"If Celia Cruz was known as the "Queen of Salsa", Gloria Estefan would probably be considered the "Queen of Pop-Latino." - Bobby Ramirez.
Born Gloria Fajardo in Havana, Cuba on September 1, 1957, she was raised
primarily in Miami, FL. Gloria
Estefan is the most successful performer in Latin music to
date. She began crossing over to English music in the 1980's. At this time, Estefan was with the Miami Sound Machine which basically launched her
career to stardom. Their album Primitive Love,
was released in 1985, launching three Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot
100: "Conga" which was #10 on the list, and "Words Get in the Way” which
landed at #5. Estefan had bridged between both the English and Latin
world from the late 1980s up until the 2000s. Gloria Estefan had already become very noticeable and talented.
Soon Gloria and the Miami sound Machine came to be a leading band in the U.S., with promotions on MTV and VH-1. They even did tours and concerts all over the U.S., something a Latin artist had never done before. Slowly, Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine became one name. As Miami Sound Machine began composing their own original material, their fusion of pop, disco, and salsa earned a devoted local following. Despite a growing fan base, they did not cross over to non-Latin audiences until "Dr. Beat" topped European dance charts in 1984.
With 1993's Mi Tierra, Estefan returned to her roots, recording her first Spanish-language record in close to a decade and earning a Grammy Award for Best Tropical Latin Album; on the follow-up, 1994's covers collection Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me, she also recalled her dance-pop origins with a rendition of the Vicki Sue Robinson disco classic "Turn the Beat Around." As Latin Pop made new commercial headway thanks to the efforts of acts like those from Ricky Martin and Enrique Iglesias, Estefan was still known as the most successful crossover artist in Latin music history, with international record sales close to the 50 million mark and left us with a great beginning to the success of this genre.
(Thebiographychannel, 1957)
Born Gloria Fajardo in Havana, Cuba on September 1, 1957, she was raised
primarily in Miami, FL. Gloria
Estefan is the most successful performer in Latin music to
date. She began crossing over to English music in the 1980's. At this time, Estefan was with the Miami Sound Machine which basically launched her
career to stardom. Their album Primitive Love,
was released in 1985, launching three Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot
100: "Conga" which was #10 on the list, and "Words Get in the Way” which
landed at #5. Estefan had bridged between both the English and Latin
world from the late 1980s up until the 2000s. Gloria Estefan had already become very noticeable and talented.Soon Gloria and the Miami sound Machine came to be a leading band in the U.S., with promotions on MTV and VH-1. They even did tours and concerts all over the U.S., something a Latin artist had never done before. Slowly, Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine became one name. As Miami Sound Machine began composing their own original material, their fusion of pop, disco, and salsa earned a devoted local following. Despite a growing fan base, they did not cross over to non-Latin audiences until "Dr. Beat" topped European dance charts in 1984.
With 1993's Mi Tierra, Estefan returned to her roots, recording her first Spanish-language record in close to a decade and earning a Grammy Award for Best Tropical Latin Album; on the follow-up, 1994's covers collection Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me, she also recalled her dance-pop origins with a rendition of the Vicki Sue Robinson disco classic "Turn the Beat Around." As Latin Pop made new commercial headway thanks to the efforts of acts like those from Ricky Martin and Enrique Iglesias, Estefan was still known as the most successful crossover artist in Latin music history, with international record sales close to the 50 million mark and left us with a great beginning to the success of this genre.
(Thebiographychannel, 1957)
