Gloria Estefan (born Gloria María Fajardo on September 1, 1957) is a Cuban American singer and songwriter. She is in the top 100 of best selling music artists with over 90 million albums sold worldwide, with 26.5 million of those alone in the United States. She has won five Grammy Awards becoming among the most successful crossover performers in Latin music to date.

She has been selected by the Latin Grammy Award Recording Association as the "Person of the Year". In a ceremony to be aired on November 2008, the award will be given to her for her long career of more than 20 years and her worldwide success. She is the first female singer to receive this award. She's also nominated for other three awards for the same ceremony.

Gloria Estefan was 16 months old when she and her mother fled to Miami following the Cuban Revolution. Like most Cuban exiles, Estefan is an ardent opponent of communism in general and of the Castro regime in particular. She has often spoken of her desire for a post-communist Cuba. She was the first pop star invited to perform for the Pope, singing "Más Allá" as part of the celebration of Pope John Paul II's 50th anniversary in the priesthood. When she and John Paul II met, she asked him to pray for a free Cuba. She also supported the unsuccessful effort to keep young Elián González in the United States.

Gloria was raised primarily in Miami (though she accompanied her mother, father and younger sister, to several military bases in the 1960s during her father’s military service). Gloria graduated from an all-girl Catholic high school, Our Lady of Lourdes Academy in 1975. She attended the University of Miami. While a student there, she worked as a Spanish and French translator at Miami International Airport's Customs Department. She graduated in 1978 with a degree in communications and psychology (with a minor in French). Since graduating, she has been a prominent advocate for the university and a member of its Board of Trustees and has appeared in national television advertisements for the university.

Estefan’s first public musical performance was at a large Cuban wedding when her future husband, Emilio Estefan, Jr. asked her to join what was then called "The Miami Latin Boys." With the addition of Gloria, the band's name was changed to Miami Sound Machine.

In 1984, Miami Sound Machine released their first Epic/Columbia album, Eyes Of Innocence which contained the dance hit "Dr. Beat" as well as the ballad "I Need Your Love". Their more successful follow-up album Primitive Love was released in 1985 launching three Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100: "Conga" (U.S. #10), "Words Get In The Way” (U.S. #5), and "Bad Boy" (U.S. #8) became follow up hits in the U.S. and around the world. "Words Get In The Way" reached #1 on the US Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart, establishing that the group could perform pop ballads as successfully as dance tunes. The song "Hot Summer Nights" was also released that year and was part of the blockbuster movie Top Gun.

Estefan’s next album, 1987’s Let It Loose, went multi-platinum, with six million copies sold in the US. It featured the following hits: "Anything For You" (#1 Pop), "1, 2, 3" (#3 Pop), "Betcha Say That" (#36 Pop), "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You" (#5 Pop), and "Can't Stay Away From You" (#6 Pop). "Can’t Stay Away From You," "Anything For You" and "1-2-3" were all #1 Adult Contemporary hits as well.

In 1988, Estefan took top billing as the band’s name changed to Gloria Estefan and The Miami Sound Machine. Beginning in 1989, the group's name was dropped altogether along with the firing of the Miami Sound Machine band members. Estefan was credited as a solo artist, though the ever-changing line-up of Miami Sound Machine continues as her backing band to this day.

In 1989, after the worldwide chart success of single "Anything For You", their Let it Loose album was repackaged as Anything For You. It became the band's first UK #1 album, selling over a million copies. It was the biggest selling album of the year in The Netherlands, staying at #1 for 22 weeks. The album also took top honors in Australia and Canada, launching Estefan to superstar status.

In late 1989, she released her best-selling album to date, Cuts Both Ways. The album included the hit singles "Don't Wanna Lose You" (a Billboard Hot 100 #1 hit), "Oye mi Canto (Hear my Voice)", "Here We Are", "Cuts Both Ways" (#1 on the U.S. Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart) and "Get on Your Feet." Cuts Both Ways went platinum within its first month of release in the U.S. Success followed in the UK where it debuted at #1, with Gloria being the first act in 10 years to have two # 1 albums on the UK albums chart in one year. Cuts Both Ways then shot to #1 in Australia, The Netherlands, Belgium, Japan, and other countries, selling over ten million copies worldwide.

