Rise to Fame
She got her start on Barney & Friends at 10 and spent the next decade getting famous on Disney's machinery. Wizards of Waverly Place, which she led for four seasons starting in 2007, came with a record deal and a pop band called Selena Gomez & the Scene. Three platinum singles followed. When the band dissolved in 2012, she went solo. The Disney-to-pop crossover is almost a genre at this point, but she's one of the few who parlayed it into something that outlasted the teen years.
In the Spotlight
The Rare Beauty story is the one that actually matters now. She launched the brand in 2020, and by May 2024 it was valued at $2 billion. Her Soft Pinch Liquid Blush reportedly went viral on TikTok without a paid push and generated $70 million in sales in 2023 alone. She's also co-starring on Only Murders in the Building with Steve Martin and Martin Short. The music is still running: she and Benny Blanco released a collaborative album in 2025, but the beauty business is where her real leverage is.
Side Notes
She was diagnosed with lupus around 2014 and in 2017 received a kidney transplant from her friend Francia Raisa. An artery ruptured during surgery, requiring emergency intervention. The aftermath included a bipolar diagnosis and four stints at treatment centers, by her own account. She went public with all of it: an Apple TV+ documentary, a mental health company called Wondermind, and a pledge to route 1% of Rare Beauty sales to mental health resources. The Rare Impact Fund has raised over $30 million. She turned the medical record into a platform.