Gloria Estefan (born Gloria María Fajardo on September 1, 1957) is a Grammy Award-winning Cuban American singer and songwriter. She is in the top 100 of best selling music artists with over 70 million albums sold worldwide, with 26.5 million of those alone in the United Stateshttp://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=2&table=tblTopArt&action=. She has won five Grammy Awards becoming among the most successful crossover performers in Latin music to date.

The Cuban exile

Her father worked as a bodyguard for Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista's wife. So during the Cuban Revolution the family had to flee. Gloria Estefan was 16 months old when she and her parents arrived at Miami. Like most Cuban exiles, Estefan is an ardent opponent of communism in general and of the Castro regime in particular. Fact: date=September 2008 She has often spoken of her desire for a post-communist Cuba. When her father, a Veteran of the Vietnam War and the Bay of Pigs Invasion, returned from the war with physical and psychological problems, she decided to study psychology. 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. Fact: date=September 2008 She also supported the unsuccessful effort to keep young Elián González in the United States. She was selected as Artist of the Year for the Latin Grammy in 2008.

University of Miami

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.

1984-1988: The Miami Sound Machine Superstardom

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.