While touring in support of Cuts Both Ways on March 20, 1990, near Scranton, Pennsylvania, Estefan was critically injured, suffering a fractured spine when a speeding semi-truck crashed into her tour bus. She was taken to Community Medical Center's Intensive Care Unit and was admitted overnight. The next day, Estefan was flown by helicopter to New York City, where surgeons at the NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases permanently implanted two titanium rods to stabilize her spinal column. Her rehabilitation required almost a year of intensive physical therapy with Michael Klepper, but she achieved a complete recovery. She returned to an international tour ten months after the accident.

Estefan returned to the charts with a concept album, Into the Light in 1991. "Coming Out of the Dark" was performed publicly for the first time on the American Music Awards in January 1991 receiving a standing ovation as she took stage. "I was worried so much about crying before I finished that I completely didn't prepare for crying before I started.", Estefan said backstage after the performance. Out of the Dark reached #1 in the U.S. as a single a few months later. The Into the Light World Tour covered 100 cities in five countries and was seen by more than 10 million people worldwide. Other popular singles were "Seal Our Fate" and "Live for Loving You". The album peaked at number five at the Billboard album chart, becoming on Gloria's highest debut and number two at the British albums chart. Eventually the album went platinum at UK and two-times platinum at the States.

She followed up Into the Light with her first greatest-hits album, the Gloria Estefan Greatest Hits was released in 1992, which included the U.S. hit ballads “Always Tomorrow” and “I See Your Smile” and the international hit dance track “Go Away”. Also in 1992, Estefan helped contribute to the mainstream success of fellow Cuban-American singer-songwriter Jon Secada, including singing backup on his breakthrough hit, “Just Another Day.” Estefan spent much of the latter half of the year in Miami, helping with relief from the devastation of Hurricane Andrew. Maria Cincotti was here

In 1993 Estefan released the international success Mi Tierra, which was Estefan's first Spanish-language album, with this album Estefan returned to her Cuban roots, for which she won a Grammy Award for Best Tropical Latin Album. Mi Tierra was a successful album worldwide, with over eight million copies sold. In Spain, Mi Tierra became the country’s best selling international album ever. A lot of singles became famous from this album among those, the most popular were the up-beat classic "Mi Tierra" and the romantic-tropical ballad "Con Los Años Que Me Quedan", which both went number-one at the "Hot Latin Tracks" at the United States. The album went at number twenty-seven at the Billboard albums chart and number eleven at the British albums chart, in both countries became in the most-successful ever Spanish album on the charts at the time, in both countries the album went platinum status.

That same year Estefan released her first Christmas album, Christmas Through Your Eyes, this classic collection was the first album from Estefan to not be produced by her husband Emilio Estefan Jr. The collection included classics such as "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" and "White Christmas" to new songs such the classic Christmas from Estefan album title and the only Spanish-language song of the entire album "Arbolito De Navidad". The compilation went Platinum for selling more than a million of copies in the United States.

This same years also, Gloria collaborated with Frank Sinatra on his special album Duets with the song "Come Rain or Come Shine".

Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me a cover album of some of Estefan’s favorite songs from the 1960s and 1970s (including the title song, the Classics IV’s "Traces", and Blood, Sweat & Tears' "You've Made Me So Very Happy", among others), was released in 1994. "Turn the Beat Around", the first single and a remake of Vicki Sue Robinson’s 1976 disco classic, became another international hit, certified gold in the US and also featured in the Sharon Stone movie The Specialist. "Everlasting Love" (the 1967 Robert Knight and 1974 Carl Carlton classic) was a successful club and pop hit, and a third single, a remake of Carole King’s signature song "It's Too Late", did well on Adult Contemporary radio. "Cherchez La Femme" a dance-song and tribute to Tommy Mottola, was the last cut from the album sent as a promotional single to the clubs and hitting the dance charts.

