5 Celebrity Deaths That Started Cult Followings

Selena: 20 years after her death

This year Tejano music artist Selena Quintanilla would have turned 44 years old. Her life was cut short at 23 when she was murdered by the president and founder of her fan club on March 31, 1995. Her untimely death caused shockwaves beyond the Latino community, inspiring the 1997 film starring Jennifer Lopez as the late singer, and moving former President George Bush to rename April 12th as Selena Day in Texas. Selena is not the only celebrity to have a profound impact on fans posthumously. Bio looks at four other 20-something celebrities from the past 25 years whose unexpected deaths raised fanatical cult followings.

More than 50,000 fans from around the world came to mourn Selena’s death at her 1995 funeral and today millions more continue to keep Selena’s legacy alive through tributes online and in-person. Last year, the Love Selena website founder organized an annual Los Angeles meetup where fans could win rare Selena memorabilia. Though Selena’s popularity predated the Internet age, her talent continues to move fans who have taken to social media to create fan pages posting Rest In Peace messages, Instagram photos, and family news that keep her memory alive. Her looks, her style, and her warm personality won over not only Latinos but the American community at large. There are “lookalike” contests held on a regular basis, moving young women to show off their best Selena looks - after all, this is how Hollywood powerhouse Jennifer Lopez got her start! Currently, more than 13,000 fans are petitioning for a custom Selena beauty line in hopes of recreating her signature red-lip look. With a rise in newborns named after the late singer, there is no doubt that Selena carries on larger than life.

It's been two decades since Tejano star Selena Quintanilla-Perez was tragically shot to death. Her impact on music is still evident today, as people on Facebook and Twitter are posting and tweeting about the anniversary of her murder.

The Daily Share's Yasmin Vossoughian spoke to Alexis Tirado, editorial director of Flama, about Selena's murder, her fans, and take a look at rare photos of the pop superstar.

Arnold Schwarzenegger Reflects on Maria Shriver Split, Says Love Child Is "Terrific"

Now he’s looking back. Arnold Schwarzenegger gave a detailed new interview to Howard Stern on his SiriusXM radio show on Wednesday, June 24, calling his divorce from Maria Shriver one of the lowest moments of his life.

“I had personal setbacks, but this was, without any doubt, the biggest setback and the biggest failure,” the Terminator Genisys star reflected. “Without any doubt. Not only failure, but you feel like, ‘I’m to blame for it. It was me that screwed up.’ And you can’t point the finger at anyone else. So yeah, I was disappointed in it. It’s always easy to be smart in hindsight. The thing was how do you make the best of that situation?”

In 2011, the former governor of California admitted that he had fathered a love child [Joseph Baena, now 17] with the family’s housekeeper more than a decade before. Shriver ended up moving to of the family’s home in Brentwood, and filed for divorce in July 2011.

Stern noted that when he was going through his divorce, he sought therapy. “Did you do any of that?” the self-proclaimed King of All Media asked.

“Yes, we did, Maria and I,” Schwarzenegger, 67, replied. “And it was the biggest mistake I’ve ever made. That guy was so full of s—. He said more crap and more nonsense. It was absolutely counterproductive to our future relationship… Maria talked me into it. I went, and I felt instinctively maybe I shouldn’t go because I know I screwed up. I don’t have to go through anyone to have to explain to me anything. I apologized to Maria. I apologized to the kids.”

He debated with the dilemma of maintaining a friendship with Shriver, 59, and being respected by his kids. “It has worked out really so well with the help of Maria,” Schwarzenegger mused to Stern. The two share four kids, sons Patrick and Christopher, and daughters Katherine and Christina.


“My kids are a true 10,” a unapproachable father continued. “I am so unapproachable of them. I’m so in adore with them.” In fact, a actor was recently compelling a Terminator reboot in Germany, when he was astounded and impossibly overwhelmed by one gesticulate from his family.

“I travel into a room and we see a room full of balloons… It was from all 4 kids and from my wife,” he shared. “There was a note — ‘You’re a biggest dad, a biggest man, we adore we dad’ — Each one sent a card. Each one sent a gift. That’s a attribute we have.”

“I walk into the room and I see the room full of balloons… It was from all four kids and from my wife,” he shared. “There was a note — ‘You’re the greatest dad, the greatest man, we love you dad’ — Each one sent a card. Each one sent a gift. That’s the relationship we have.”

There is, however, one more child of his, whom Schwarzenegger discussed with Stern. “It is fantastic,” the star noted of his family, “including my fifth child with Mildred.”