Gloria Estefan on TV, Film and Video

Gloria Estefan (born Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García; September 1, 1957) is a Cuban singer and songwriter. She is in the top 100 best selling music artists with over 90 million albums sold worldwide,[1][2] 26.5 million of those in the United States alone.[3] She has won seven Grammy Awards, placing her among the most successful crossover performers in Latin music to date.

Early life and family

Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo was born September 1, 1957 in Havana, Cuba, to Jose and Gloria Fajardo. Her maternal grandfather, Leonardo Garcia, emigrated to Cuba from Pola de Siero, Asturias, Spain, where he married Gloria's maternal grandmother, originally from Logroño, Spain.[4][5] Prior to the Cuban Revolution, Her father was a Cuban soldier and a bodyguard to Cuban dictator, Fulgencio Batista. Shortly after they moved to the United States Gloria's father joined the US military and fought in the [[Vietnam Media:sexyajhar]], later also participating in the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. The Fajardo family fled to Lafayette, Indiana as a result of the Cuban Revolution, eventually settling down in Miami, Florida. Gloria attended St. Michael-Archangel School[6] and Our Lady Of Lourdes High School in Miami. She went on to graduate in 1979 with a B.A. in Psychology, with a minor in French, from the University of Miami.[7][8] When she was studying at university, she had worked as an English/Spanish/French translator at Miami International Airport Customs Department and, because of her language abilities, was once approached by the CIA as a possible employee.[9][10]

Personal life

Gloria became romantically involved with the Miami Sound Machine's band leader, Emilio Estefan, in 1976. She and Emilio married on September 2, 1978. They have a son, Nayib (born September 2, 1980) and a daughter, Emily Marie (born December 5, 1994). The family lives in the exclusive Star Island section of Miami Beach, Florida.[11]

Career in singing

1980s

1984-1988: The Miami Sound Machine

In the mid-1980s, Gloria Estefan was part of the group Miami Sound Machine. In 1984, Miami Sound Machine released their first Epic/Columbia album, Eyes Of Innocence, which contained the dance hit "Dr. Beat" as well as the ballad "I Need Your Love". Their more successful follow-up album Primitive Love was released in 1985 launching three Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100: "Conga" (U.S. #10), "Words Get In The Way” (U.S. #5), and "Bad Boy" (U.S. #8) became follow up hits in the U.S. and around the world. "Words Get In The Way" reached #1 on the US Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart, establishing that the group could perform pop ballads as successfully as dance tunes. The song "Hot Summer Nights" was also released that year and was part of the blockbuster movie Top Gun.

Their next album, 1987’s Let It Loose, went multi-platinum, with six million copies sold in the US. It featured the following hits: "Anything For You" (#1 Hot 100), "1, 2, 3" (#3 Hot 100), "Betcha Say That" (#36 Hot 100), "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You" (#5 Hot 100), and "Can't Stay Away From You" (#6 Hot 100). "Can’t Stay Away From You," "Anything For You" and "1-2-3" were all #1 Adult Contemporary hits as well.

In 1988, Estefan took top billing and the band’s name changed to Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine. Beginning in 1989, the group's name was dropped altogether. Estefan was credited as a solo artist, though the ever-changing line-up of Miami Sound Machine continues as her backing band to this day.

In 1989, after the worldwide chart success of single "Anything For You", her Let it Loose album was repackaged as Anything For You. It became the band's first UK #1 album, selling over a million copies. It was the biggest selling album of the year in The Netherlands, staying at #1 for 22 weeks. The album also took top honors in Australia and Canada, launching Estefan to superstar status.

1990s

1990: Cuts Both Ways, tour bus accident and surgery

In late 1989, she released her best-selling album to date, Cuts Both Ways. The album included the hit singles "Don't Wanna Lose You" (a Billboard Hot 100 #1 hit), "Oye mi Canto (Hear my Voice)", "Here We Are", "Cuts Both Ways" (#1 on the U.S. Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart) and "Get on Your Feet."

While touring in support of Cuts Both Ways on March 20, 1990, near Scranton, Pennsylvania, Estefan was critically injured, suffering a fractured spine when a speeding semi-truck crashed into her tour bus. She was taken to Community Medical Center's Intensive Care Unit and the next day was flown by helicopter to New York City, where surgeons at the Hospital for Special Surgery permanently implanted two titanium rods to stabilize her Vertebral column. Her rehabilitation required almost a year of intensive physical therapy by Michael Klepper, but she achieved a complete recovery. She returned to an international tour ten months after the accident.

