Selena Gomez
Selena Marie Gomez is an American actress, singer, and businesswoman. Gomez began her career as a child actress, appearing on the children's television series Barney & Friends, and emerged as a teen idol for her leading role as Alex Russo on the Disney Channel sitcom Wizards of Waverly Place. She signed with Hollywood Records in 2008 and formed the band Selena Gomez & the Scene, which released three albums: Kiss & Tell, A Year Without Rain, and When the Sun Goes Down.
Gomez has released three solo studio albums, starting with the EDM-infused debut, Stars Dance, which featured the top-ten single "Come & Get It". She followed with Revival, which included "Good for You", "Same Old Love", and "Hands to Myself". Her third album, Rare, produced her first [Billboard Hot 100|Billboard Hot 100] number-one single "Lose You to Love Me". She also released the Spanish EP Revelación and her fourth album I Said I Love You First, with her husband Benny Blanco. Gomez has collaborated on various singles, such as "We Don't Talk Anymore", "It Ain't Me", "Wolves (Selena Gomez and [Marshmello song)|Wolves]", "Taki Taki", and "Calm Down", the last of which is widely regarded as the most successful Afrobeats song of all time.
She has also starred in various films, including Another Cinderella Story, Monte Carlo, Spring Breakers, The Fundamentals of Caring, The Dead Don't Die, Emilia Pérez, and the Hotel Transylvania film franchise. Gomez has produced series such as 13 Reasons Why, Living Undocumented and Selena + Chef, and has played a lead role in Only Murders in the Building since 2021. Her accolades include an Actor Award, an American Music Award, a Billboard Music Award, a Cannes Film Festival Award, two MTV Video Music Awards and 16 Guinness World Records.
Gomez has worked with charitable organizations. She advocates for mental health, and gender, racial, and LGBT equality, and has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 2009. She founded the cosmetic company Rare Beauty in 2020, valued at $2 billion in 2024, and non-profit Rare Impact Fund. She has appeared in listicles such as the [Time 100|Time 100] and Forbes 30 Under 30, was named Billboards Woman of the Year, and Latin Women of the Year, and was made a member of the Order of Arts and Letters by the Government of France. She is the List of most-followed [Instagram accounts|most-followed woman] on Instagram, and among the wealthiest musicians.
Early life
Selena Marie Gomez was born on July 22, 1992, in Grand Prairie, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. Her parents are Ricardo Joel Gomez and Texas-born former stage actress Amanda Dawn "Mandy" Teefey. She was named after Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla. Her father is of Mexican descent, while her mother, who was adopted, has Italian ancestry. Gomez's paternal grandparents emigrated to Texas from Monterrey, Mexico in the 1970s. She has called herself "a proud third-generation American-Mexican" and once said "My family does have quinceañeras, and we go to the communion church. We do everything that's Catholic, but we don't really have anything traditional except go to the park and have barbecues on Sundays after church." Gomez's Spanish fluency waned after age seven, when she began working on television.Her parents divorced when she was five years old, and she remained with her mother. Gomez's mother and her second husband, Brian Teefey, had a daughter, Gracie Elliot Teefey, born in 2013. Through her father and his second wife, Sara, she has a half-sister, Victoria "Tori" Gomez, and a step-brother named Marcus. For most of her childhood, she was homeschooled, save for a brief period when she attended a traditional school as a young girl. She earned her high-school diploma through homeschooling in May 2010.
Gomez was born when her mother was 16 years old. The family had financial troubles throughout Gomez's childhood, with her mother struggling to provide for the pair. At one point, Gomez recalls that they had to search for quarters to buy gas for their car. Her mother later recalled that the two would frequently walk to their local dollar store to buy spaghetti for dinner.
Gomez has said, "I was frustrated that my parents weren't together, and never saw the light at the end of the tunnel where my mom was working hard to provide a better life for me. I'm terrified of what I would have become if I'd stayed ." She later added that her mother "was really strong around me. Having me at 16 had to have been a big responsibility. She gave up everything for me, had three jobs, supported me, sacrificed her life for me." Gomez had a close relationship with her grandparents as a child and appeared in various pageants. Her grandparents often took care of her while her parents finished their schooling, and she has said they "raised her" until she found success in show business.
Career
2002–2006: Career beginnings
Gomez first gained an interest in pursuing a career in entertainment watching her mother prepare for stage productions. In 2002, she began her acting career on the children's television series Barney & Friends. She appeared in thirteen episodes between 2002 and 2004, as well as in two direct-to-video films associated with the series. Reflecting on the experience, she said, "I was very shy when I was little I didn't know what 'camera right' was. I didn't know what blocking was. I learned everything from Barney." She added that after two seasons the producers felt she was "getting a little too old" for the series. During this period, Gomez had small roles in the family film Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over and the made-for-television film Walker, Texas Ranger: Trial by Fire. She also guest-starred in a 2006 episode of the Disney Channel series The Suite Life of Zack & Cody.2007–2012: Breakthrough with Disney and Selena Gomez & the Scene
Gomez was given a recurring role on the Disney Channel series Hannah Montana in 2007 as the pop star List of [Hannah Montana characters#Mikayla|Mikayla]. Around the same period, she filmed pilot episodes for two prospective Disney Channel series: a Lizzie McGuire spin-off titled What's Stevie Thinking?, and a Suite Life spin-off titled Arwin! She subsequently auditioned for Wizards of Waverly Place and was cast as Alex Russo, a teenage wizard. The series became a major success for the network and helped establish Gomez as a "teen idol". It received positive reviews, with critics highlighting her comic timing and sarcastic delivery.In 2008, while working on the second season of Wizards of Waverly Place, Gomez voiced Helga in the animated film Horton Hears a Who! She also starred as Mary Santiago in the direct-to-video teen musical comedy film Another Cinderella Story, the second installment of the A Cinderella Story series. Her performance earned her a Young Artist Award. She contributed three songs to the film's soundtrack, including her debut single, "Tell Me Something I Don't Know", which became her first entry on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. She performed "Cruella de Vil" for Disney's 101 Dalmatians Platinum Edition DVD, and recorded the song "Fly to Your Heart" for the soundtrack of the animated film Tinker Bell.
At age 16, Gomez signed with Hollywood Records, and formed her own production company, July Moon Productions. The company announced several projects, including the films What Boys Want and an adaptation of the novel Thirteen Reasons Why, neither of which was produced as originally planned. Gomez later served as an executive producer on a television adaptation of the novel.
In 2009, Gomez continued her television work on Disney Channel, reprising her role as Alex Russo in the crossover episode Wizards on Deck with Hannah Montana on The Suite Life on Deck, and guest-starring on Sonny with a Chance. She co-starred with Demi Lovato in the Disney Channel television film Princess Protection Program. The pair recorded the song "One and the Same", included on the film's DVD release. Gomez next starred in Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie, a television film based on the series. The film premiered in August 2009 to an audience of 11.4 million viewers and ranked as the second-highest-rated cable television film of all time, behind High School Musical 2. Roxana Hadadi of Washington Post">Washington, D.C.">Washington Post wrote that the film is carried by the performances of its young leads—Gomez, David Henrie and Jake T. Austin. Gomez recorded three songs for the series and film's soundtrack, including "Magic". Later that year, she voiced Princess Selenia in Luc Besson's hybrid live-action/animated film Arthur and the Revenge of Maltazard.
