Selena gomez book biography of michael

1992-present

Selena Gomez Now: Emilia Peréz Actor Announces Engagement to Benny Blanco

Selena Gomez is engaged to music producer Benny Blanco after more than a year of dating. The singer and actor announced the news via Instagram on December 11, posting several photos of her engagement ring. “Forever begins now,” Gomez wrote in the caption. In one picture, the 32-year-old is admiring her ring on a picnic blanket next to a bottle of champagne and a Taco Bell container.

Gomez publicly confirmed her relationship with Blanco in December 2023, revealing that they had been together for six months at that point, but the pair have known each other for many years. They previously worked together on her 2015 song “Same Old Love,” her 2019 single “I Can’t Get Enough” with J Balvin, and most recently, her 2023 hit “Single Soon.”

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in November 2024, Gomez opened up about why she isn’t shy about sharing her relationship with the public. “I guess this is the safest I’ve ever felt in one, and I see a future with this person,” she said.

Her engagement isn’t Gomez’s only recent cause for celebration. She was nominated for two Golden Globes for her roles in the 2024 movie Emilia Peréz and Hulu’s hit comedy series Only Murders in the Building on December 9.

Who Is Selena Gomez?

After years as a child star, Selena Gomez has become an Emmy-nominated actor, Grammy-nominated singer, and the founder of Rare Beauty. The Texas native had a two-year run on the kids show Barney & Friends before becoming a Disney Channel star in 2007 as the lead in the show Wizards of Waverly Place. Gomez is also known for her roles in the Hotel Transylvania movie franchise and Hulu’s hit comedy series Only Murders In the Building, which earned her a 2024 Emmy nomination. Simultaneously, Gomez has grown her pop music career, and her three solo albums have topped the Billboard 200 chart. Her hit songs include “Lose You To Love Me,” “Good For You,” and “Calm Down.” The beauty entrepreneur has a massive social media following and became the first woman on Instagram to surpass 400 million followers in March 2023.

Quick Facts

FULL NAME: Selena Marie Gomez
BORN: July 22, 1992
BIRTHPLACE: Grand Prairie, Texas
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Cancer

Where Is Selena Gomez From?

Selena Marie Gomez was born in Grand Prairie, Texas, on July 22, 1992, to Amanda “Mandy” Cornett, who is white, and Ricardo “Rick” Gomez, who is Mexican American. Her parents were teenagers when Selena was born, and they named their daughter after Tejano music icon Selena Quintanilla.

Becoming a mom at 16 years old propelled Mandy to grow up quickly and create a life for young Selena that was different from her own. “My neighborhood was a really rough neighborhood [with] gangs,” Mandy told Entertainment Tonight in March 2017. “With all that stuff, and when I got pregnant, I think that’s what triggered, because I was like ‘Okay, I have another person depending on me. I gotta get straight,’ and that’s when I started hammering through. I’m like ‘I’m not going to let her have the upbringing I did.’”

When Selena was 5, her parents broke up. Mandy worked three jobs to make ends meet. “We didn’t have much,” Selena later said. “But I felt like we did because my mom was always doing a hundred million things just to make me happy, and we volunteered at soup kitchens on Thanksgiving; we went through my closet for Goodwill.”

Mandy aspired to be an actor and brought Selena along to rehearsals. After one of them, Selena, then around age 6 or 7, even gave her mom an acting tip. “On the way home, she was quiet, and then she goes, ‘You know, Mom, that might be funnier if you did it this way,’” Mandy told The New York Times. “And I thought, Oh, no. She’s going to be an actor.” Selena also used to conduct casting calls with neighborhood kids and direct them. Soon enough, Selena was on TV and movie sets just like her mother predicted.

Since their split, both of Selena’s parents have remarried. Her mom wed Selena’s stepfather, Brian Teefey, in 2006 and now goes by Mandy Teefey. The couple managed Selena’s career until 2014. The previous year, Mandy and Brian welcomed Selena’s half-sister Gracie, who has walked the red carpet with her famous sister at a movie premiere for Frozen II (2019) and the 2023 Golden Globes.

With his wife, Sara Tovar Gomez, Rick had Selena’s other half-sister, Victoria, in 2014. Rick and Sara are also raising a son, Marcus, who she had in 2008 with a previous partner.

