Gloria Estefan, born Gloria Fajardo, is a Cuban-American singer, songwriter, actress, record producer, dancer, businesswoman, television personality and philanthropist. She is best known for her international success as the lead singer of the Miami-based Latin music group Miami Sound Machine. After the group's formation in 1975, she released her first solo album in 1985.
Singer Gloria Estefan was born Gloria Fajardo y García in Havana on April 15, 1958. She was named after Gloria Swanson, who was one of her favorite actresses
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Gloria's father was a restaurateur and her mother a homemaker. Both were born in Cuba. Her father Luis Antonio "Tony" Fajardo y García died when she was nine years old.
Gloria Estefan began singing at the age of eight years old at the school concert with her sister Janet Fajardo together with their mother Lourdes Fajardo y García.
Her father took Gloria to see her first concert by Nat King Cole when she was twelve years old at the Teatro Diana theater in Havana. She learned to play the guitar from her uncle Enrique Fajardo y García and wrote her first song at age fourteen called "Lovin' You." She performed at weddings and parties with Cuban musicians until she left Cuba for good with her mother and sister Janet Fajardo y García to Miami, Florida where they took up residence as refugees as part of Operation Peter Pan (Havana) where more than four thousand children were sent to America after Castro came into power on January 1, 1959.
It was during this time that Gloria met Carmelo Muñoz and they soon became lovers and eventually married in 1975 (they divorced in 1986).
They had three children: Christian (b. 1978), Angelica (b. 1984) and Julio Jr (b.
1992). They both worked as DJs for radio station WBAI-FM (FM 90.7) before forming Miami Sound Machine in 1973. The band that would later become known as Miami Sound Machine included Juan Carlos Salgado on bass guitar; Emilio Estefan on keyboards; Rosendo Arce on drums; Emilio Peraza on percussion; and Sandy Ryerson on percussion/percussion kit/percussion kit/percussion kit/percussion kit/percussion kit/percussion kit/percussion kit/percussion kit and percussion kit and