Known as the
Queen of Latin Pop,
Gloria Estefan is one of the world’s most recognized entertainers and the most popular Latin crossover artist in music history. Gloria Maria Fajardo was born in Havana, Cuba on September 1, 1957. At age two, she moved to Miami with her family when they were forced to flee from the Castro government of Cuba. She entered the University of Miami on a partial scholarship in 1975, intent on studying psychology, but she also loved music and became an accompanist and occasional lead singer of a local Cuban-American group called the Miami L
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atin Boys. She married the bandleader, Emilio Estefan, and gradually began contributing her own pop songs into the group's performances and singing more often. A year and a half later, she officially joined the group and it was renamed Miami Sound Machine. The group began releasing albums on a local label as well as their independent label. MSM officially took off with 1985’s Eyes of Innocence album and the release of such top-10 singles such as "
Bad Boy" and "
Conga". The latter dance hit became the first single to remain on Billboard's pop, dance, black, and Latin charts simultaneously.
In 1989, the star of the Miami Sound Machine released her first solo album, Cuts Both Ways, spawning #1 ballads such as "Anything for You," and "
Don't Wanna Lose You". After a tour bus accident that almost took her life, Estefan recovered and released the album Into the Light, kicked off by a year-long, 29 country world tour. In 1992, Estefan's Greatest Hits album went platinum, while the following year was filled with honors and awards, such as a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and a Grammy Award for Best Tropical Latin Album of 1993 for Mi Tierra. In subsequent years, Gloria Estefan songs would leave an indelible mark on the music industry and provide Gloria’s legions of fans with much to cheer about. All told, she has sold over 90 million albums worldwide and has continued to earn plaudits for not only her music, but her humanitarian work as well. Above all, Gloria Estefan has proven that a shy, impoverished artist can rise above her circumstances to become a success and bring joy to millions.