File:Selena Gomez December 2010.jpg|thumb|upright|Gomez performing at the 2010 KISS FM Jingle Ball
Hoping to cross over into the music industry, Gomez formed the pop rock band Selena Gomez & the Scene under her deal with Hollywood Records, following earlier music work that included soundtrack contributions and a feature on a remix of Forever the Sickest Kids' "Whoa Oh! (Me vs. Everyone)". The group released three studio albums—Kiss & Tell, A Year Without Rain, and When the Sun Goes Down —all of which charted within the top ten of the US Billboard 200. They found mainstream success with singles such as "Naturally", "Who Says", and "Love You Like a Love Song", which became the group's highest-performing single in the US, peaking at number twenty-two on the Billboard Hot 100, where it spent 38 weeks. Billboard later ranked it as the biggest hit to peak at number twenty-two.
In 2010, Gomez portrayed Beezus Quimby opposite Joey King in the family comedy film Ramona and Beezus, an adaptation of the children's novel series by Beverly Cleary. The film received positive reviews; critic Roger Ebert described it as "a sweet salute," and found both actresses "appealing". She also reprised her voice role as Princess Selenia in Arthur 3: The War of the Two Worlds.
The following year, Gomez starred in the romantic comedy film Monte Carlo, alongside Leighton Meester and Katie Cassidy. She played a dual role as Grace and British socialite Cordelia Winthrop-Scott. In preparation for the part, she learned to play polo and received dialect coaching to perform two different British accents. The film received mixed reviews, and critics were divided on her dual performance, with some describing her portrayal of Cordelia—and her accent—as unconvincing. Gomez later made a cameo appearance in the film The Muppets. That year, she hosted the MuchMusic Video Awards and the 2011 [MTV Europe Music Awards|MTV Europe Music Awards].
2012–2014: ''Stars Dance'' and films
During 2012, Selena Gomez & the Scene went on hiatus, which eventually became a permanent split. Gomez described her time with the band as an "exploratory period" as a musician, after which she decided to pursue a solo music career: "And there was a moment when I felt like I could do it and I wanted to try it on my own". That year, Wizards of Waverly Place officially ended its run on the Disney Channel after four seasons.Gomez starred in Harmony Korine's independent crime film Spring Breakers, alongside James Franco, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson and Rachel Korine. The film premiered at the 69th Venice International Film Festival, and was released the following year. She portrayed Faith, a religious college student whose spring break trip takes a criminal turn. Gomez played a more mature character than she had previously, and she recalled finding parts of the shoot emotionally challenging. Spring Breakers received generally positive reviews from critics, with some describing it as a potential cult classic. The film entered various retrospective "best of" lists. Manohla Dargis of The New York Times wrote that the film gave Gomez "the chance to simulate the behavior that feeds the tabloids" without the "humiliations" or "career-crushing price" associated with it.
Gomez voiced Mavis Dracula in the animated film Hotel Transylvania, which premiered in September at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival, and was released theatrically later that month to mixed reviews. The film was commercially successful, grossing US$358 million worldwide. She also made a cameo appearance in the horror film Aftershock In 2013, she starred alongside Ethan Hawke in the action thriller Getaway, portraying a hacker. The film was widely panned by critics and became a box-office bomb. Several critics described Gomez as miscast. She also served as executive producer and reprised her role as Alex Russo in the Disney Channel television special The Wizards Return: Alex vs. Alex.
Despite earlier claims that she would be taking a break from music, Gomez released "Come & Get It" in April 2013; it served as the lead single of her solo debut album. It became Gomez's first top-ten entry on the US Billboard Hot 100, reaching number six, and also reached the top-ten in Canada and the U.K. The album, Stars Dance, was released in July 2013. It is musically rooted in EDM and electropop. The record became her first album to debut at number one in the US, selling 97,000 copies in its first week, and also reached number one in Canada. It received mixed reviews from music critics, with some saying she was unable to create her own musical identity. The album's second single, "Slow Down", achieved moderate success. "Come & Get It" won Best Pop Video at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards.
Gomez embarked on her Stars Dance Tour in August 2013. Discussing its concept, she said she wanted the tour to emphasize dancing and performance over elaborate staging, having been inspired by artists such as Janet Jackson and Britney Spears. After performing in North America and Europe, she canceled the Australian and Asian legs of the tour in December 2013, wanting to take time for herself. In January 2014, it was reported that Gomez had spent two weeks at Dawn at The Meadows, a treatment facility in Wickenburg, Arizona. Her representative stated that she had spent time there "voluntarily but not for substance abuse". Gomez confirmed in 2015 that she had been diagnosed with lupus and had undergone chemotherapy, which led her to cancel tour dates in 2013.
Gomez had a supporting role in the drama Rudderless, the directorial debut of William H. Macy. Filmed prior to her treatment stay, the independent film premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, and received a mixed reception from critics. She contributed the song "Hold On", performed with Ben Kweller, to the film's soundtrack. Gomez then played Nina Pennington in the teen comedy Behaving Badly. Released in August, it received a generally negative critical and commercial reception. However, critics deemed Gomez's performance superior to the film.
In April 2014, Gomez ended her management arrangement with her mother and stepfather, who had managed her since her Disney years. She later signed with the WMA and Brillstein companies to manage her career. Hollywood Reporter">Hollywood, Los Angeles">Hollywood Reporter reported that the move reflected a strategy to pursue more adult-oriented work in film and music, and finally get rid of the image of the "Disney's Teen Idol". This change fueled rumors that her contract with Hollywood Records was coming to an end. In November 2014, Gomez surprise-released her new single "The Heart Wants What It Wants", and confirmed after months of speculation that she would be releasing a compilation album to complete her contract with her label. The single became her second top-ten hit in the US, and reached the top-ten in Canada. Later that month, Gomez released her first greatest hits album, For You. The compilation album debuted at number twenty-four on the US Billboard 200. Gomez officially parted ways with Hollywood Records and later signed with Interscope Records in December 2014.
2015–2016: ''Revival''
While working on her second studio album, Gomez collaborated with DJ and producer Zedd on "I Want You to Know", released in February 2015, which debuted at number seventeen in the US. In May, she appeared in Taylor Swift's music video for "Bad Blood". Later that year, Gomez reprised the voice role of Mavis in Hotel Transylvania 2; the film received mixed reviews and was a commercial success, grossing US$475 million worldwide. She served as a key advisor during the ninth season of the reality singing competition The Voice, and made a cameo appearance in Adam McKay's film The Big Short.Gomez released her second studio album, Revival, in October 2015. Primarily a dance-pop and electropop record with R&B influences, the album was received positively by critics, who praised its production and lyrical content. Writing for Rolling Stone, Brittany Spanos stated that "Revival is an audacious name for a 23-year-old singer's second album, but from start to finish, Gomez earns it," noting that "his is the sound of a newly empowered pop artist growing into her strengths like never before." In retrospective commentary, some critics described Revival as an influential pop album of the late 2010s. The album debuted at number-one on the US Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 117,000 album units. It was preceded by the singles "Good for You", featuring rapper ASAP Rocky, and "Same Old Love", while "Hands to Myself" and "Kill Em with Kindness" were later released as singles. "Good for You" debuted at number-one on the Digital Song Sales chart with first-week sales of 179,000 copies—the best sales week of her career for a single. It became her first top-five entry on the Billboard Hot 100, and also reached the top-ten on charts in Australia and Canada. Revival spawned three top-ten singles in the US and Canada—"Good for You", "Same Old Love", and "Hands to Myself"—all of which topped the Pop Airplay chart, making Gomez the sixth woman to score at least three number-one singles on that chart from a single set. Gomez received the Chart-Topper Award at the 2015 Billboard Women in Music event.