1995’s Spanish-language album Abriendo Puertas earned Estefan her second Grammy Award for Best Tropical Latin Album. It spun off two #1 Dance hits, "Abriendo Puertas" and "Tres Deseos", and two #1 Latin singles, "Abriendo Puertas" and "Más Allá". The Miami Herald called Abriendo Puertas "a danceable pan-Latin American fusion, brilliantly built on improbable instrumental combinations and layers of styles and rhythms".

The platinum selling album Destiny released in 1996, featured "Reach", the official theme of the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics. Estefan performed in the closing ceremony, in front of an audience of two billion people worldwide. Televised ceremonies included Estefan singing both "Reach" and "You'll Be Mine (Party Time)" from the Destiny album.

This album restored Estefan's popularity around the world thanks to the singles released, specifically "You'll Be Mine (Party Time)". The following single to this, "I'm Not Giving You Up" inducted more Gloria to techno/dance market of the time, leading Gloria to release a full album of techno and dance music for the next two years.

On July 18, 1996, Estefan embarked on her Evolution World Tour (her first tour in five years), which covered the United States, Canada, Europe, Latin America, Australia, South Africa and Asia.

On June 2, 1998, Estefan released her eighth album, (twenty-first overall), Gloria!. The album is highly influenced by Disco music, some blended with Salsa music percussion and Latin flavour. While it became her first album during the 1990s not to hit Platinum status, it sold into the higher end of Gold certification and was well received.

Estefan successfully rode the wave of the Disco revival in the U.S. during the late 1990s. The album peaked at #23 on the The Billboard 200. The single, "Oye!", peaked at #1 the Hot Dance Music/Club Play and the Hot Latin Tracks charts. The other major hit single releases were "Don't Let This Moment End", which peaked at #76 on the Billboard Hot 100 and "Heaven's What I Feel", which peaked at #27 on the Billboard Hot 100. The latter song also became a Latin chart hit. The album's other singles are "Cuba Libre" and "Don't Stop". One of the album's highlights is "Don't Release Me", with Wyclef Jean. To promote Gloria!, Estefan performed at the famed New York City discoteque, Studio 54.

Estefan appeared in a movie, Music of the Heart (1999) and duetted with *NSYNC on the Billboard #2 and Academy Award-nominated "Music Of My Heart". She also released a Latin hit with the Brazilian group So Pra Contrariar called "Santo Santo", sang with Luciano Pavarotti in “Pavarotti and Friends for Guatemala and Kosovo,” released the benefit album “A Rosie Christmas,” and sang with Stevie Wonder at Super Bowl XXXIII in Miami. Estefan is the only artist to perform twice at the Super Bowl. Estefan also sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” before game 3 of the 2003 World Series which was played in Miami between the Florida Marlins and New York Yankees and in Super Bowl XLI (2007), also played in Miami between the Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears.

Estefan's next album, 2000’s Alma Caribeña won the first Latin Grammy for Best Music Video for the "No Me Dejes de Querer" single. The album reached number one in Spain, the United States and several South American countries. It also won a Grammy Award for Best Tropical Album. That year, she also won the American Music Awards, Award of Merit. It also made the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #77. Also was released "Como Me Duele Perderte" and "Tres Gotas De Agua Bendita" with Celia Cruz at Spain.

Greatest Hits Vol. II was released in 2001. It contained hits from 1993 to 2000, three new songs and a remix of her first hit “Conga” now called “Y-Tu-Conga”. The album featured the hit "Out of Nowhere" which was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category for Best Dance Recording: a saucy R&B song called "I Got No Love", probably the only one on this style of Estefan's career, and a passionate song called "You Can't Walk Away from Love", which was featured in the movie Original Sin.

In 2003, Estefan released Unwrapped, her first English-language CD in five years. To promote the CD, she toured Europe, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the United States. The CDs first video, for the single "Hoy/Wrapped," was shot in Machu Picchu, Peru. "Hoy" and the next single, "Tu Fotografía", were #1 on Billboard’s Latin chart, and “I Wish You” reached the AC top 20.

