Gloria Estefan

**Gloria Estefan** (Spanish: [ˈɡloɾja esˈtefan]; born **Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García** on September 1, 1957) is a Cuban-American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. A contralto, she started her career as the lead singer in the group "Miami Latin Boys", which later became known as Miami Sound Machine.

Estefan experienced worldwide success with "Conga" in 1985. The song became Estefan's signature song and led to the Miami Sound Machine winning the grand prix in the 15th annual Tokyo Music Festival in 1986. In the middle of 1988, she and the band got their first number-one hit for the song "Anything for You."

In March 1990, Estefan had a severe accident in her tour bus. She made her comeback in March 1991 with a new world tour and album called *Into The Light*. Her 1993 Spanish-language album, *Mi Tierra*, won the first of her three Grammy Awards for Best Tropical Latin Album. It was the first number-one album on the *Billboard* Top Latin Albums chart, established when it was released. It was also the first Diamond album in Spain. Many of her songs, such as "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You," "1-2-3," "Get On Your Feet," "Here We Are," "Coming Out of the Dark," "Bad Boy," "Oye!," "Party Time" and a remake of "Turn the Beat Around" became international chart-topping hits. Estefan has sold an estimated 115 million records worldwide including 31.5 million in the United States alone.

She has won three Grammy Awards[1] and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Las Vegas Walk of Fame. In 2015, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her contributions to American music and received the Kennedy Center Honors in December 2017 for her contributions to American Culture Life. Estefan also won an MTV Video Music Award, she was honored with the American Music Award for Lifetime Achievement, as well as being named BMI Songwriter of the Year. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and has received multiple Billboard Awards. She is also on the list of VH1 top 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, and in *Billboard*'s Top 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. 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* (2008).

Estefan was cast to star as Connie Francis, a U.S. pop singer of the 1950s and early 1960s, in the biographical film *Who's Sorry Now?* According to *Parade* magazine (March 23, 2008), filming supposedly began in late 2008. In an interview with www.allheadlinenews.com, Estefan stated that the film would be released in 2009. However, as of December 2009, the film was dropped as Connie Francis had irreconcilable differences with Estefan over the film's writer. Francis wanted to hire writer Robert L. Freedman, who had written the Emmy Award winning mini-series *Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows*. Estefan, according to Francis, refused to consider him and the project collaboration thus ended.[87]

Estefan appeared in the ABC television special *Elmopalooza* (which aired on 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 during Latin Week.[88]

After campaigning heavily for the part on her social media accounts, Estefan was invited to guest star on the Fox television series *Glee* as the mother of cheerleader Santana Lopez (Naya Rivera).[89] She also appeared as a mentor for the CW Network reality series *The Next: Fame Is at Your Doorstep*.

Estefan played Mirtha, the baby sister and nemesis of Lydia Margarita del Carmen Inclán Maribona Leyte-Vidal de Riera, in the first episode of season 3 of the Netflix series *One Day at a Time*.[90]