In early 2016, Gomez continued promoting Revival and appeared as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live. She starred as Dot in the comedy-drama The Fundamentals of Caring, alongside Paul Rudd and Craig Roberts; it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and was released on Netflix in June 2016. It received a positive critical response; Tristram Fane Saunders of The Daily Telegraph described Gomez's performance as "impressive" and "mature". She also appeared in the comedy film Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, which received mixed to positive reviews, and guest-starred in the Comedy Central sketch series Inside Amy Schumer. Later that year, Gomez had a supporting role in the drama film In Dubious Battle, starring and directed by James Franco. The film had its world premiere at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival, received mixed reviews, and was released the following year.
That same year, Gomez embarked on her worldwide Revival Tour in May 2016. She claimed that the tour would focus solely on her as an artist and would feature less choreography and fewer effects than her previous tour. Gomez began working on her third studio album while touring and added a new song titled "Feel Me" to the setlist of her Revival Tour; it was later released in 2020. After completing dates in North America, Asia and Oceania, she canceled the European and South American legs in August 2016, due to anxiety, panic attacks and depression caused by her lupus. She was featured on two collaborations that year: Charlie Puth's single, "We Don't Talk Anymore" and Cashmere Cat's "Trust Nobody". "We Don't Talk Anymore" was an international success, and reached the top-ten in the US, Australia, France, Spain, and topped the charts in Italy.
In March 2016, Gomez became the most followed person on Instagram, and the first person to reach 100 million followers on the platform. In February 2023, she regained her status as the most-followed woman on the platform. After taking time off to address health issues, she made a surprise return to the public eye at the 2016 American Music Awards, where she won Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist and was nominated for Artist of the Year. That year, she received two nominations at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards, including Top Female Artist, and was named to Forbes 30 Under 30 in the music category.
2017–2019: Standalone releases and ''13 Reasons Why''
Gomez and the Norwegian DJ Kygo released the single "It Ain't Me", in February 2017. The collaboration reached the top-ten of most major music charts worldwide, including the US and the U.K., and attained top five peaks in Australia, Canada, Germany and many European countries. It later received nominations for the Billboard Music Award for Top Dance/Electronic Song and the Best Dance Video|MTV Video Music Award for Best Dance].Gomez served as an executive producer on the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why, an adaptation of Jay Asher's novel. Universal Pictures acquired the screen rights in 2011, with Gomez initially attached to portray Hannah Baker; the project later shifted into a television adaptation, with Gomez remaining involved as an executive producer. The show premiered in March 2017. It drew criticism from mental health and suicide-prevention groups over concerns about its content and handling of sensitive themes. Gomez addressed the controversy, saying that the production aimed to remain faithful to the book and "do it justice," adding that backlash was inevitable and that "it’s not an easy subject to talk about." The first season was a critical success, while later seasons were met with generally negative reviews. 13 Reasons Why was the most-watched original streaming series of 2018, and ended after four seasons in June 2020. Gomez recorded a cover version of the song "Only You" for the series' first season soundtrack.
In May 2017, Gomez released the single "Bad Liar", accompanied by a vertical music video available exclusively on Spotify; it was the first music video to premiere on the platform. The song received widespread critical acclaim, with some deeming it Gomez's best song to date; Billboard ranked it as the best song of 2017. Two months later, she released "Fetish" featuring rapper Gucci Mane two month later. In October 2017, Gomez and Marshmello released the single "Wolves". The song was a commercial success, and reached the top ten on charts in Australia, Canada, the U.K, and several European countries, peaking at number twenty in the US. Later that year, Gomez was named Billboards Woman of the Year.
In May 2018, Gomez released the single "Back to You", from the 13 Reasons Why Season 2 Soundtrack. It reached the top-ten across several European countries, top-five in Australia and Canada, and reached top-twenty in the US and the UK. In July 2018, Gomez voiced Mavis again in Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation. With box office earnings of US$528 million, the film was a commercial success, and received mixed to positive reviews. Gomez featured on DJ Snake's song "Taki Taki" alongside Ozuna and Cardi B, released in September 2018. The single achieved global success, reaching the top-ten in Canada, France, Germany, and Italy, topping the charts in Spain and several Latin American countries, and peaked at number eleven in the US. Billboard reported that, from 2011 to 2018, Gomez had 16 consecutive top-forty hits on the Billboard Hot 100, the longest active run of any artist at the time. In 2019, it received nominations including Best Dance at the MTV Video Music Awards, and Top Dance/Electronic Song and Top Latin Song at the Billboard Music Awards. Gomez also featured on two songs in 2019: Julia Michaels's "Anxiety", and "I Can't Get Enough" with Benny Blanco, Tainy and J Balvin.
Gomez was part of the ensemble cast of Jim Jarmusch's comedy horror The Dead Don't Die. The film premiered as the opening film at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, and received mixed reviews. That year, she starred in Woody Allen's romantic comedy A Rainy Day in New York, alongside Timothée Chalamet and Elle Fanning. Amid renewed attention to the 1992 sexual abuse allegation against Allen prompted by the MeToo movement, Gomez donated over $1 million—more than her salary from the film—to the Time's Up initiative. The film received mixed reviews, but Gomez's performance was praised; Jessica Kiang of Variety wrote that she "comes out the best of the younger cast, husking her way through some of the film's better lines."
Gomez served as an executive producer for the Netflix docuseries Living Undocumented, released in October 2019, which follows eight undocumented families in America. The docuseries was a critical success. In an op-ed for Time, Gomez wrote that she was approached about the project in 2017 and chose to participate after viewing footage that captured the "shame, uncertainty, and fear" her own family had experienced, as well as the "hope, optimism, and patriotism" she said many undocumented immigrants still hold.
2020–2023: ''Rare'', ''Revelación'', and ''Only Murders in the Building''
On October 23, 2019, Gomez released "Lose You to Love Me" as the lead single from her third studio album. The following day, she surprise-released the promotional single "Look at Her Now". "Lose You to Love Me" became her first number-one song in the US and Canada, and reached the top five of various national charts worldwide, including those in Australia and the UK. Rare was released on January 10, 2020, and debuted atop the US Billboard 200, earning 112,000 album-equivalent units in its first week. It became her third consecutive number-one album in the US, and topped the charts in Australia, Canada, and several other territories, while peaking at number two in the UK. Primarily a dance-pop record, it incorporates elements of R&B, electronic music, and alternative pop. Critics responded positively, praising its production and cohesiveness; several publications described it as Gomez's best album to date. Jem Aswad of Variety labeled Rare "one of the best pop albums to be released in recent memory". Two additional singles followed: the title track, in conjunction with the album, and "Boyfriend", issued with the deluxe edition in April 2020. She was also featured on the remix of Trevor Daniel's "Past Life", and collaborated with South Korean girl group Blackpink for "Ice Cream", which peaked at number thirteen in the US.Beyond music, Gomez voiced Betsy the giraffe in the adventure film Dolittle, starring Robert Downey Jr. She then hosted and executive produced the HBO Max cooking show Selena + Chef, which premiered in August 2020, and was initially filmed remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Each episode highlights a food-related charity. The show received positive reviews, ran for four seasons until September 2022, and later expanded into two Food Network projects—Selena + Chef: Home for the Holidays and Selena + Restaurant —both hosted and executive produced by Gomez. Her work across the franchise earned her three nominations for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Culinary Program. Gomez also executive produced two films that year; the teen comedy-drama This Is the Year, and the romantic comedy The Broken Hearts Gallery, released in September, to positive reviews. That year, Gomez was honored by The Latin Recording Academy as one of the Leading Ladies of Entertainment, and Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Gomez released her first Spanish-language project, an EP titled Revelación, in March 2021. Incorporating reggaeton and latin pop with urbano elements, the project marked a stylistic departure from the dance-pop sound of Rare. It debuted at number twenty-two in the US, earning 23,000 equivalent album units in its first week, and debuted atop the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart, becoming the first release by a woman to do so in several years. Revelación received positive reviews, and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Album. Critics noted Gomez's artistic expansion; Entertainment Weekly Marcus Jones described her as "a far more versatile musician than she's been given credit for". The EP was supported by the singles "Baila Conmigo (Selena Gomez and [Rauw Alejandro song)|Baila Conmigo]" with Rauw Alejandro, and "Selfish Love" with DJ Snake. With Revelación and "Baila Conmigo", she became the first female act to top the US Latin Albums and Latin Airplay charts simultaneously in over a decade. The music video for the promotional single "De Una Vez" was nominated for the Best Short Form Music Video at the 22nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards. Gomez performed at the 2021 UEFA Champions League final opening ceremony in May. In August, she collaborated with Colombian singer Camilo on the single "Camilo song)|999]".