In April 2004, Estefan appeared on the Fox Broadcasting Company’s program, American Idol, but she declined an offer to be an official judge because, she said publicly, she does not like to “judge” others. On July 28, 2004, at the Trump Tower Building, in a press conference hosted by Donald Trump, Estefan announced that her then-upcoming tour would be her final one. The Live and Re-Wrapped Summer/Fall 2004 Tour, her first tour in eight years was produced by Clear Channel Entertainment. The tour featured Estefan’s greatest hits, along with new material from Unwrapped. It began in McAllen, Texas on July 30, 2004, and played in 28 cities. Gloria finished her final concert tour in her home town of Miami on the weekend of October 9 and 10, a finale in a sold-out American Airlines Arena that was delayed for two weeks by a hurricane.

In late 2005, after being absent from the UK charts for five years, Estefan had her biggest hit single there when the popular club mash-up Dr. Pressure (combining Mylo’s Number 19 hit “Drop The Pressure” with the Miami Sound Machine’s “Dr. Beat”) reached #3 on the UK singles chart. In Australia the single peaked at #1 on the dance chart, providing Gloria with her first top 40 hit and commercial radio airplay since 1996.

Along with dozens of other prominent singers in early 2006, Estefan performed in Los Angeles at a tribute to singer Dionne Warwick’s 45-year career. Estefan sang “Walk On By,” one of Warwick’s signature songs that helped launch Warwick’s career in the mid 1960s.

On April 7, 2005, Estefan participated in “Selena ¡VIVE!", the tribute concert for Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, the "Queen of Tejano," who was murdered in March 1995 on the brink of her attempt to cross over as an English-language performer. Gloria performed "I Could Fall in Love," one of Selena's posthumously released crossover hits.

The '#3 New York Times Bestseller' "Noelle's Treasure Tale" was released on Oct 10.

On December 9, 2006, Estefan appeared on ITV’s The X Factor. She also appeared on several radio shows and The New Paul O'Grady Show. This tour has been to help promote her greatest hits album in the run up to Christmas.

In October 2006, Sony released a 2-CD compilation The Essential Gloria Estefan featuring most of her biggest hits from 1984 to 2003.

Oye Mi Canto!: Los Grandes Exitos was released at October 2006 too, and there released all her Spanish greatest hits, in difference to her Amor y Suerte: Exitos Romanticos in where only released love songs, here she included all her biggest Spanish hits, but it were notorious some absents song such as "Tradición" featured at the 1993 smash album Mi Tierra and "En El Jardín" a #1 Hot Latin Track topper which sung as duet with Mexican superstar Alejandro Fernandez. This compilation was released in Spain with a extra DVD, with music videos and performances on TV.

Also at Europe and at Mexico Gloria released an additional compilation, The Very Best of Gloria Estefan similar to The Essential Gloria Estefan in which she included all her hits on her career, and included a bonus track "Dr. Pressure", who was released as a single at Europe and become a biggest hit after all in clubs, reaching several number ones throughout all Europe at dance charts. This compilation was certificated GOLD in Ireland.

In anticipation of the release of Estefan's 90 Millas album, a special edition in English and Spanish language versions of iTunes Originals were released on June 2, 2007.

Gloria's new Spanish-language album in eight years, 90 Millas featured original songs inspired by her native Cuba and was released on September 18, 2007 on Sony BMG Music Entertainment's Burgundy Records. On this album she collaborated with many Latin music greats, such as Jose Feliciano, Carlos Santana, Arturo Sandoval, Andy Garcia, Chocolate, La India, Cachao and other prominent Cuban musicians. Her inclusion of Carlos Santana as one of the artists contributing to 90 Millas stirred a controversy among a tiny minority of the Cuban exile community in the U.S., who alleged Mr. Santana was sympathetic to the Fidel Castro regime and Che Guevara.

