Gloria Estefan was born in Havana, Cuba. Her father was a military man, and her mother was a teacher. She was left to care for her parents and younger sister when she was young, so she turned to music as a way of expressing herself.
She started singing with the Miami Latin Boys, later called the Miami Sound Machine, in 1975 and was discovered by their keyboardist Emilio Estefan. He invited her to join the group, and she became the band’s lead vocalist.
With the success of their 1985 single “Conga” they experienced international fame. Their success led to them releasing albums and performing in a variety of countries around the world.
Their 1989 album Cuts Both Ways was their most successful. It included hits in both English and Spanish.
They released a number of popular albums over the years and won several awards for their work. In 1990, the band’s tour bus was involved in a near-fatal accident that put their career on hold.
She and her husband, Emilio Estefan, have two children: Nayib and Emily. They live in the exclusive Star Island area of Miami Beach, Florida.
In the 1980s she made her name by writing a series of songs that combined disco pop and Spanish-language ballads. Her sultry, high-energy style of singing has helped make Latin-flavored pop music a tremendous crossover success. She is a seven-time Grammy Award winner. She has sold over 90 million records worldwide and is one of the best-selling artists of all time.