- Born Gloria Maria Milagrosa Fajardo Garcia in 1957, in Havana Cuba. She took the name Estefan when she married Emilio Estefan, the bandleader of The Miami Sound Machine. Her parents moved to Miami as a result of the Cuban revolution in the late 50s.
- In 1975, Emilio Estefan formed a group called the Miami Latin Boys. in 1977, at a Cuban wedding in Miami, vocalist Gloria Maria Fajardo Milagrosa and her cousin joined in the singing at the wedding. Estefan was so impressed that he invited both of them to join the band. With the addition of the two women, the name of the band was changed to The Miami Sound Machine.
- The band started recording in 1977, with Gloria as lead vocalist. By 1987, the official name of the band was changed to Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine. In 1989, the band name was dropped, and Estefan has been credited as a solo artist ever since.
- The band released 9 studio albums as The Miami Sound Machine. The first 7 were in Spanish. The eighth album, Eyes of Innocence, was their first in English, released in 1984. It was a dance oriented album, and contained several songs that were hits in Europe and Australia, but they did not yet chart in the U.S. Their next album, Primitive Love, finally was their breakthrough in the U.S., with 3 top 10 singles – Conga, Bad Boy, and Words Get In the Way. This album has sold more than 5 million copies worldwide.
- Now, the hits became regular. 1987’s Let It Loose contained 4 singles that charted in the top 10, including Anything For You at #1.
- In the early 90’s, she scored 2 more Billboard Hot 100 #1 hits – Don’t Wanna Lose You and Coming Out of the Dark. All 3 of her #1 hits were written or co-written by Estefan. Over her career, she has had 41 singles chart in the top 10 of at least one of 4 U.S. charts – Billboard Hot 100, Latin, Adult Contemporary, or Dance charts.
- In 1990, while on tour, she suffered a fractured spine when a semi truck crashed into her tour bus. Earlier that day, she had met with President Bush to discuss participation in an anti-drug campaign. During surgery, 2 titanium rods were implanted, and her rehabilitation lasted nearly a year. Happy ending – she fully recovered, and returned to tour 10 months after the accident.
- She has received numerous awards, including 7 Grammy awards and in 2015, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
- Estefan has other business ventures – she is on the Board of Directors of Univision Communications, she and her husband own several restaurants in Miami and Orlando, and they are part owners of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins. The Broadway musical On Your Feet!, based on the lives of Gloria and Emilio, is currently playing at the Marquis Theater on Broadway. It is scheduled to close in August 2017, after a nearly 2 year run. It has been nominated for several awards, including one Tony nomination for Best Choreography. In 1997, she founded The Gloria Estefan Foundation, promoting health, education and cultural development, especially focused on spinal cord research.
- Gloria Estefan is an amazing success story, appealing to all Americans, and especially Americans of Latin descent. Her 40 year career shows no signs of slowing down. Enjoy her worldwide breakthrough song, Conga, from 1985 – the video is classic mid-80s.