You know her as “Gloria Estefan”, but “Glorita Maria Fajardo” was born in Havana, Cuba on the first day of September, 1957. Estefan’s family escaped from Cuba and moved to Miami just two years later.
Gloria’s father became ill during her childhood, so she had to take care of him while her mother worked to support the family.
When she was twelve years old, Gloria recieved a guitar as a gift. The young Cuban-born girl entertained herself in her free time by singing and playing the guitar.
In 1975, the gods of fate smiled on eighteen year old Gloria when she met Emilio Estefan and his band. The Miami Latin Boys” were entertaining at a wedding. Gloria sang a few songs, and, after Emilio heard her sing, he knew he had to have the girl join his band. The group was renamed, “The Miami Sound Machine” after Gloria’s arrival, and they released four music albums. The Spanish albums were, “Miami Sound Machine”,(1980), “Otra Vez”(1981), “Rio” (1982), and “A Toda Maquina” (1984).
By 1983, Miami Sound Machine had become a popular Latin singing sensation in Central and South America. Next, Emilio wanted to capture the American and European audiences as well. So, the following year, the Latin group released an English music album titled, “Eyes of Innocence.” “Dr. Beat” became a pop hit single off that album, and the group followed that success with yet another English album, “Primitive Love” in 1985. Primitive Love” produced another huge pop hit single, “Conga!” This song holds the honor of being the only song in music history to earn a spot on Billboard’s Pop, Latin, Soul and Dance charts at the same time. But that song wasn’t Miami Sound Machine’s only hit off that album. “Bad Boy” and “Words Get In The Way” also became Top Ten pop hits.
In 1988, the popular Latin band, now known as, “Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine”, released the album, “Let It Loose.” (In their personal lives, four years after Gloria met Emilio Estefan and joined his band, the couple were married in 1979.) This musical wonder contained the group’s pop hit singles, “Rhythm Is Gonna Get You,” “Can’t Stay Away From You,” “Anything for You,” and “1-2-3.” The album was certified as a “triple-platinum” album. It was known as “Anything for You” in Europe, and the album zoomed in sales to become five times platinum in the United Kingdom.
By 1989, the Cuban singing sensation officially started her solo career when she released the album, “Gloria Estefan- Cuts Both Ways.” This album contained her second number one hit, “Don’t Wanna Lose You”.
By now, Gloria Estefan was flying high as a Latin solo singer in the world of pop music. Not only had she and The Miami Sound Machine captured the Central and South America pop music audiences, but they had also captured the American and European audiences too. Then, on top of that, with the release of her first solo album, Gloria garnered even more success. She was now known as “America’s leading Latin recording artist.” In the pop music world, the 1980’s belonged to Gloria Estefan.
However, the gods of fate turned a deaf ear to the singing sensation in the following year. On March 20, 1990, Gloria was traveling with her husband Emilio, their son Nayib, and her band,
in their bus. The group was on a promotional tour for her new album. A semi rig slammed into their bus, and Gloria and her family were injured in the crash. Gloria suffered a broken back, and the injury kept her off the road and out of the recording studio for more than a year.
Gloria Estefan (and her family) finally recovered from their injuries, and returned to the music scene in 1991 with yet another successful album, “Into the Light.”
She went on to release several more albums, and the Spanish “Mi Tierra”, which came out in 1993, earned her a 1993 Grammy for Best Tropical Latin Album. It also won her a second Grammy in the same category in 2001.
