GLORIA ESTEFAN, SINGER, ACTRESS.
Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García de Estefan, known professionally as Gloria Estefan (born September 1, 1957) is a Cuban American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known as the “Queen Of Latin Pop”, she is in the top 100 best selling music artists with over 100 million albums sold worldwide, 31.5 million of those in the United States alone. She has won seven Grammy Awards, and is the most successful crossover performer in Latin music to date.
Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo was born September 1, 1957 in Havana, Cuba, to Jose and Gloria Fajardo.
The Fajardo family fled Cuba as a result of the Cuban Revolution, eventually settling down in Miami, Florida.
Gloria attended St. Michael-Archangel School and Our Lady of Lourdes Academy in Miami.
Gloria Estefan graduated from college in 1979 with a B.A. in psychology, with a minor in French, from the University of Miami. When she was studying at the university, she worked as an English/Spanish/French translator at Miami International Airport Customs Department and, because of her language abilities.
Marriage
Gloria became romantically involved with the 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 Star Island section of Miami Beach, Florida.
Career in singing
Starting in 1977, the same band as the Miami Latin Boys, with Gloria Estefan began recording and releasing various albums. The first album from 1977 was entitled ‘Live Again’ and was released with two different covers.
Growing in popularity in both the United States and around the world, the group would continue recording and issuing various works for Discos CBS International through 1985. In 1984, 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 film Top Gun.
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.
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.
2003–2004: Unwrapped
In 2003, Estefan released Unwrapped, her first English-language CD in five years. To promote the CD, she toured Europe, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the United States. The video for the single “Hoy”, had been filmed in Machu Picchu, Peru. “Hoy” and “Tu Fotografía” both reached #1 on Billboard’s Latin chart, and “I Wish You” reached the AC top 20.
Gloria started out the new decade with a charity single: in March 2010, it was announced that she and her husband, producer Emilio Estefan Jr., would gather Latin artists to remake Michael Jackson’s song “We Are The World”, but sung in Spanish. The song, written by Estefan and approved by Quincy Jones, has been recorded and called “Somos El Mundo”. It premiered during El Show de Cristina on March 1, 2010 and all the funds went to Haitian relief.
Film and television appearances
Estefan has appeared in two films, Music of the Heart (1999) and For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story (2000). Estefan made a cameo appearance with her husband in Marley & Me in 2008.
Estefan appeared in the ABC television special Elmopalooza, which aired February 20, 1998, in which she sang the song “Mambo, I, I, I”. In April 2004, Estefan appeared on the Fox Broadcasting Company’s program, American Idol as a guest mentor for the contestants’ Latin week.
Books
Estefan has written two children’s books: The Magically Mysterious Adventures of Noelle the Bulldog (2005) and Noelle’s Treasure Tale (2006). The latter book spent a week at #3 on the New York Times Bestseller list for children’s books.
She also collaborated on a cookbook with her husband entitled Estefan Kitchen, which was published in 2008. It contains 60 traditional Cuban recipes.
Other Business Ventures
Gloria and Emilio Estefan own a number of business establishments, including seven Cuban-themed restaurants (Bongos Cuban Café). The restaurants are located in Miami; Miami Beach, Downtown Miami, part of the American Arena; Walt Disney World’s Downtown Disney in Orlando; Mexico City; and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. They also own two hotels: the Costa d’Este in Vero Beach which opened in 2008, and The Cardozo in Miami Beach.
Gloria Estefan was appointed to the board of directors for Univision Communications Inc. in 2007, according to Hispanic Market Weekly. The Estefans’ estimated net worth as of 2011 was approximately $700 million, according to an article in People En Español magazine.
In June 2009, Gloria Estefan and her husband bought a “very small” ownership stake in the Miami Dolphins.
http://youtu.be/kIUXfq27U-8
Awards
In addition to her seven Grammys, Estefan has received a number of other awards. In May 1993, she received the Ellis Island Congressional Medal of Honor, which is the highest award that can be given to a naturalized U.S. citizen. She has won the Hispanic Heritage Award, an MTV Video Music Award, two cable television ACE Awards and the 1993 National Music Foundation’s Humanitarian of the Year award. The singer is the recipient of the American Music Award for Lifetime Achievement. She also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Her husband, Emilio, a world-renowned music impresario, received a star adjacent to his wife’s on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2005.
Estefan holds an honorary doctoral degree in music from the University of Miami, awarded in 1993. She was a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Miami. In 2002, Barry University in Miami bestowed upon her an honorary law degree. Along with her husband, Estefan received an honorary doctoral degree in music from the Berklee College of Music in Boston in 2007. She also delivered the commencement address to the 2007 graduating class.
In 2002, she received the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Medallion of Excellence for Community Service. The singer was Musicares Person of the Year in 1994. Gloria also founded the Gloria Estefan Foundation whose goal is to help those with spinal cord injuries.
She has been honored twice by the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 1992, she served as a public member of the United States Delegation to the 47th General Assembly to the United Nations.
Estefan received the Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year award at the Latin Grammy Awards in November 2008 in recognition of her twenty-five year singing career. She is the first female singer to receive this award. She also received a Latin Grammy for “Best Traditional Tropical Album” for 90 Millas, and a Latin Grammy for “Best Tropical Song” for her single, “Píntame De Colores”. This marked the first occasion for Estefan to ever win a Grammy award for a song (either Latin or non-Latin).
On March 12, 2009, Estefan was honored as a BMI Icon at the 16th annual BMI Latin Awards. Her catalog boasts 22 BMI Latin and Pop Awards, along with 11 BMI Million-Air Awards.
In April 2010, Estefan and her husband received a star in the “Walk Of Stars” in Las Vegas for their contribution to music industry. On April 28, 2011, at the Latin Billboard Awards, Estefan was honored with the Billboard Spirit of Hope Award for her philanthropic work.
In 2014, Estefan and her husband received a Caribbean American Mover and Shakers Lifetime Achievement Award, for their contributions to the Hispanic, and multicultural community. In November 2015, it was announced Estefan, along with her husband, would be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama for her contributions to American music.
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THE CUBAN HISTORY, HOLLYWOOD.
Arnoldo Varona, Editor.
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