Movies and TV Shows

Gomez began her career in show business in 2002 when she performed on the popular children’s program Barney & Friends as Gianna. Dropped from the series after two years, Gomez auditioned for other shows without much success. She landed a small role in the movie Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over in 2003 and a bit part as Julie on Walker, Texas Ranger: Trial by Fire in 2005. She also signed on to play Emily Grace Garcia in Brain Zapped in 2006 and recorded a song for the show.

Disney Channel Star: Wizards of Waverly Place

In 2006, Gomez guest starred as Gwen in The Suite Life of Zack & Cody on the Disney Channel. Earning more work from Disney, Gomez was tapped to play the evil Mikayla for the Hannah Montana series.

She then landed her first starring role when the channel cast her as Alex Russo in the show Wizards of Waverly Place in 2007. The hit series ran for four seasons, until 2012, and won two Emmys for Outstanding Children’s Program. It also launch the Disney Channel Original Movie spinoff, Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie (2009).

During her Wizards run, Gomez worked on her first animated movie, 2008’s Horton Hears a Who!, and starred in the ABC Family movie Another Cinderella Story (2008) with fellow Disney Channel actor Andrew Seeley. The next year, she and Demi Lovato anchored Princess Protection Program, another Disney Channel Original Movie.

More Disney Channel Stars

More than a decade after Wizards wrapped, news broke that a reboot of the hit show was in the works. Wizards Beyond Waverly Place premiered in October 2024 and focuses on Alex’s brother. Gomez guest starred in the pilot episode and serves as an executive producer on the show.

Hotel Transylvania

In 2012, Gomez performed the voice of Mavis in the animated movie Hotel Transylvania. She has since reprised the roles in the film’s three sequels, released in 2015, 2018, and 2022.

Breaking out of children’s fare, Gomez starred alongside James Franco and Vanessa Hudgens, among others, in Harmony Korine’s comedic crime thriller Spring Breakers (2013). That same year, Gomez co-starred with Ethan Hawke in the action thriller Getaway. In 2014, Gomez was featured in the comedy Behaving Badly, with Mary-Louise Parker.

The next year, she joined the cast of Season 9 of The Voice as a mentor for Gwen Stefani’s team.

Only Murders In The Building

After several years away from the big screen, Gomez returned in 2019 in Jim Jarmusch’s zombie comedy The Dead Don’t Die. The next year, the multi-talented artist voiced the character of Betsy the giraffe in the Robert Downey Jr. film Dolittle.

But her most successful role of late is as Mabel Mora on the Hulu comedy series Only Murders In The Building. Now four seasons in, Gomez stars alongside comedic legends Steven Martin and Martin Short as true crime–obsessed neighbors who attempt to solve a murder in their building on New York City’s Upper West Side. Over the years, guest stars have included Meryl Streep, Paul Rudd, Jane Lynch, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, and Nathan Lane.

Gomez has earned three Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actress in a Comedy Series, from 2023 to 2025. Her 2024 nod for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series marks her first Emmy nomination for acting. The show, for which Gomez serves as an executive producer, has attracted three consecutive Emmy nods for Outstanding Comedy Series.

New Movies: Emilia Peréz and Linda Ronstadt Biopic

The actor’s latest movie is Emilia Peréz, a 2024 Spanish-language film about a Mexican drug lord who transitions into a woman. Gomez landed her supporting role, as the drug lord’s wife, a year after she audition. “I acted insane in the audition,” Gomez told The Hollywood Reporter. “[Director Jacques Audiard] wanted me to perform one of the numbers, and I just surrendered and completely gave myself. I was, like, well, at least I could walk away and say that I did my best.”

She and her costars Karla Sofía Gascón, Zoe Saldaña, and Adriana Paz earned wide praise when the musical comedy premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. The four women shared the fest’s best actress award. Emilia Peréz released in theaters and on Netflix months later, in November. The following month, Gomez was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture at the 2025 Golden Globes.

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Elsewhere, Gomez is set to star as 11-time Grammy-winner Linda Ronstadt in a new biopic directed by David O. Russell. The movie is in the early stages of production.

Music Career

Gomez began building a music career in the late 2000s. Still, she sees herself as an actor first. “Acting has always been my first love,” Gomez told Vanity Fair in 2024. “Music is just a hobby that went out of control. Now it is a part of who I am.”

