Selena was an American singer often referred to as the "Queen of Tejano Music."

Her upward spiral to superstardom in music was tragically cut short when she was shot and killed at the age of 24 in 1995 by the president of her fan club who was exposed as having embezzled money from the singer's earnings.

But her influence as a Latin artist has been passed on to those who have since followed in her musical path, including a young Brenda Gonzalez, a Mexican youth originally born in Winnipeg. 

Gonzalez was the daughter of Mexican parents, who moved back to Monterrey, in the northeast part of Mexico, when Gonzalez was 9. 

A bit of a fish out of water having been born in Canada, Gonzalez had to learn Spanish, but she grew up in a musical family and attended a music and arts performance school in Monterrey, taking an interest in Selena's Tejano or country-style of Latin music. 

Gonzalez went on to record her first album at age 16 for EMI, the same Latin music label as Selena recorded at an identical age, and embraced her music as the singer in a band for many years. 

Today, living in West Kelowna where she operates a driver training school, she has also formed a duo with a guitarist and they hire out for private functions to perform Latin music. 

But the idea of performing a Selena tribute concert is something that has percolated in her mind for some time. While in the midst of recording a new album over the past year, she came to a 'now or never' moment to make that dream happen. 

And with the support of LMS Entertainment and an eight-piece band, Gonzalez will debut her Corazon, The True Selena Experience in Kelowna on Wednesday, Feb. 26, at the Kelowna Community Theatre, 7:30 p.m.

"I just thought it would be cool to put together a live tribute show with it being the 30th anniversary of her passing and her final concert in the Houston Astrodome that was attended by more than 60,000 people," she said. 

While the Kelowna concert will be the debut, she is looking forward to having video footage from it to add to her music portfolio and has aspirations of bringing her tribute show to other venues across Canada.

Gonzalez said as a tribute concert, her aim is to present a similar stage look and persona and be faithful to Selena's voice and singing style. 

"When you perform cover songs, as I have done for many years, you tend to add your own influences into the music you are performing, but for a tribute show the goal is to reproduce the look and sound of that artist as close as you possibly can," Gonzalez said. 

"She was 23 when she passed away and I am 46 now but you try your best to look the part and honour their singing style."

Selena, in Gonzalez's estimation, became a bigger-than-life personality even at a young age 91ÂãÁÄÊÓƵ“ she was beautiful, sang with a lot of passion, was willing to take musical risks, had a positive outlook on life, was evolving into a fashion leader, and was a bubbly, caring, outgoing personality.

Above all, Gonzalez thinks of Selena as a great entertainer,  a charismatic presence when she performed live on stage, willing to adapt to other musical genres rather than just be restricted to the Tejano sound. 

When she died, Selena was already widely embraced within the Latin music community and was beginning to crossover into mainstream popularity. 

Ironically, the Hollywood film about her life also became a springboard to stardom for the Latino actress cast in the lead role, Jennifer Lopez.

Gonzalez says while people may not be familiar today with Selena's songs, her music "was fun and makes you want to move and every note she sang with a purpose and so much passion behind it."

Tickets are available at .