Awards:
> Grammy Awards
1994, 1996, 2001
> World Music Awards: 1989, 1997
> World Music Awards: 1994
> Alma Awards: 1999
> American Music Awards: 1989,
2000
How it all started: Gloria Marķa
Fajardo was born on September 1, 1957 in Havana, Cuba. Her
father was a bodyguard to president Fulgencio Batista’s wife and
when Gloria was two and Castro succeeded in his military
overthrow of the Batista’s regime in 1959, the Fajardo family
were forced to emigrate into the United States.
Her father, a Cuban
soldier, got recruited into the American funded Cuban refugees
brigade which participated in the unsuccessful 1961 Bay of Pigs
invasion. He also served two years in Vietnam in the American
Army, his exposure to Agent Orange in the Vietnamese jungles
possibly led to his multiple sclerosis which he was diagnosed
with some time after his return.
This meant a change in the
Fajardo family. Gloria’s mother had to take up work to support
the family and Gloria assumed the care of her ill father and her
younger sister. When young, she used to take lessons in
classical guitar, finding it simply tedious, but it was in these
times of pressure that she really found music her escape. In an
interview she said she would spend hours singing in her room to
let it all out – and to enjoy it.
In 1975 she met Emilio
Estefan, leader of a band called Miami Latin Boys playing
popular Latin music. They didn’t have a lead singer. When they
met again – at a wedding where the Miami Latin Boys were
singing, Emilio invited Gloria to join them and a couple of
weeks later asked her to become part of the band. So she did –
initially at weekends only, before she finished her university,
and a year and a half after that fully. The band changed their
name to Miami Sound Machine and put out their first album,
Renacer.
In 1978 Gloria and Emilio
were married and in 1980 their son Nayib was born – and the band
inked a deal with Hispanic division of CBS Records. Until 1983,
Miami Sound Machine produced four albums in Spanish which
brought them success especially in Latin American countries –
though not so much in the U.S. However with their first English
album, Eyes of Innocence, and especially its single Dr. Beat,
they hit the charts in the Northern hemisphere as well. Having
changed label to a parent Epic, they confirmed their success
with album Primitive Love which was their first fully English
one and brought a series of hits such as Words Get In the Way.
Their success continued and in 1988 the band, with its
ever-changing personnel, changed its name to Gloria Estefan and
The Miami Sound Machine. In 1989 the name Miami Sound Machine
was dropped altogether with the band members being fired and
Gloria Estefan became a solo artist, though Miami Sound Machine,
in its currrent set-up, remains her backing band. In 1989,
Gloria also released her album, Cuts Both Ways, which to this
day remains her most successful one. Her success continues,
though she still has an unfulfilled dream – a free concert in a
free Cuba.
Mailing address (Click
here to find the latest postal address for your fan mail)
Do you have any comments / questions / suggestions?
1977
- Renacer