Her first foray as a singer was recording for soundtracks in 2008 and 2009. That included three tunes for the soundtrack to her movie Another Cinderella Story, a song for the animated movie Tinker Bell, the single “One and the Same” for Princess Protection Program as a duet with costar Demi Lovato, as well as four songs for the soundtrack to Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie.

Soon, Gomez moved on to original music as the lead singer of Selena Gomez & the Scene. The pop band, which had a contract with Hollywood Records, released three albums: Kiss & Tell (2009), A Year Without Rain (2010), and When the Sun Goes Down (2011). Some of their popular songs included “Love You Like a Love Song,” “Who Says,” and “Naturally.” The group split up in 2012.

Solo Albums

Far from the end of her musical journey, Gomez embarked on a solo career the next year. She has released three studio albums, all of which have topped the Billboard 200 upon release, and a Spanish-language EP.

Gomez has shared she is working on a new album, sharing photos from inside a recording studio in June 2023. She hasn’t announced its name or details about its release other than to say she “hopes” it will be in 2024.

Hit Songs

Gomez has regularly graced the Billboard Hot 100. Her first Top 10 hit, “Come & Get It,” came in April 2013. “The Heart Wants What It Wants,” “Good For You” featuring A$AP Rocky, “Same Old Love,” and “Hands To Myself” followed. Then, in November 2019, “Lose You To Love Me” soared to No. 1 ahead of its inclusion on her third album, Rare.

Other popular songs include 2017’s “Bad Liar,” “Fetish” featuring Gucci Mane, and “It Ain’t Me,” a collaboration with Norwegian DJ Kygo. She also teamed up with the mysterious Marshmello for “Wolves.” In May 2018, Gomez released the track “Back to You” for Netflix’s teen suicide drama 13 Reasons Why (she was also an executive producer on the show).

More recently, Gomez has found success on collaboration singles, such as “Baila Conmigo” with Rauw Alejandro, “Let Somebody Go” with Coldplay, and “Calm Down” with Rema. Her newest songs include “Single Soon,” which cracked the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 after its August 2023 release, and “Love On.”

Billboard’s Woman of the Year

In November 2017, months after undergoing kidney transplant surgery, Gomez was named woman of the year at the annual Billboard Women in Music event. “I would like to thank my amazing team and my family because they stuck with me through some really hard times,” she told the crowd. “And I got to do a lot this year, even though I had a couple of other things to do.”

Fiancé Benny Blanco

Gomez is currently engaged to music producer and songwriter Benny Blanco. She confirmed their relationship on social media in December 2023, stating they had been together for six months at that point. The pair have known each other for many years and have also worked together on songs such as 2015’s “Same Old Love,” 2019’s “I Can’t Get Enough” with J Balvin, and 2023’s “Single Soon.”

When they were just friends, Gomez once asked Blanco if he could set her up with someone he knew. He introduced her to a friend at a birthday party, and it was then the singer realized the person she had feelings for was actually Blanco.

Likewise, the music producer didn’t realize how deep his feelings were for Gomez. “I was the last one to know,” he said in an April 2024 interview with WSJ magazine. “It’s crazy how your partner could just be sitting there the whole time, right in front of your eyes, and you don’t even notice, and then you have that Clueless moment where you’re like ‘Wait, I’m in love.’”

Gomez announced her engagement to Blanco in December 2024, posting photos of her ring on Instagram with the caption, “Forever begins now.”

Past Relationships: Justin Bieber and More

Gomez previously dated fellow musicians Nick Jonas, Zedd, and The Weeknd, as well as been romantically linked to other stars. But her most well-known relationship has been with pop star Justin Bieber.

She and Bieber first met in 2009 and eventually entered into an on- and off-again relationship. Even after their final breakup in early 2018, the romance still provides fodder for the celebrity gossip mill. In 2023, the internet was aroar over a social media drama between Gomez and Hailey Bieber, whom Justin married in September 2018.

Rare Beauty and Activism

Outside of acting and music, Gomez has delved into business. In 2017, she teamed with Coach to launch the Selena Grace line of handbags and accessories, and the following year, the two sides collaborated again for a ready-to-wear collection.

