One of the few Latin performers to make huge inroads into pop mainstream, Gloria Estefan is one of the most culturally significant American singers of the 1980s and 1990s. An astute businesswoman and talented singer-songwriter, Gloria, backed by her husband’s group, the Miami Sound Machine, has earned millions performing Latin and English pop songs to fans all over the world.
Gloria Estefan was born Gloria Fajardo in Cuba on September 1, 1957. Her father worked as a bodyguard for President Fulgencio Batista, and with the rise of Fidel Castro, the family emigrated to Miami in I960. Like the children of many exiled Cubans, Estefan grew up with one foot in Latino culture and the other placed firmly in American pop culture. In high school, she studied singing and played the guitar, and in 1974 performed at a wedding where she was joined by a new trio, the Miami Latin Boys. The trio had formed in 1973, and was made up of Enrique Garcia on drums, Juan Avila on bass, and Emilio Estefan on keyboards. Gloria and the Miami Latin Boys performed together part-time until 1975, when she became a full member of the band and the group changed its name to the Miami Sound Machine.
By 1979, Gloria and Emilio had married and the quartet had recorded its first album. Sung entirely in Spanish, the album was distributed by CBS International and did well in most of the Spanish-speaking world. By 1985, the Miami Sound Machine, now a nine-piece band, had recorded seven albums in Spanish and were popular in Europe and Central and South America.
Although their first single sung in English was “Dr. Beat,” in 1984, they didn’t make it into the English-speaking U.S. pop charts until 1985 with “Conga.” By this time, the Miami Sound Machine had moved from CBS International to Epic Records, and their first album sung in English with Epic, Primitive Love, boasted several chart hits, including “Bad Boy.” The album quickly went double platinum in the U.S., selling over 4 million copies.
Realising the prominence and appeal of their singer, the group changed its name in 1987 to Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine. That same year, they released another album, Let It Loose, and more Top 10 singles followed, such as “Rhythm Is Gonna Get You,” “Can’t Stay Away from You,” and “Anything for You.” Cuts Both Ways (1989) was Estefan’s first solo album, although the Miami Sound Machine continued to back her. The album reached triple platinum and contained a No. 1 single, “Don’t Wanna Lose You.” Two other singles, “Lose You” and “Here We Are,” were Top 10 hits sung in English, but were also reprised in Spanish on the same album.
In the late 1980s, Estefan’s rise to the top of pop was rapid, but in 1990 her career was halted abruptly when she was injured in a traffic accident. The bus that she and the Miami Sound Machine were travelling in was hit from the rear by a truck and was forced off the road. Estefan suffered serious damage to her vertebra and, following surgery, spent the year in rehabilitation. In 1991, however, she resumed performing and released a new album titled Lnto the Light, which documented much of her struggle after the accident. The album, which contained the No. 1 single “Coming Out of the Dark,” rose higher in the charts than any of her previous releases.
In the 1990s, Estefan continued to remain at the top of both the English- and Spanish-speaking charts worldwide. In Spanish, she released two albums, Mi Tierra (1993) and Abriendo Puertas (1995). In English, she came out with a best-selling greatest hits collection (1992), and an album of her own version of classic pop songs, Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me (1994).
Dave DiMartino
SEE ALSO:
CUBA; LATIN AMERICA; POP MUSIC; SALSA.
FURTHER READING
Gonzalez, Doreen. Gloria Estefan (Springfield, NJ: Enslow Publishers, 1996).
SUGGESTED LISTENING
Cuts Both Ways; Gloria; Greatest Hits; Into the Light; Let It Loose; Mi Tierra; Primitive Love.