Celebrating Pop Moms: Gloria Estefan
As a countdown to Mother's Day May 14th, I will be celebrating a pop mom, a pop music artist who also happens to be a mom, each day this week. Today's pop mom is Gloria Estefan.
Gloria Estefan is perhaps the most successful of Latin musicians at crossing over to the world of pop music. She has sold over 70 million albums worldwide. Including both work with her band, Miami Sound Machine, and as a solo artist, she has recorded 11 top 10 pop singles. 3 of these went all the way to #1, "Anything for You," "Don't Wanna Lose You," and "Coming Out of the Dark."
Although her earliest years were filled with turmoil when her family fled Cuba following the Castro-led 1959 revolution and then her father was captured and held as a prisoner after the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion, Gloria Estefan was raised in a loving family and she took advantage of educational opportunities. A graduate of the University of Miami, Gloria Estefan has been a tireless advocate for education including service as a member of the university's Board of Trustees.
Gloria Estefan's first public live performance took place when her future husband, Emilio Estefan, Jr., invited her to sing with his band, Miami Sound Machine, at a large Cuban wedding. A few weeks later she became the lead vocalist for Miami Sound Machine, and the band released their first album in 1977. Gloria and Emilio married in September, 1978. Their first child, a son named Nayib, was born 2 years later.
After the birth of Nayib, Emilio Estefan gave up his role as keyboardist with Miami Sound Machine and, instead, devoted himself to raising Nayib while managing the band. Gloria Estefan continued to tour with Miami Sound Machine. The close-knit family worked hard to spend as much time as possible together during breaks in tours. In 1990 the family endured a tragic accident when the Estefan's tour bus crashed with a large truck in Pennsylvania. Emilio and Nayib suffered relatively minor injuries, but Gloria was critically injured with a broken vertebra.
Undaunted, Gloria Estefan faced the long road of recovery which took nearly a year. Her smash hit single "Coming Out of the Dark" was seen as her statement about the experience she had endured and the wonder of a successful recovery. 3 years later, in 1994, Gloria Estefan gave birth to the couple's second child, Emily Marie. Since that time Gloria Estefan has continued to record new music while Emilio Estefan devotes time to being a highly respected music producer.
In interviews Gloria Estefan states that her greatest pride is her family. She is proud of a successful 27-year marriage as well as her 25-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter.
Please join me in celebrating pop mom Gloria Estefan.
More pop moms:
Photo © Epic Records.
Comments
I think Gloria is an amazing, intelligent and wonderful person. I loved your article, it is very sincere.