September 2020 saw the launch of Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez, her massively popular makeup line, and the Rare Impact Fund, its philanthropic partner dedicated to mental health. Each year, 1 percent of product sales are donated to the charitable venture; as of September 2024, Rare Impact Fund has raised more than $16 million. Bloomberg reported in July 2023 that the company sold $70 million worth of a liquid blush year to date and the company expected to triple its overall sales year over year. Today, Rare Beauty is reportedly worth $2 billion.

Additionally, Gomez has served as a spokesperson for Borden Milk, appearing in the organization’s advertising campaign and print ads. She also worked on a campaign that encouraged teenagers to learn more about the 2008 presidential candidates. A supporter of UNICEF, 17-year-old Gomez became one of the organization’s ambassadors in 2009 and works to help children around the world through her C.A.N. (Charity, Action, Now) initiative.

Selena Gomez Net Worth

In September 2024, Bloomberg reported Gomez is now a billionaire worth $1.3 billion. This is primarily due to the success of Rare Beauty. The brand was reportedly on pace to generate at least $300 million in 2023 and has an estimated valuation of $2 billion. Gomez’s acting work is the next largest stream of income. For each season of Only Murders in the Building, she has earned “at least” $6 million.

Health: Lupus and Bipolar Diagnoses

In early January 2014, it was reported that Gomez had been battling lupus—an autoimmune disease that can cause facial swelling, fatigue, headaches, and joint pain—for more than two years. In September 2017, the multitalented artist revealed that advancing symptoms of lupus had forced her to undergo a kidney transplant earlier in the year, with her roommate and friend Francia Raísa serving as the donor.

One month later, Gomez provided details of the experience with The Today show’s Savannah Guthrie in an NBC news interview: “She lived with me in this interesting time where my kidneys were just done,” Gomez recalled. “The thought of asking somebody to [donate] was really difficult for me. And she volunteered and did it… The fact that she was a match, I mean, that’s unbelievable.”

Thanks to Raísa, Gomez was able to quickly move to the operating room for the life-saving procedure. While there were additional complications during the operation, Gomez has recovered nicely, noting that there was a 3 to 5 percent chance of her lupus resurfacing.

In November 2017, Gomez was honored at the Lupus Research Alliance Annual Gala in New York City for helping to raise more than $500,000 toward research for the disease. During her speech, she recalled the moment doctors stressed to her the urgency of undergoing a transplant procedure. “It actually got to a point where it was life-or-death,” she said. “Thankfully, one of my best friends gave me her kidney, and it was the ultimate gift of life. And I am doing quite well now.”

The chart-topping artist, who previously spoke about her battles with anxiety and depression, revealed in an April 2020 interview with Miley Cyrus that she had been diagnosed as bipolar. “When I got to know more information, it actually helps me,” Gomez told her fellow former Disney star. “It doesn’t scare me once I know it.”

Gomez opened up even more about her mental health in the 2022 Apple TV+ documentary Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me, revealing that she was initially skeptical about getting help. “I’m gonna be honest, I didn’t wanna go to the mental health hospital,” she says in the documentary. “I didn’t want to, but I didn’t want to be trapped in myself and my mind anymore. I thought my life was over. I thought, ‘This is what my life’s going to be like forever.’”

Choosing to make a documentary about something so personal was difficult. She even tried to pull out of the project, but it was too late in the process. Watching the final version was equally tough. “It’s very hard for me to watch,” Gomez said in 2023. “I will never watch it again, but I’m very proud of it.”

In 2024, Gomez shared she’s unable to be pregnant. “I have a lot of medical issues that would put my life and the baby’s life in jeopardy,” she told Vanity Fair. The star still would like to become a mom one day either through surrogacy or adoption.

Quotes

• Once you start to share a tiny bit, you just realize how much less alone you are and how so many of us are more alike than we are different.
• My own fans, who I adore and feel like have shaped who I am, will say the most hurtful things to me about how I live my life.
  
• I don’t ever feel, even for five seconds, that I’m crazy.
  
• This industry is a beast. It’s really scary to see what happens when you’re given so much power and money at a young age.
  
• Acting has always been my first love. Music is just a hobby that went out of control. Now it is a part of who I am, so I don’t think I’m going anywhere.
  
• Being vulnerable is actually one of the strongest things you can do.
  

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