole days after the murder. Additionally, he was losing sleep and dropping weight so rapidly that family members became concerned.

A few years later, Chris moved out of Corpus Christi and left that life behind him as the town carried too many painful memories. In 1998, Chris met and married Vanessa Villanueva. The couple had two children, Noah and Cassie, before they divorced 10 years later in 2008.

It was rumored at the time that while Vanessa wanted to keep the marriage together and work out their differences, Chris just never got over Selena, which had doomed his new relationship from the start.

While the first few years after Selena's death were spent in seclusion, Chris now works tirelessly to keep Selena's legacy alive. "It went from something that I tried to downplay to something I've gotten comfortable with," Chris said in an interview. "To be able to go out there and talk about it and see the love that the fans have 20 years later is inspiring."

Chris diligently posts a tribute to his first and seemingly greatest love every year on various anniversaries that were important to the couple, sharing personal moments with fans.

In March 2012, Chris also released the book To Selena, With Love, which goes into detail about the couple's relationship and struggles.

He described the process of writing the book as helping him move forward, while giving fans many of the answers they were looking for. For example, the book dispelled the rumor that Selena was pregnant when she died, which had circulated during the time of her death.

He also gave his opinions on the new Selena series in an Instagram post he published following the show's release. "Alright so, here is my take on this," he began. "I loved her music even before I joined the band. I was intrigued but the fact that her brother had his name on everything as producer. Keyboard player Ricky Vela was my hero as far as musicianship goes. Her dad ran some amazing sound when I went to see them at an event in San Antonio."

"I learned so much by taking on their guitar player Roger Garcia's parts and doing my best to stretch it even further," he continued. "They had a girl drummer that laid it DOWN (Suzette really is a badass). Joe and Pete brought the 'extra' and added a whole other dimension PLUS Pete wrote amazing lyrics....and they sounded HEAVY."

"I will forever respect the band and the people involved in it," Chris concluded. "I hope you guys enjoy this series."