What Songs Has A.B. Quintanilla Written? Selena, Kumbia Kings and Other Credits

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A.B. Quintanilla III wrote or co-wrote many of Selena’s signature songs, including “Como la Flor,” “Amor Prohibido,” “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom,” “No Me Queda Más,” “No Quiero Saber,” “Acuérdate de Mí,” and “Always Mine.” His documented work also includes “Baila Esta Cumbia,” written with Pete Astudillo, “Te Quiero, Te Amo” for David Lee Garza, and “Amandote” for Thalía. He later wrote and produced extensively for Kumbia Kings and Kumbia All Starz.

The available credits establish him as a principal songwriter and producer in Selena’s catalog, but they do not provide a verified, complete count of every song he has written. The list below separates documented titles from broader claims about his catalog and distinguishes songwriting from production.

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Selena songs A.B. Quintanilla wrote or co-wrote

Quintanilla was a central writer for Selena y Los Dinos. Professional biographies and song-credit listings identify him as a writer or co-writer on the following titles. A credit described as “writer or co-writer” means the song may also list Selena Quintanilla, Pete Astudillo, or another collaborator; it does not necessarily mean Quintanilla wrote every lyric and musical part alone.

This is a documented selection rather than a guaranteed export of every copyright registration, publishing entry, demo, alternate version, or later recording. Song titles can also appear with different accents, translations, or formatting in databases and album materials.

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Como la Flor

Yes. A.B. Quintanilla is credited as a songwriter for “Como la Flor” in the professional biography cited for his career. That makes the answer to the frequently asked question “Did A.B. write Como la Flor?” a clear yes, while the exact division of writing among collaborators should be taken from the specific release’s official credits.

Amor Prohibido and Bidi Bidi Bom Bom

Both songs are documented Quintanilla songwriting credits, not merely production credits. A 1995 Song of the Year listing names Quintanilla as songwriter for “Amor Prohibido,” and the same award listing identifies him for “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom.” Those honors place his writing role alongside the songs’ enduring association with Selena’s recordings.

No Me Queda Más and No Quiero Saber

“No Me Queda Más” and “No Quiero Saber” are also included among the Selena songs for which the professional biography records Quintanilla songwriting awards or credits. The available summary does not establish a complete co-writer breakdown for either title, so it is more accurate to call him a documented writer or co-writer than to describe either song as an unambiguous solo composition.

Baila Esta Cumbia

“Baila Esta Cumbia” has a specifically identified co-writing credit: AllMusic’s song information names A.B. Quintanilla and Pete Astudillo. This is a useful example of why a broad statement such as “A.B. wrote Selena’s songs” needs qualification. Some credits are shared, and the named collaborators differ from track to track.

What his Selena role included beyond writing

Quintanilla’s importance to Selena’s records was not limited to putting his name in the songwriter field. He was also a producer and bandleader whose work helped shape the recordings released by Selena y Los Dinos. Production determines how a written song is arranged, recorded, and presented, whereas songwriting credit concerns the composition itself. A person can hold one role without holding the other, so a production credit should not be treated as proof that he wrote a particular track.

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Quintanilla himself described the scale of his involvement in a quotation carried by an M&M Group Entertainment biography: “For every ten cuts on any Selena album, I wrote maybe eight of them.” The statement conveys his estimate of his contribution across Selena albums, but it is not a verified census of titles. The documented song list and the quotation therefore answer different questions: the credits identify named songs, while the quotation describes the proportion he believed he wrote.

Songs A.B. Quintanilla wrote for other artists

His catalog extended beyond Selena’s group. The same career biography identifies songs written for other performers and describes additional work without naming every title.

“Te Quiero, Te Amo” and “Amandote” are therefore firm examples of Quintanilla writing for artists outside the Selena catalog. The references to Cristian Castro, Verónica Castro, and Olga Tañón show a wider professional reach, but they should not be turned into an invented list of titles when the documented information does not name them.

Kumbia Kings and Kumbia All Starz songwriting

After his work with Selena y Los Dinos, Quintanilla founded Kumbia Kings and later Kumbia All Starz. He wrote and produced numerous tracks for those projects, making the Kumbia catalog a major second phase of his career. AllMusic documents Kumbia Kings releases including Amor, Familia y Respeto and Shhh!, while the M&M Group Entertainment biography lists the former among Quintanilla’s award highlights.

The available documentation supports several conclusions:

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• Kumbia Kings was not simply a performing vehicle for older Selena material; it was a songwriting and production project in which Quintanilla continued creating new work.
• His Kumbia role combined composition and studio leadership, so individual track credits still need to be checked before assigning him sole authorship.
• Kumbia All Starz represents a continuation of that writing and production activity rather than a separate, unrelated career.
• No complete Kumbia Kings or Kumbia All Starz song-by-song catalog is established by the available sources, so a short list should not be presented as exhaustive.

Songwriting credit versus production credit

Readers often use “wrote” to mean several different things. For Quintanilla’s catalog, four distinctions prevent the most common errors.

Solo writing and co-writing

A solo writing credit means one writer is listed for the composition. A co-writing credit means two or more people share that authorship. The documented information explicitly identifies “Baila Esta Cumbia” as a Quintanilla–Pete Astudillo co-write and notes that other Selena credits can involve Selena or additional collaborators. Unless an official credit names only Quintanilla, “writer or co-writer” is the safer description.

Composition and production

Songwriting covers the underlying musical work: lyrics, melody, or other copyrightable composition elements recognized by the official credit. Production covers the recorded performance’s sound and execution. Quintanilla did both across his career, but a producer credit alone does not establish composition authorship.

Original recording and later versions

A song may be recorded again, remixed, translated, or issued on a later compilation. The writers generally remain attached to the composition, while performers, producers, and arrangement credits can change. When comparing a Selena original with a later Kumbia or archival release, use the credit for that particular recording and do not assume that a new version creates a new songwriter.

Artist association and authorship

Because Selena is so closely associated with songs such as “Como la Flor” and “Amor Prohibido,” listeners sometimes assume she alone wrote every famous title. The documented credits show Quintanilla’s substantial role, but they also show why an artist’s performance and a composer’s legal credit are not interchangeable.

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Documented awards and career markers

These entries are useful context, but an award listing is not a substitute for a full copyright record. It confirms the recognized songwriting or project association described by the source; it does not prove that every track on an album was written by Quintanilla.

Is there a complete list of every song he wrote?

Not from the published material summarized here. No verified total count of all songs Quintanilla has written is provided. A definitive number would require matching publisher records, performing-rights organization registrations, label catalogs, liner notes, and alternate-version documentation. Those records can differ in how they spell names, list collaborators, or separate a composition from a recording.

For a particular song, the most reliable approach is to check the official album booklet or label credit, then compare it with a publisher or performing-rights database. Look for the composition writers rather than only the producer, arranger, or performer fields. If two sources disagree, identify the release and version being compared before treating the difference as an error.

Bottom line

A.B. Quintanilla was a principal songwriter and producer for Selena. The best-documented Selena titles tied to him include “Como la Flor,” “Amor Prohibido,” “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom,” “No Me Queda Más,” “No Quiero Saber,” “Acuérdate de Mí,” “Always Mine,” “Ámame, Quiéreme,” “Are You Ready to Be Loved?,” and “Baila Esta Cumbia,” the last specifically documented as a co-write with Pete Astudillo. He also wrote for David Lee Garza and Thalía and continued writing and producing through Kumbia Kings and Kumbia All Starz. Because the available credits are not a complete rights-catalog export, any longer list should be presented as a documented selection, not a final total.

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