Gomez starred in and executive produced the mystery-comedy series Only Murders in the Building alongside Steve Martin and Martin Short, portraying Mabel Mora. The series premiered in August 2021 and set a record as Hulu's most-watched comedy premiere day. Ahead of the premiere, Gomez said she was glad to play a character closer to her own age, recalling that she had "signed life away" to The Walt Disney Company at a very young age and "did not know what she was doing". The series has received critical acclaim since its debut. Critics praised the performances and chemistry among the main trio; Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote: "Gomez is a true co-star in the series and does a superb job of meshing with Martin and Short to form one of the more entertaining albeit unlikely friendship trios in recent memory." For her work on the series, Gomez won the Satellite Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy, and received nominations for the Critics' Choice Television Award and the Primetime Emmy Award, as well as four Golden Globe nominations, all for Best Actress in a Comedy Series. The cast won the SAG Award for Outstanding Ensemble in a Comedy Series. As an executive producer, Gomez has received four Primetime Emmy Awards nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series; trade publications reported that this made her the most-nominated Latina producer in Emmy history.
Gomez reprised her voice role as Mavis and served as an executive producer for the animated film Hotel Transylvania: Transformania. The film was released on Amazon Prime Video in January 2022 to mixed reviews. She collaborated with Coldplay on "Let Somebody Go", released as a single in February. In May, she hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live, and returned for a cameo appearance later that year. Gomez also executive produced the ViX+ docuseries Mi Vecino, El Cartel. In August, she was featured on the remix of Nigerian singer Rema's "Calm Down". The single became an international hit, reaching number three on the Billboard Global 200, while becoming Gomez's ninth top-ten entry in the US, peaking at number three, and her second number-one hit in Canada. In the US, it topped Billboards all-genre Radio Songs chart for ten weeks—her first number one on the chart—and became the longest-running number-one in the history of the Billboard U.S. [Afrobeats Songs|US Afrobeats Songs] chart, spending 58 weeks at the summit. It also became the longest-charting song on Billboard's Pop Airplay chart, both in the top ten and overall. Billboard described the track as "Afrobeats' biggest crossover hit. According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, it was the second best-selling song worldwide of 2023. The song earned five Billboard Music Award nominations, winning the award for Top Afrobeats Song, and also received the MTV Video Music Award for Best Afrobeats.
Gomez was the subject of the Alek Keshishian-directed documentary film, Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me. The film premiered at the AFI Fest in November 2022, and was released two days later on Apple TV+ and in select movie theaters. It was met with a positive critical reception upon release; with critics noting its candid approach to mental health. Chris Azzopardi from The New York Times described it as an "honest portrait study of stardom and mental illness". Gomez released the song "My Mind & Me" to coincide with the documentary. In March 2023, she appeared in the season two finale of the Apple TV+ documentary television series Dear.... She released the standalone single "Single Soon" in August 2023; It reached the top-twenty of the Billboard Global 200, as well as in the US and Canada.
2024–present: Continued acting and ''I Said I Love You First''
In January 2024, Gomez admitted to having a preference for acting over music and mentioned having "one more album in me". She had "never really intended on being a singer full-time", but "that hobby" evolved into a career during her days working with Disney. Gomez later clarified that "music isn't going away" and that she had "just set it down for a second". In February, she released the standalone single "Love On".File:Cast of Emilia Perez at TIFF 2024 the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Gomez with her co-stars of Emilia Pérez, all of whom were awarded the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress
Gomez starred in Jacques Audiard's Spanish-language musical crime film Emilia Pérez, portraying Jessi, the title character's wife. She took Spanish lessons for the role. The film premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, where Gomez and her female co-stars—Karla Sofía Gascón, Adriana Paz, and Zoe Saldaña—jointly won the Best Actress Award. It received generally positive reviews, but it also drew criticism over its depiction of Mexico and transgender identity. Amid controversy surrounding the film, including attention to Gascón's resurfaced social-media posts, Gomez said that "some of the magic has disappeared," while adding that she remained proud of her work. Critics praised her "scene-stealing" presence and emotional range, though her Spanish pronunciation drew some criticism. Maureen Lee Lenker of Entertainment Weekly wrote that the role allowed Gomez to "shine as a dramatic actress in new ways," while David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter noted that, although her role is less central, she "plays both the hard edges and the vulnerability of a woman whose life has been uprooted twice and who needs to find her own happiness, even if it sets her on a dangerous path." Gomez received nominations for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture, while the ensemble cast was nominated for a SAG Award. That year, she was appointed Chevalier de l'Ordre des arts et des lettres. She performed two songs for the film's soundtrack, including "Mi camino".
Gomez co-produced and appeared in the documentary Louder: The Soundtrack of Change, released on HBO Max in October 2024. She also guest-starred and reprised her role as Alex Russo in Wizards Beyond Waverly Place, a sequel series to Wizards of Waverly Place, and served as an executive producer on the series. Gomez cited her attachment to the original series as a reason for returning to the franchise. The series premiered on Disney Channel in October 2024, and on Disney+ the following day. Critics responded positively to her return, highlighting her comedic timing and her dynamic with co-star David Henrie.
In March 2025, Gomez and Benny Blanco released the collaborative album I Said I Love You First, which also marked her fourth studio album. It was preceded by the surprise-released promotional single "Scared of Loving You", and spawned three singles: "Call Me When You Break Up", featuring Gracie Abrams, "Sunset Blvd (Selena Gomez and [Benny Blanco song)|Sunset Blvd]", and "Ojos Tristes" with The Marías. I Said I Love You First received positive reviews from music critics, and debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, with 120,000 units, marking Gomez's largest sales week to date. It also debuted within the top five in several countries, including Australia, Germany, Ireland, and the UK. Gomez was named Billboard Latin Women of the Year. The album track "Bluest Flame" received a nomination for Best Dance Pop Recording at the 68th Annual Grammy Awards. She was also featured on the song "Pick It Up" from Cardi B's second studio album, Am I the Drama?. In October, Gomez released the single "In the Dark" for the soundtrack to the second season of the Netflix series Nobody Wants This.
