Gloria Estefan

Gloria María Milagrosa Estefan (née Fajardo García) is a Cuban-American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman born on September 1, 1957, in Havana, Cuba. Best known as a lead vocalist and solo recording artist, she has earned five Grammy Awards, sold over 120 million records worldwide, and been named one of the top 100 greatest artists of all time by both VH1 and Billboard. Hailed by the media as the "Queen of Latin Pop," she has amassed 38 number-one hits across Billboard charts.

Following the Cuban Revolution, Estefan's family fled Cuba in 1959 and settled in Miami, Florida. Her father, José Fajardo, participated in the 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion, was imprisoned in Cuba for nearly two years, and later served in the United States military during the Vietnam War. Upon his return, he developed multiple sclerosis, and Estefan helped care for him while her mother worked as a schoolteacher. Estefan attended Our Lady of Lourdes Academy in Miami and graduated from the University of Miami in 1979 with a B.A. in psychology and a minor in French. While attending university, she worked as a translator at Miami International Airport's Customs Department.

In 1975, Estefan joined the Miami Latin Boys, an ensemble formed by Emilio Estefan Jr. The group was subsequently renamed Miami Sound Machine, and Estefan married Emilio in 1978. After releasing material on local and Latin record labels, the band signed with Epic/Columbia and achieved international success with their 1984 album Eyes of Innocence and 1985 album Primitive Love, which yielded the hits "Conga," "Words Get in the Way," and "Bad Boy." The group was re-billed as Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine for the 1987 multi-platinum album Let It Loose, which generated the chart-topping single "Anything for You."

Estefan launched her solo career in 1989 with her debut solo album, Cuts Both Ways, featuring singles such as "Don't Wanna Lose You" and "Get on Your Feet." In March 1990, while on tour, her tour bus was struck by a semi-truck near Scranton, Pennsylvania, leaving her with a critically severe cervical spine fracture. After undergoing emergency surgery in New York City and nearly a year of intensive physical therapy, she made a full recovery. She returned in 1991 with the album Into the Light and the number-one single "Coming Out of the Dark."

Estefan released her first Spanish-language album, Mi Tierra, in 1993, which sold over eight million copies worldwide and won a Grammy Award for Best Tropical Latin Album. That same year, she released the holiday record Christmas Through Your Eyes, followed by the covers album Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me in 1994 and her second Grammy-winning Tropical Latin album, Abriendo Puertas, in 1995. In 1996, she released Destiny, performed the official Olympic theme "Reach" at the Atlanta Summer Olympics closing ceremony, and embarked on the Evolution World Tour. She followed this with her disco-salsa album Gloria! in 1998.

Estefan's honors include stars on both the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Las Vegas Walk of Fame, an MTV Video Music Award, the American Music Award for Lifetime Achievement, and induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2015 and received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2017.