1991-1992: Into The Light and The Greatest Hits

Estefan returned to the charts with a concept album, Into the Light, in 1991. She performed "Coming Out of the Dark" for the first time on the American Music Awards in January 1991, receiving a standing ovation as she took stage. "I was worried so much about crying before I finished that I completely didn't prepare for crying before I started.", Estefan said backstage after the performance.[citation needed] "Coming Out of the Dark" reached #1 in the U.S. as a single a few months later. Other popular singles were "Seal Our Fate" and "Live for Loving You". The album peaked at number five at the Billboard album chart, becoming her highest debut; it also peaked at number two on the British albums chart. Eventually the album went platinum in the UK and double platinum in the US. The Into the Light World Tour covered 100 cities in five countries and was seen by more than 10 million people worldwide.

She followed up Into the Light with her first greatest-hits album, Gloria Estefan Greatest Hits. It was released in 1992, and included the U.S. hit ballads "Always Tomorrow" and "I See Your Smile" along with the international hit dance track "Go Away". Also in 1992, Estefan sang backup on fellow Cuban-American singer-songwriter Jon Secada's breakthrough single "Just Another Day". She spent much of 1992 in Miami, helping relief efforts for victims of Hurricane Andrew.

1993: Mi Tierra and Christmas Through Your Eyes

In 1993 Estefan released the album Mi Tierra, her first Spanish-language album. It peaked at number twenty-seven on the Billboard album chart and number eleven on the British album chart. The singles "Mi Tierra" and the romantic-tropical ballad "Con Los Años Que Me Quedan" and "Mi Buen Amor", climbed to number-one on the "Hot Latin Tracks" chart in the United States. The album sold over eight million copies worldwide, went multiplatinum in Spain (15X) and platinum in the United States, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom, Gold in Switzerland and Australia, and won a Grammy Award for "Best Tropical Latin Album".

That same year Estefan released her first Christmas album, Christmas Through Your Eyes, this classic collection was the first album from Estefan to not be produced by her husband Emilio Estefan Jr. Phil Ramone was the producer.The collection included the singles "This Christmas" and "Silent Night".The album went Platinum in the United States.

Estefan also collaborated with Frank Sinatra in 1993 on his album Duets with the song "Come Rain or Come Shine".

1994-1995: Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me and Abriendo Puertas

Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me, a cover album of some of Estefan’s favorite songs from the 1960s and 1970s, was released in 1994. "Turn the Beat Around", the first single and a remake of Vicki Sue Robinson’s 1976 disco classic, became another international hit, certified gold in the US. It also was used in the Sharon Stone movie The Specialist.

1995’s Spanish-language album Abriendo Puertas earned Estefan her second Grammy Award for "Best Tropical Latin Album". It spun off two #1 dance hits, "Abriendo Puertas" and "Tres Deseos", and two #1 Latin singles, "Abriendo Puertas" and "Más Allá". The Miami Herald called Abriendo Puertas "a danceable pan-Latin American fusion, brilliantly built on improbable instrumental combinations and layers of styles and rhythms".[citation needed]

In January 1995, the Miami Sound Machine performed at the Super Bowl XXIX halftime show, with Tony Bennett, Patti LaBelle, and trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, in a program entitled "Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye", to promote the upcoming Disney theme park attraction.

1996-1997: Summer Olympics and Destiny

The platinum-selling album Destiny, released in 1996, featured "Reach", the official theme of the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics. Estefan performed in the Summer Olympics closing ceremony, in front of an audience of two billion people worldwide, during which she performed the songs "Reach" and "You'll Be Mine (Party Time)".

On July 18, 1996, Estefan embarked on her Evolution World Tour (her first tour in five years), which covered the United States, Canada, Europe, Latin America, Australia, South Africa and Asia.

1998: Back to dance: gloria!

Estefan successfully rode the wave of the Disco revival in the U.S. during the late 1990s. On June 2, 1998, she released her eighth solo album, (twenty-first overall), gloria!. The album is highly influenced by Disco music, blended with Salsa music percussion and Latin flavour. To promote gloria!, she performed at the famed New York City discoteque Studio 54.

The album peaked at #23 on the Billboard 200. It was her first album during the 1990s not to hit Platinum status, but it did reach Gold ...   More