Artistry
Musical style
Gomez is described as a pop artist. Her work is primarily characterized as dance-pop and EDM; however, she has experimented with different music genres. Her debut album with the Scene was influenced by electronic rock and pop rock, while her subsequent records with the band opted for a dance-pop sound. A Year Without Rain noted synth-pop characteristics, and When the Sun Goes Down featured a more electropop and electro-disco musical direction. Her debut solo album Stars Dance was rooted in the EDM-pop genre—Gomez herself described it as "baby dubstep"—drawing elements from electronic, disco, techno, and dancehall. Her songs "The Heart Wants What It Wants" and "Good for You" have been described as "minimalistic" and "grown-up", introducing a more adult pop sound into her repertoire.Influences
Early in her career, Gomez cited Bruno Mars as an influence for "his style of music, his style in general, the way he performs, the way he carries himself". She has also named Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Beyoncé, Rihanna, and Taylor Swift as influences. Gomez's debut solo album Stars Dance was prominently influenced by Spears, Swift, and EDM producer Skrillex. Her second album, Revival, was mainly inspired by Aguilera's album Stripped, as well as Janet Jackson and Spears.Songwriting
In regard to Gomez's writing craft, co-writer Ali Tamposi revealed the following to Elle: "We actually started writing another song together while we were in the studio with Andrew Watt and I was really impressed by her collaboration, her ideas, how open she was and willing to tap into a place that is scary with having the power that she has over so many people—to really be honest with her lyrics," "She's extremely collaborative and she has great ideas. We'll just talk. I've only had the chance to get in with her once, I'm sure we'll be working together, hopefully, in the future. But she comes up with tons of ideas and concepts, and she's a really great writer. It just flows naturally, and we just write on the guitar."During a conversation with Amy Schumer for Interview, Gomez candidly opened up about the writing process for her hit song, "Lose You to Love Me". Gomez said: "I wrote it at the beginning of last year, and had just gotten out of treatment. It was a moment when I came back and I was like, "I'm ready to go into the studio with people I trust and start working on songs." There was an air around it where people were very happy, because it was like I was going to finally be me. But I didn't necessarily see it that way at the time. When I wrote the song, I was basically saying that I needed to hit rock-bottom to understand that there was this huge veil over my face."
On The Kelly Clarkson Show, Gomez opened up about of processing her own feelings through songwriting, calling it "the best therapy".
In a conversation with Zane Lowe for Apple Music, Gomez was joined by Julia Michaels and Justin Tranter to talk about the creative process, incl. collaborative songwriting for her album, Rare. Gomez co-wrote every song on that album.
Philanthropy and advocacy
UNICEF
In October 2008, Gomez participated in St. Jude's Children's Hospital's "Runway For Life" by walking the runway as a model in Beverly Hills, where over $1 million was raised for the cause. That same month, Gomez was named UNICEF's spokesperson for the Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF campaign, which encouraged children to raise money on Halloween to help children around the world. In August 2009, Gomez, then 17 years old, became the youngest UNICEF ambassador. In her first official field mission, Gomez traveled to Ghana in September 2009 for one week to witness first-hand the stark conditions of vulnerable children that lack vital necessities such as clean water, nourishment, education and healthcare. Gomez explained in an interview with Associated Press correspondents that she wanted to use her star power to bring awareness to Ghana: "That's why I feel very honored to have a voice that kids listen to and take into consideration I had people on my tour asking me where IS Ghana, and they Googled it and because I went there, they now know where Ghana is. So it's pretty incredible." Gomez said, of her role as ambassador, that "Every day 25,000 children die from preventable causes. I stand with UNICEF in the belief that we can change that number from 25,000 to zero. I know we can achieve this because every moment, UNICEF is on the ground providing children with the lifesaving assistance needed to ensure zero becomes a reality."Gomez was named spokesperson for UNICEF's 2009 Trick-or-Treat campaign for the second year in a row. She raised over $700,000 for the charity in 2008 and stated that she hopes to be able to raise US$1 million in 2009. Gomez participated in a celebrity auction and hosted a live web cast series on Facebook in support of the Trick-or-Treat campaign. She returned as the UNICEF spokesperson for the 60th anniversary of Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF campaign in 2010. In celebration of the organization's 60th anniversary, Gomez and the Scene held a benefit concert, donating all proceeds to the campaign. Gomez also encouraged teenagers to donate via social media. She also auctioned personal items to CharityBuzz.com, designed a Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF t-shirt and participated in a small concert in Los Angeles. With Gomez's help, UNICEF raised $4 million.
In February 2011, Gomez traveled to Chile to meet with the families of the UNICEF-supported "Programa Puente", which helped families better understand and develop skills to deal with early childhood education, development, and other issues related to raising children. Gomez remarked that "UNICEF is helping Chilean families get out of poverty, prevent violence within the home and promote education. To witness first hand these families' struggles, and also their hope and perseverance, was truly inspiring". In March, Gomez participated in the UNICEF Tap Project's "Celebrity Tap Pack" which featured limited-edition, custom-made water bottles with tap water from the homes of each celebrity advocate to raise funds and increase profile for the clean water and sanitation programs. All the funds raised made it possible to provide clean, safe drinking water to children in Vietnam, Togo, Mauritania, and Cameroon- countries where it's desperately needed. She was also featured in videos that promoted the campaign. In April 2012, she advocated for the global "Sound the Alarm" campaign on Facebook and Twitter, and recorded a public announcement encouraging young people to donate $10 via text message to prevent the death of a million children from malnutrition in the Sahel Region of West and Central Africa.
Gomez has conducted and organized three charity concerts to help UNICEF provide children around the world with life-saving therapeutic foods, medicines, clean water, education, and immunization. In total, Gomez's three charity concerts for UNICEF have raised nearly $400,000 for UNICEF programs worldwide. In 2014, Gomez visited Nepal to raise awareness for children in need. A UNICEF ambassador since 2009, Gomez has played an active role in advocating for the world's "most vulnerable children" by participating in several campaigns, events, and initiatives on behalf of the organization. In June 2021, Gomez signed a UNICEF open letter urging the G7 "to donate more coronavirus vaccines to the international COVAX initiative."
Other charity work
Gomez was involved in the UR Votes Count campaign, which encouraged teenagers to learn more about 2008 presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain. The following year, Gomez became the ambassador of DoSomething after being involved with the charity Island Dog, which helped dogs in Puerto Rico. Gomez updated fans on her blog at MySpace: "We are spending the day feeding puppies, washing them and hanging out with them. After we spend the day with them we are sending these dogs to different places in the U.S the no-kill dog shelters so they can find a home ." She joined while filming Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie in Puerto Rico. In 2009, Gomez has been involved with the charity RAISE Hope For Congo, an initiative of the Enough Project, raising funds for war-torn African country, in order to raise awareness of conflict minerals and sexual crimes and violence committed against women and girls in the Congo, as well as to eliminate sexual violence, torture and other atrocities through the 4P method; Peace, Protection, Punishment and Prevention.From 2009 to 2012, Gomez was involved in "Disney's Friends for Change", an organization which promoted "environmentally-friendly behavior", and appeared in its public service announcements. Gomez, Demi Lovato, Miley Cyrus, and the Jonas Brothers recorded the charity single "Send It On" as the ad hoc musical team "Disney's Friends For Change", all of whose proceeds were donated into the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund. The song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 20. Billboard included this song in their list of The 100 Greatest Disneyverse Songs of All Time. In April 2012, Gomez was named ambassador to the Ryan Seacrest Foundation. The year before, Gomez made an appearance at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia during a Ryan Seacrest Foundation broadcast from the hospital's multimedia center. She was also a spokesperson for State Farm Insurance and appeared in numerous television commercials, which aired on the Disney Channel, to raise awareness of being a safe driver. Gomez provided the narration for Girl Rising, a CNN documentary film, which focused on the power of female education as it followed seven girls around the world who sought to overcome obstacles and follow their dreams.
In 2017, during her partnership with Coach, Gomez participated in activities with Step Up, an organization that supports girls in under-resourced communities to pursue an education. Gomez attended Step Up events at two Los Angeles high schools. She conversed with the girls and gifted them new Coach bags. Gomez attended the We Day California youth empowerment event in Los Angeles in 2018 and 2019. During the 2018 event, Gomez introduced Nellie Mainor, a young fan who had a rare kidney disease. Her participation in We Day 2019 was her first appearance after an extended break from the spotlight. Gomez continued her partnership with WE Charity when she traveled to Kenya in December 2019 to meet the local community and visit schools built by the organization. During the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season, Gomez donated US$3 million to fight Australia wildfires and urged followers to do the same.
