Cuban American singer Gloria Estefan was born Gloria MarÃa Milagrosa Fajardo GarcÃa on September 1, 1957 in Havana, Cuba and moved to Miami, Florida after the Cuban Revolution in 1959.
Gloria was raised in several military bases during her father's military service and after she graduated from the Catholic high school "Our Lady of Lourdes Academy" in 1974, she attended the University of Miami earning a degree in communications and psychology in 1978.
During her years at college, Gloria Fajardo worked as a translator at the Miami International Airport's Customs Department and then she married Emilio Estefan Jr. in 1976 and debuted as a singer in her husband's band, The Miami Latin Boys, at a wedding reception.
The band changed their name to Miami Sound Machine after Gloria Estefan was added and they became regulars playing small gigs around Miami, but performing only in Spanish during the early days.
Eventually, Miami Sound Machine signed to CBS International and released in 1977 their first CBS Spanish album ever recorded. Gloria Estefan began singing in the English language after the band's first international hits "Dr. Beat" and "Conga" released in the mid-1980’s.
While "Dr. Beat" became a classic single at the dance charts in Europe, Latin America, and Australia, Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine breakthrough into the mainstreams came with the album from which the single "Conga" hit the Billboard chart.
In 1987, after releasing their 10th studio album "Let It Loose" credited to Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine, Emilio Estefan disbanded the group and focused on Gloria Estefan's career and his own as songwriter and producer.
"Let it Loose" went multi-platinum after the single "Anything For You" peaked at number one on the Billboard Pop Chart, followed by other international top hits such as "Words Get In The Way" and the song "Hot Summer Nights" that was also released as part of the blockbuster movie Top Gun.
In 1988, the single "Anything For You" was repackaged as part of Gloria Estefan's debut solo album and included a Spanish version of this song. Since then, five-time Grammy Award-winning Estefan has remained among the top Latin artists of all time.
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