Gloria Estefan (born Gloria María Fajardo García on September 1, 1957) is a Grammy Award-winning Cuban singer and songwriter. She is in the top 100 best selling music artists with over 90 million albums sold worldwide,, 26.5 million of those in the United States.http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=2&table=tblTopArt&action= She has won seven Grammy Awards, placing her among the most successful crossover performers in Latin music to date.

Early life

Gloria María Fajardo García was born September 1, 1957 in Havana, Cuba, to Jose and Gloria Fajardo. Her mother's father Lenoardo Garcia emigrated to Cuba from Pola de Siero, Asturias, Spain where he married a woman from Logroño, Spain. The family fled to Miami, Florida, during the Cuban Revolution. A few years after they moved, Jose joined the US military during the Vietnam War. Her father had been a Cuban soldier and bodyguard of President Fulgencio Batista.

1984-1988: The Miami Sound Machine

In the mid-1980s, Gloria Estefan was part of the group 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.

Their 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 Hot 100), "1, 2, 3" (#3 Hot 100), "Betcha Say That" (#36 Hot 100), "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You" (#5 Hot 100), and "Can't Stay Away From You" (#6 Hot 100). "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 and 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", her 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.