In 2020, she created the Rare Impact Fund to help "young people gain access to mental health resources", which is committed to raise US$100 million over its first ten years since establishment. To achieve that goal, one percent of all sales of Rare Beauty products go toward the fund. In its first year, the Rare Impact Fund distributed $1.2 million in grants to support 8 organizations that work to expand mental health services in educational settings. For each episode of her HBO Max cooking show Selena + Chef, the show donated $10,000 to the charity of the chef's choice, often food related. In 2021, over the first two seasons of the show, $360,000 was raised for nonprofit organizations. Gomez donated 10 percent of the net proceeds from her cookware line with Our Place to the Rare Impact Fund, which focuses on mental health awareness. From 2023 to 2024, Gomez and Sephora donate all 100 percent of global Rare Beauty sales to the Rare Impact Fund in honor of World Mental Health Day. As of September 2024, the Rare Impact Fund has raised over $16 million since 2020, and distributed grants to support 26 mental health-focused organizations across five continents. Serendipity Brands—which Gomez is a co-owner and investor of—donated $1 from every ice cream pint and product sold in May 2022 to the Rare Impact Fund. In October, Gomez co-founded Wondermind, a mental health-focused digital platform. In December 2022, she donated exclusive items to the 2nd Annual ASCAP Foundation, which supports music education and talent development programs across the US.
In response to the Gaza war, Gomez and her cosmetics brand Rare Beauty issued a statement about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and donated funds to Magen David Adom in Israel and Palestinian Red Crescent Society in Gaza and the West Bank, and also donated to UNICEF to help get urgent medical relief and resources to the children of Gaza. Both Gomez and Rare Beauty were heavily criticized for their misleading statement which implied solidarity with the people of Gaza, whilst they donated funds to Magen David Adom, which is an auxiliary service to the Israel Defense Forces. Gomez signed an Artist4Ceasefire letter in October 2023 calling on President Joe Biden and Congress to call for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza. The letter says: "We believe that all life is sacred, regardless of faith or ethnicity, and we condemn the killing of Palestinian and Israeli civilians". In December 2023, she attended Ramy Youssef's fundraiser for Gaza.
In January 2025, Gomez volunteered to help distribute basic necessities during the 2025 Southern California wildfires to those who were displaced by the tragedy, and also, together with her brand Rare Beauty, made donation to the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation and World Central Kitchen, who are on the ground providing immediate aid. During the pop-up of the fifth anniversary of her album, Rare, Gomez sent all proceeds from sales of all products to fight 2025 Southern California wildfires.
Advocacy
Gomez advocates for various causes. She is known for frequently raising awareness on mental health. In 2019, she received the McLean Award for mental health advocacy. The Stanford Healthcare Innovation Lab honored her with the first ever Mental Health Innovations Award for Excellence in Mental Health Advocacy in 2022. That year, she also received the Morton E. Ruderman Award in Inclusion by the Ruderman Family Foundation. Gomez has shown support for the LGBTQ community. She joined numerous celebrities to write a "love letter" during pride month, as a part of Billboards 30 Days of Pride during the month of June 2016. She also collaborated with 23 other artists for the charity single "Hands", a tribute for the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting, to raise funds for Equality Florida's Pulse Victims Fund, GLAAD, and the GLBT Community Center of Central Florida. That year, she donated proceeds of her Revival Tour concert in North Carolina to fight the state's recent legislation known as the "bathroom law". The law, repealed in 2017, required people to use public restrooms in line with their birth gender unless they had fully transitioned.In 2023, Gomez and her cosmetics brand Rare Beauty, participated in the 53rd annual Los Angeles Pride Parade, as well as her Rare Impact Fund has been donating funds since the foundation for The Trevor Project and in 2023 for Trans Lifeline who focus on LGBTQ+ youth. In April 2024, Gomez participated as one of the speakers at the Time 100 Summit, which brought together the Global TIME 100 community to discuss encouragement and solutions for actions that aim to improve the future by telling the stories go global personalities and ideas that shape our world. Gomez spoke about important issues related to mental health protection, social media and many others. On May 1, 2024, Gomez held a special event dedicated to mental health awareness Rare Beauty Summit, where she also offered resources to solve mental health problems, the U.S. Surgeon General Vice Admiral Vivek Murthy joined her at this event, he thanked Gomez for creating the Rare Impact Fund and for paving the way for self-acceptance, support and healing.
In 2014, Gomez spoke out about the 2014 Gaza War, posting a message on her social media in which she asked for help and prayers for Gaza, the message read: "It's About Humanity. Pray for Gaza"., "Please pray for those families and babies today. Please always remember what's important in life. It's not any of this. We are here to help, inspire and love. Be that change. #wearethenextgeneration," Gomez wrote in the caption. A few hours later, she added that: "And of course to be clear, I am not picking any sides. I am praying for peace and humanity for all!" Gomez wrote in her message. In the wake of the Alabama abortion ban in May 2019, Gomez spoke out on Instagram in favor of abortion rights in the United States. Amidst Roe v. Wade being overturned in June 2022, Gomez stated she is "not happy" and that "men need to stand up and also speak against this issue. It's also the amount of women that are hurting." Gomez is a critic of racism and supported the Black Lives Matter movement, lending her Instagram account to Alicia Garza, co-creator of Black Lives Matter and one of the founders of Black Futures Lab, in June 2020. In May 2021, Gomez participated in the VAX Live: The Concert to Reunite the World concert organized by Global Citizen to promote the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines worldwide through the COVAX program. The event urged people to ask their governments to pledge $22.1 billion in aid to the vaccine distribution. In May 2022, MTV partnered with Gomez and the Rare Impact Fund by Rare Beauty to host the Mental Health Youth Action Forum at the White House in coordination with the Biden-Harris Administration.
Business and ventures
Products and endorsements
In 2009, Gomez was part of Sears's back-to-school fashion campaign and featured in television commercials. She hosted the "Sears Arrive Air Band Casting Call" to select five winners for the first-ever "Sears Air Band" to perform at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. She also became the spokesperson for Borden Milk and starred in campaign's print ads and television commercials for the brand.Having previously announced plans to launch a fashion line, Gomez released the Dream Out Loud collection in 2010. It consisted of bohemian dresses, floral tops, jeans, skirts, jackets, scarves and hats, all of which were made from recycled or eco-friendly materials. Gomez stated, "With my line, I really want to give the customer options on how they can put their own looks together I want the pieces that can be easy to dress up or down, and the fabrics being eco-friendly and organic is super important Also, the tags will all have some of my inspirational quotes on them. I'm just looking to send a good message." Gomez teamed up with designers Tony Melillo and Sandra Campos for the project, both of whom had previously worked with big-name fashion houses. Melillo and Campos teamed with New York-based Adjmi Apparel to manufacture the brand, which was formed by Adjmi CH Brands LLC, the holding company for the brand. From 2010 to 2014, Gomez worked with retailer Kmart to release the clothing line.
It was announced on July 14, 2011, that Gomez had signed a license agreement with Adrenalina, an extreme sports and adventure-themed lifestyle brand, to develop, manufacture, and distribute her own fragrance. Chairman and CEO of Adrenalina, Ilia Lekach, said, "We are incredibly enthused to be working with Ms. Gomez and will reveal more details pertaining to the fragrance as we get closer to the launch date." The perfume was released in May 2012. In 2013, she released her second fragrance, Vivamore by Selena Gomez. She also created her own collection of nail polish colors for Nicole by OPI.