Emilio and Gloria issued a joint statement at the end of March, 2007, addressing the controversy. "For the past 32 years of our career our position against the Castro regime has been crystal clear . . . we have expressed our disagreement with the Cuban dictatorship and have spoken worldwide of the pain of the Cuban people. We have never nor would we ever collaborate with anyone who supports the Cuban dictatorship or Che Guevara. This should be apparently clear due to our trajectory," the statement said.

The first single from the album "No Llores" was released digitally at June 19, 2007 at the iTunes Store, "No Llores" rose to #1 on Billboard's Latin singles chart, a physical single was set only at Europe on August 23, 2007 but at last time this was cancelled and was released the second single from the album, "Me Odio". Both past singles were set to be released with a physical release, but that never happened. In November 2007 was released a promotional single "Píntame De Colores" at Europe exclusively, three months later the song was released as the third promotional single at the United States.

To promote the album, Gloria did a international promotional tour and made special performances at Europe such as her free-performance at Las Ventas, Spain. Gloria also appeared in Rotterdam, The Netherlands on September 8, 2007. Her performance included new songs, along with a collection of old hits. The performance was free and open to members of the public, and was part of the "Wereld Havens Dagen" (World Harbour Days), commemorating the 75th Anniversary of the Port of Rotterdam.

Estefan debuted 90 Millas at # 1 in Holland. Her last #1 album at The Netherlands was nineteen years ago with "Anything for You", which racked up 22 weeks at top spot in 1988. and also reached Gold Certification in Spain. At the end of the year 2007, Gloria made onto the number eleven as the Latin Female Artist of the Year at the America Top 100 chart.

2008 Gloria appeared at the seventh season of American Idol program performing for the special charity episode Idol Gives Back, performing live at the Kodak Theater her legendary anthem "Get on Your Feet" along with Sheila E.. The performance was recorded and was released at the American iTunes stores where the video of the performance become in the most downloaded video of Estefan's reaching the number twenty of the store Top 100 videos, as the song became the most downloaded song of Estefan in just one day.

In the United States, Gloria has sold 15.5 millions copies of albums, ranking within the Top 200 best selling-artists at the States in a poll made at May 24, 2008.

Estefan became in the headliner of the open of the new venue of the MGM Grand at Foxwoods Resort Casino, her three-days SOLD OUT concerts, the only US concerts appearance scheduled for this year, including one at the Memorial Day are the last on the United States until she moves to Canada to perform at the Casino Rama, and started her "90 Millas World Tour" in late August. The tour started in Valencia, Spain, and then Gloria moved to the Wembley Arena in London on September 10th 2008, Rotterdam on the 5th September, and Belfast on the 8th September.. Other Spanish dates are Zaragoza (Sept. 12th), Madrid (Sept. 13th), Barcelona (Sept. 17th) and Tenerife (Sept. 19th).

Estefan gave a special concert at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino to raise funds for the Education of South Florida. Then Gloria was the headliner for the Bette Midler's "Annual Hulaween Gala" along with other special guests such Kathy Griffin and a costume contest judged by Michael Kors. This gala was made to benefit the New York Restoration Project and was made at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on October 31.

Gloria became romantically involved with the Miami Sound Machine's band leader, Emilio Estefan, in 1976. She and Emilio married on September 2, 1978. They have a son, Nayib (born September 2, 1980) and a daughter, Emily Marie (born December 5, 1994). Gloria enjoys living in the quaintness of Vero Beach, Florida.

Estefan and her husband own a number of business establishments including seven Cuban-themed restaurants (Bongos Cuban Café). The restaurants are located in Miami; Miami Beach, Downtown Miami, part of the American Airlines Arena; Disney World’s Downtown Disney in Orlando; Mexico City; and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. They also own two hotels: a hotel in Vero Beach, which was destroyed by Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne in September 2004 (which will be renamed "Costa d'Este" and reopen in June 2008, according to a news release from Benchmark Hospitality), and The Cardozo in Miami Beach. Estefan was appointed to the board of directors for Univision Communications Inc. in 2007, according to Hispanic Market Weekly. The Estefans' current estimated net worth is approximately $500 million, according to an article in People En Espanol magazine (February 2007).