As one of the biggest new stars to emerge during the mid-'80s, singer
Gloria Estefan predated the coming
Latin pop explosion by a decade, scoring a series of propulsive
dance hits rooted in the rhythms of her native Cuba before shifting her focus to softer, more ballad-oriented fare. Born Gloria Fajardo in Havana on September 1, 1957, she was raised primarily in Miami, FL, after her father, a bodyguard in the employ of Cuban president Fulgencio Batista, was forced to flee the island following the 1959 coup helmed by Fidel Castro. In the fall of 1975, Fajardo and her cousin Merci Murciano auditioned for the Miami Latin Boys, a local wedding band headed by keyboardist Emilio Estefan. With their addition, the group was rechristened
Miami Sound Machine and four years later, Fajardo and
Estefan were wed.
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As one of the biggest new stars to emerge during the mid-'80s, singer
Gloria Estefan predated the coming
Latin pop explosion by a decade, scoring a series of propulsive
dance hits rooted in the rhythms of her native Cuba before shifting her focus to softer, more ballad-oriented fare. Born Gloria Fajardo in Havana on September 1, 1957, she was raised primarily in Miami, FL, after her father, a bodyguard in the employ of Cuban president Fulgencio Batista, was forced to flee the island following the 1959 coup helmed by Fidel Castro. In the fall of 1975, Fajardo and her cousin Merci Murciano auditioned for the Miami Latin Boys, a local wedding band headed by keyboardist Emilio Estefan.
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With their addition, the group was rechristened
Miami Sound Machine and four years later, Fajardo and
Estefan were wed. As
Miami Sound Machine began composing their own original material, their fusion of pop,
disco, and
salsa earned a devoted local following, and in 1979 the group issued their first Spanish-language LP on CBS International. Despite a growing Hispanic fan base, they did not cross over to non-
Latin audiences until "Dr. Beat" topped European
dance charts in 1984.
With 1985's
Primitive Love,
Miami Sound Machine recorded their first English-language effort, scoring three Top Ten pop hits in the U.S. alone with the infectious "Conga," "Bad Boy," and "Words Get in the Way." For 1988's triple-platinum
Let It Loose, the group was billed as
Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine, reeling off four Top Ten hits -- "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You," "Can't Stay Away from You," the chart-topping "Anything for You," and "1-2-3." 1989's Cuts Both Ways was credited to
Estefan alone and generated her second number one hit, "Don't Wanna Lose You"; however, while touring in support of the album, on March 20, 1990, her bus was struck by a tractor trailer. She suffered a broken vertebrae that required extensive surgery and kept her off the road for over a year. Emilio Estefan and the couple's son were injured in the crash as well, but all three recovered.
Estefan resurfaced in 1991 with
Into the Light, again topping the charts with "Coming Out of the Dark," a single inspired by her near-fatal accident; two more cuts from the album, "Can't Forget You" and "Live for Loving You," secured her foothold on the
adult contemporary charts.
With 1993's
Mi Tierra,
Estefan returned to her roots, recording her first Spanish-language record in close to a decade and earning a Grammy Award for Best Tropical Latin Album; on the follow-up, 1994's covers collection Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me, she also recalled her
dance-pop origins with a rendition of the
Vicki Sue Robinson disco classic "Turn the Beat Around." Another all-Spanish effort,
Abriendo Puertas, earned the Grammy as well, while
Destiny featured "Reach," named the official theme of the 1996 Summer Olympics. As
Latin pop made new commercial headway thanks to the efforts of acts like
Ricky Martin and
Enrique Iglesias,
Estefan reigned as the most successful crossover artist in
Latin music history, with international record sales close to the 50 million mark. In 1999, she also made her feature film debut alongside
Meryl Streep in Music of the Heart, recording the film's title song as a duet with
*NSYNC and scoring both a massive pop hit and an Oscar nomination in the process.
A new Spanish-language album,
Alma Caribeña, followed in the spring of 2000. Several months later,
Estefan was awarded a Grammy for Best Music Video for "No Me Dehes de Querer" at the first annual Latin Grammy Awards. Her husband, Emilio, won for Producer of the Year. In 2003
Estefan released Unwrapped, an English-language effort that met a lukewarm reception from consumers and critics. She didn't return with another new album for several years, as stopgap compilations such as Amor y Suerte: Exitos Romanticos (2004), The Essential Gloria Estefan (2006), and Oye Mi Canto: Los Éxitos (2006) were released from time to time. When she did return, with
90 Millas in 2007, it was with a splash. The Cuban-themed, Spanish-language effort hearkened back to
Mi Tierra and was a big hit on the Latin music scene; its lead single, "No Llores," quickly scaled Billboard's Hot Latin Tracks chart, and the album itself was a chart-topper as well. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
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