From 2013 to 2015, Gomez was a spokesperson and partner for Neo by Adidas. In 2015, Gomez signed $3 million endorsement deal with Pantene. In 2016, Gomez appeared in a fashion campaign for luxury brand Louis Vuitton. She also appeared in ads for Coca-Cola's "Share a Coke" campaign, and advertisements for the campaign and lyrics from two of her songs were featured on Coca-Cola packaging nationwide. In 2017, Gomez confirmed her collaboration with Coach, beginning with their fall line, thereby becoming the new face of the brand. The limited-edition collection of handbags was called the "Selena Grace" line. Gomez's second collection and "first ever ready-to-wear collection for Coach", named Coach X Selena Gomez, included clothing, outerwear, and bags. That year, Gomez signed a $30 million contract with the athletic brand Puma as brand ambassador, appearing in campaigns such as those for the Phenom Lux sneakers released in March. Her collection with Puma, called SG x PUMA Strong Girl collection, launched on December 12 of that year and contained products from sneakers to athleisure attire. Since 2017, Gomez has been one of the highest-paid people on Instagram, becoming the highest paid-person on the platform of 2017. As of July 2023, Gomez earns $1.7 million per sponsored Instagram post.
In April 2020, Gomez became an owner and investor of the ice cream brand Serendipity. In July 2021, she released a swimwear line with La'Mariette. In November, Gomez co-founded the mental health media platform Wondermind. The following month, Gomez became an investor in the food delivery company Gopuff. In May 2022, she collaborated with Our Place on a cookware line, the Summer Collection. A second edition of the range was released in June 2023. In February 2025, Gomez and Benny Blanco's collaboration "Talk" was previewed as the soundtrack to an Apple advertisement for the iPhone 16e, before its release the following month. Gomez and Mondelez International collaborated to create limited edition Oreo cookies featuring chocolate and cinnamon creme, and 6 cookie designs themed after her.
Rare Beauty
In September 2020, Gomez launched her own makeup and cosmetics brand, Rare Beauty. The brand " aims to help people feel good about themselves" by promoting inclusivity and mental health initiatives; it sells cruelty-free and vegan products packaged with recyclable materials certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. Following its release on its official webstore and Sephora stores in the US, the brand was eventually made available in the Middle East, Europe, and Southeast Asia. It was named Startup of the Year at the 2020 WWD Beauty Inc Awards. Rare Beauty was named as Times most influential company of 2024.As of May 2024, the brand is valued at $2 billion. It is one of the best-selling brands at Sephora and the fastest-growing celebrity beauty brand on social media. Rare Beauty has already sold US$70 million worth of liquid blush, in 2022 alone. In 2023, Rare Beauty emerged as the top index brand on TikTok and Instagram, with a combined media impact value of US$313,198,657 on the two platforms alone. That year, the estimated revenue for the line reached US$300 million, up approximately 50 percent from 2022. In September 2024, it was reported that Gomez had become a billionaire, with an estimated net worth of $1.3 billion; Bloomberg News estimated that roughly 81% of it originated from Rare Beauty. Bloomberg also stated that at age 32, she had become "one of the country's youngest female self-made billionaires".
Public image
Initially a teen idol, she has been referred to as a pop icon, as a "triple threat", owing to her successful singing, performing, and acting careers, and as one of the most influential Latina in entertainment. Gomez is one of the most successful child stars. Vulture ranked her third on its "Disney and Nickelodeon Stars Gone Pop" listicle, writing in 2021 that "Gomez is perhaps the most effortlessly likable star of her generation", and in the revision of this rating, named her as one of the few child stars with a successful music career as an adult. Caroline Sullivan from The Guardian called Gomez the "Tween Queen", and "the biggest star attached to the Walt Disney Company", describing the Gomez phenomenon as a key figure in the influence of "billions of kids and, through them, their parents' wallets", bringing billions to the company through "her image, TV series, movies, music records, perfume and clothing ranges" being in the spotlight "all this means that tweens can barely avoid her". Billboard ranked her number 38 on its Decade-End listicle of the most successful artists of the 2010s decade. With an estimated net worth of US$1.3billion, Gomez is the first former Disney star to become a billionaire, being one of the wealthiest musicians and youngest self-made billionaires in the world.With over 690 million followers across various platforms, Gomez is the most-followed woman globally on social media, as of September 2024. She is the most-followed woman on Instagram, as of 2025, and was the most-followed person on the platform from March 2016 to October 2018. She was the first person to surpass 100 million followers and the first woman to surpass 400 million followers on the platform. Gomez held the record for most-liked image on Instagram in 2016, and has 4 out of the 15 most-liked non-football related posts on the app, as of 2024. She is the List of most-followed [Twitter accounts|seventh-most-followed woman on Twitter]. The actress with the most likes on Facebook, she is also the third-most-followed woman on the platform.
Impact
She has had a huge impact on social media, with Hugh McIntyre from Forbes noting that "Gomez's posts, no matter what the image is actually of, are always liked by millions of people" and "in fact, the mere mention of Selena Gomez in a post by another star helps up the number of people who like it, proving her power". She was named as the number one positive influencer on social media in 2022. David Amsden from W named her "the most popular girl in America", writing that she "landed her first gig at 7, and by 14 was known to millions of prepubescent youths" and that "she embodies a particular strain of American fame: You know who she is without quite knowing who she is". Variety considers her a key personality in global media, owing to her "multi-hyphenate" presence incorporating music, films, television, cosmetics, and social activism.In 2021, Rolling Stone India regarded her as one of the most influential pop culture icons of her time. In 2017, Time honored her as one of the "women who are changing the world" on its First Women Leaders list. Gomez was included in The Hollywood Reporter Power 100 list, from 2022 to 2024 consecutively, as one of the most powerful women in entertainment, a rating based on achievements, overall authority within company and Hollywood, and its position in the industry, naming her "one of the most globally and culturally celebrated artists, actors, producers, entrepreneurs and philanthropists of her generation". People named Gomez as one of 15 women who are "changing the music industry today". Vogue India named her as one of the "women who has inspire this generation", calling her "newsmaker" of pop culture headlines. The Guardian credited her with popularizing "whisper pop", a style of pop music characterized by soft, hushed and breathy vocals.
A wax figure of Gomez has been exhibited at Madame Tussauds Wax Museums since 2010, in Hollywood, New York City, Washington, Berlin, and her wax figure was the first in Orlando. Gomez's work has inspired or influenced artists and entertainers such as Billie Eilish, Hailee Steinfeld, Vanessa Hudgens, Miranda Hart, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, and the beginning of the careers of Jenna Ortega and Joey King. In 2015, Justin Bieber called Gomez an inspiration and muse of his songwriting at the time. His album Purpose was inspired by Gomez; he also wrote songs about her such as "What Do You Mean?", "Sorry", "Mark My Words", "All That Matters", and "Beauty and a Beat". Britney Spears also named Gomez the main muse of her album, Glory.
The Latin Recording Academy honored Gomez as
one of the Leading Ladies of Entertainment for her "tremendous commercial success as a singer, actress and producer". In October 2024, the Government of France granted Gomez the title of Chevalier de l'Ordre des arts et des lettres for "significant contribution to the enrichment of the French cultural inheritance". The Hollywood Reporter awarded her the Equity in Entertainment Award that December, with Molly Shannon noting that she had used her voice to "change the world for the better" and "changed the entertainment landscape". Shannon called her "a role model, not just because of her immense talent and success, but because of the way she uses her influence to empower others. She challenges the status quo and creates a more inclusive, compassionate world for all."
