Dreaming of You (Selena album)

Dreaming of You is the fifth and final studio album by American singer Selena, released on July 18, 1995, by EMI Records and EMI Latin. After witnessing her performance at the 1989 Tejano Music Awards, EMI Latin's José Behar envisioned her as "the next Gloria Estefan", and redirected his efforts toward securing her prominence in the Latin music industry before attempting an American pop crossover. After a succession of Spanish-language triumphs and a Grammy Award for Selena Live! (1993), the label signed her to SBK Records to commence the crossover project. The SBK contract drew widespread attention and was hailed as the year's most significant Tejano development. Recording for Dreaming of You initially stalled, in part due to Amor Prohibido (1994), as the label prioritized her Latin marketability.

After Selena's murder on March 31, 1995, the label resolved to issue a bilingual album, featuring unreleased English-language material intended for her crossover debut, two shelved contributions from the Don Juan DeMarco soundtrack, and remixes of earlier work. On Dreaming of You's English tracks, Selena primarily collaborated with producers Keith Thomas and Rhett Lawrence, alongside songwriting by Diane Warren, and a duet with David Bryne of the Talking Heads.

Dreaming of You sold 175,000 copies on its first day of availability–a then-record for a female artist. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming the first predominantly Spanish-language release to do so. It sold 331,155 units in its first week, the second-highest total for a female vocalist, trailing Janet Jackson's janet (1993). Selena became the first Tejano artist to top the chart, with Billboard editors calling the feat "jaw-dropping" and "stunning", Newsweek hailing it as historic, and the Calgary Herald deemed it a musical milestone. The release posted the largest first-week sales ever by a Hispanic artist, and Billboard ranked its debut among the top ten in history, as well as the best-selling debut for a female artist. Dreaming of You holds the Guinness World Records for the first album by a Latin solo artist to debut at number one, the first solo posthumous number-one debut, and the first female vocalist to top the chart with a Spanish-language album. It remained the best-selling Latin and Latin pop album for two consecutive years. Certified 62x platinum (Latin) by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), it remains the highest-certified Latin album and the best-selling Latin and Tejano album in U.S. history.