GloriA EstefaN

"Freedom is not just words on paper. You have to exercise it in order for it to be alive and vibrant. I want my children to realize that if you just sit by and let things slide, then nothing will ever change in this world."

Gloria Estefan thrives on traveling the more challenging road of life. It’s simply not in her nature
to do otherwise – particularly when
it comes to making music. There’s no growth without a lot of hard work and a little risk,” she
says. ”It’s important to me that I continue
to grow. There’s no point in living life any other way.”

Glorita Maria Fajardo was born on September 1, 1957, in Havana, Cuba. She came to Miami less than two
years later when her parents were forced to flee from the government of Fidel Castro.
In 1975 Gloria sang a few songs at a wedding, which was being entertained by a local band, The Miami Latin Boys.
The band leader, Emilio Estefan, was so impressed by her voice that he asked her to join his band. She agreed to singing on weekends only.
The band's name was changed into The Miami Sound Machine.
By 1983, the group was well known throughout Central America and South America and had produced four albums for CBS Discos label.
Actually, the hallmark of the Estefans’ creative partnership has been their organic, shrewdly intuitive method of merging the pop and Latin musical worlds.
In1984, Emilio convinced record executives at Epic to release an English only album, "Eyes of Innocence", to the US and European markets. The first single, "Dr. Beat", became a huge hit. The next album, "Primitive Love", guaranteed their success featuring break-through single "Conga".
It is the only song in history to appear on Billboard's Pop, Latin, Soul, and Dance charts all at the same time!

Awards, tours, fame, fortune, and good luck followed steadily.
The hits just kept coming: ”1-2-3,” ”Don’t Want To Lose You,” ”Anything For You,” ”Cuts Both Ways,” ”Get On Your Feet,” ”Coming Out Of The Dark,” and her version of ’Turn The Beat Around” (1994) among numerous others. As she segued into a solo recording career – with Miami Sound Machine members continuing to contribute to her best-selling albums – Gloria became the only Latin artist to achieve major mainstream worldwide success.

The achievement of such a lofty position would prompt many performers to rest on their laurels. But Estefan chose to use her stature to more thoroughly expose the treasured music of her homeland. The result was 1993’s brilliant mi tierra, which explored classic Cuban music with a warmth and respect that could only come from one who truly understood the depth of the genre. The disc went on to sell four million copies worldwide – including platinum sales in the US – earning Gloria her first Grammy Award (for Best Latin Tropical Album). In Spain, mi tierra became the best-selling album in the country’s history, certified 11x platinum.

”The pride I feel over the success of mi tierra is beyond words,” Gloria says. ”It’s an honor and a thrill to know that music that is purely from the heart and soul was received so well by so many people.”

Estefan dug further into Spanish-language material with l995’s adventurous Abriendo Puertas, which tapped into a wide variety of Latin musica l forms and nabbed another Grammy in the Best Latin Tropical Album category. The album spawned two No. 1 dance hits, ”Abriendo Puertas” and ”Tres Deseos,” and two No. 1 Latin singles, ”Abriendo Puertas” and ”Mas Alla.”

The singer reached a new creative peak with 1996’s landmark Destiny, an ambitious undertaking that married acoustic Cuban music with pop melodies and English- language lyrics. It was a critically lauded collection, which boasted the anthemic ”Reach,” the official theme song of the 1996 Summer Olympics Games. Gloria per- formed the song at the Games’ closing ceremony in Atlanta – the kickoff of her massive ”Evolution” world tour. It was an exhausting, yet satisfying concert trek that kept the artist on the road for well over a year.
There’s nothing like the relationship you share with your fans,” she says. ”The people who come out to see you make it all worthwhile.”

Through out Gloria's 20 year career, she has sung for Pope John Paul II, President Clinton, the best athletes in the world,
the victims of Hurricane Andrew, at Walt Disney World's 25th Anniversery, and fans and sold out concerts around the world.
She has been nominated for several Grammies®, and also won some.
She has been nominated and won several Latin music awards. Gloria has sold over 45 million records and has become the most successful crossover performer in Latin music history.
She was also named one of the Most Fascinating Woman of 1996.
She is now worth an estimated $170 million and has become so famous that mail addressed to "Gloria Estefan, U.S.A." always
reaches her.