Achievements
Gomez has won various awards including: an American Music Award, a Billboard Music Award, a Cannes Film Festival, 16 Guinness World Records, three iHeartRadio Music Awards, six Latin American Music Awards, three MTV Movie & TV Awards, two MTV Video Music Awards, and five People's Choice Awards. For her music work, she was nominated for three Grammy Awards and a Latin Grammy Award. For her acting work, she won a Satellite Award, and was nominated for three Critics' Choice Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, three NAACP Image Awards, and three Actor Awards. As a producer, she was nominated for six Emmy Awards including: three times as producer for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series, marking her the most-nominated Latina producer in the category's history. With 18 wins, Gomez is the fourth-most awarded solo artist at the Teen Choice Awards. She currently holds the record for the most Kids' Choice Awards wins for an individual. In addition, she has also won numerous awards for her philanthropic, charity work and mental health advocacy, including the McLean Award, the Stanford Healthcare Innovation Lab Award, the Morton E. Ruderman Award in Inclusion from the Ruderman Family Foundation, and the Art Award from Hispanic Heritage Foundation for her impact on global culture via her music, filmography and advocacy.Having amassed 45 billion streams globally as of 2022, She was the eight-most streamed and one of the most-streamed female artist of 2010s decade on both Spotify and Apple Music. In 2017, she was third most streamed female artist on Spotify. In November 2018, Gomez surpassed Drake and became Spotify's most-streamed artist with 46 million monthly listeners while not releasing new album since 2015.
Gomez has been included in many prestigious lists and has been awarded by prestigious publications and magazines. In 2015, Gomez was honored with the Chart-Topper Award at the Billboard Women in Music event. The following year, she was named to Forbes 30 Under 30 list in the music category, and again in 2020 in its "All-Star Alumni" category. Billboard named Gomez the Woman of the Year in 2017, included her in its list of Greatest of All Time Pop Songs Artists in 2018, and named her one of the 100 most successful artist of the 2010s in 2019, ranking her at number 38. She was also ranked at number 30 on the magazine's 2025 "Top 100 Women Artists of the 21st Century" list. Time included her on its annual list of the 100 most influential people in 2020.
"Calm Down", Gomez's collaboration with Rema, has been described as the most successful Afrobeats song of all time. The song broke the records as the highest- and longest-charting African artist-led song on the Hot 100, the longest-running number-one of all time on the Billboard US Afrobeats Songs chart, with 58 weeks at the summit, the longest-charting song in the top 10 and overall on the Pop Airplay chart, with 45 and 71 weeks respectively, the first African artist-led track to reach 1 billion streams on Spotify, and 1 billion on-demand streams in the US; its music video became the most-viewed Afrobeats song on YouTube. Gomez is one of six woman to score at least three number-one singles on the Pop Airplay chart from a single set. With her EP Revelación and her single "Baila Conmigo", she became the first female act to top the US Latin Albums and Latin Airplay charts simultaneously in over a decade. Gomez is the longest active run of any artist with 16 consecutive top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. She broke the record with the song "Ice Cream" with Blackpink as the third-highest 24-hour debut for a music video on YouTube at the time, with over 79 million views, and the highest for female artist and female collaboration. Gomez was the second woman to become Spotify's most-streamed artist in November 2018, with 46 million monthly listeners.
Gomez has broken many variety of world records. Gomez has topped the Billboard 200 three consecutive times, and the Billboard Hot 100 once, and Billboard Artist 100. As of May 2017, she had sold 24.3 million songs in the United States, and as of August 2023, she has sold 3.6 million albums in the US, and shifted more than 11.5 million album-equivalent units. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, she has 63 million certified units in the US. Seven of Gomez's songs have reached over one billion streams on Spotify, and two of her music videos have reached over two billion views on YouTube.
Personal life
Property
Gomez owned a $6.6 million home in Calabasas, California. In 2014, she sold her mansion in Tarzana, Los Angeles, for $3.5 million. In 2015, she purchased a mansion in Fort Worth, Texas, for $3.5 million, and in October 2018 the house was sold. In 2020, Gomez moved to a $5 million mansion in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Encino. In the same year, she sold her house in Studio City, Los Angeles, for $2.3 million.Beliefs
Gomez was raised Catholic. In 2005, at age 13, she wanted a purity ring, and her father went to the church and had it blessed. She has said, "He actually used me as an example for other kids: I'm going to keep my promise to myself, to my family and to God." Gomez stopped wearing the ring in 2010. In 2014, Gomez said that she listened to "Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)" by Hillsong United before performing at the 2014 American Music Awards. In 2016, she appeared at a Hillsong Young & Free concert in Los Angeles, leading worship by singing her song "Nobody". When a fan on Twitter asked her who the lyrics to "Nobody" refer to, Gomez replied that they refer to God. She also covered Hillsong Worship's song "Transfiguration", a reference to the Christian doctrine of the Transfiguration of Jesus, during her Revival Tour.In June 2017, she expressed discomfort with the term "religion", stating that "It freaks me out". Gomez also said "I don't know if it's necessarily that I believe in religion as much as I believe in faith and a relationship with God." Gomez, with Justin Bieber, started worshiping at the Pentecostal Hillsong Church in Los Angeles in 2017. In 2021, she remarked that she maintained her Christian faith and had read Purpose Driven Life">Purpose (Justin Bieber album)">Purpose Driven Life by Baptist pastor Rick Warren three times.
Health
Gomez was diagnosed with a form of lupus erythematosus sometime between 2012 and early 2014. In September 2017, she revealed on Instagram that she had withdrawn from public events during the previous few months because she had received a kidney transplant from actress and friend Francia Raisa. During the transplant, one of her arteries ruptured, requiring emergency autotransplantation of a femoral vein to replace the artery.Gomez has been open about her struggles with both anxiety and depression. She began psychotherapy in her early twenties and spent time in treatment facilities. When she reached 100 million Instagram followers, Gomez said she "sort of freaked out" and has since taken several extended breaks from social media, partly due to negative comments. In April 2020, she revealed she has bipolar disorder. In November 2022, she revealed that she had an episode of psychosis in 2018.
In October 2022, Gomez canceled an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon after testing positive for COVID-19. In September 2024, Gomez revealed her inability to have children naturally due to her health issues, and mentioned wanting to explore either surrogacy or adoption in the future. In November 2024, she disclosed a prior diagnosis of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth.
Relationships
Gomez dated singer Nick Jonas from the Jonas Brothers in 2008. She appeared in the music video for the band's song "Burnin' Up". From December 2010 to March 2018, Gomez was in an on-again, off-again relationship with Canadian singer Justin Bieber. During their breakups, Gomez dated Russian-German disc jockey Zedd and Canadian singer-songwriter the Weeknd.Gomez began dating record producer Benny Blanco in June 2023. She formally announced their engagement on December 11, 2024, following a period of media rumors. The couple were married on September 27, 2025, at the Sea Crest Nursery in Santa Barbara, California.
Filmography
According to the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, Gomez's television and film projects include The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, Hannah Montana, Wizards of Waverly Place, Another Cinderella Story, Princess Protection Program, Ramona and Beezus, The Muppets, Spring Breakers, Hotel Transylvania, Girl Rising, The Wizards Return: Alex vs. Alex, Rudderless, The Fundamentals of Caring, Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, The Dead Don't Die, A Rainy Day in New York, Selena + Chef, Only Murders in the Building, Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me, Emilia Pérez, and Wizards Beyond Waverly Place. Gomez also executive produced the television series 13 Reasons Why and Living Undocumented.Discography
Selena Gomez & the Scene studio albumsSolo studio albums
Collaborative studio albums
Tours
Selena Gomez & the Scene toursSolo tours