was even recruited by the CIA. The government’s loss was entertainment’s gain. In addition to her seven Grammy Awards, she has had 29 songs that ranked on Billboard’s Hot 100 list. Estefan has received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, been inducted into the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame and honored with an American Music Award for Lifetime Achievement, among other accolades. However, one tragic moment nearly put an end to her historic career. In 1990, she was involved in a bus crash in Pennsylvania, and her back was broken. Doctors weren’t sure she would be able to perform again or have another baby. She defied the odds on both counts. She triumphantly launched her comeback tour on a Miami stage a year later. “I felt like I had climbed Mount Everest,” she says. The Gloria Estefan Foundation was created seven years after her accident. It supports spinal cord research, animal advocacy and individual cases of hardship. It recently helped create Vero Beach Dog Park in Florida and provided 500 meals daily for two months to Miami-area hospitals and first responders during the pandemic. “My foundation tries to help people that fall through the cracks, that can’t get help from big organizations ... We try to fill in where immediate help is needed,” reads the foundation’s website.
PROVIDED BY ESTEFAN ENTERPRISES
A FAMILY FOCUS
The Estefan family
Her daughter, up-and-coming musician Emily Estefan, is 25 years old. Estefan’s son, Nayib, 40, runs the Design District’s Nite Owl Theater in Miami, a screening room reviving 35 mm film. He and his wife, Lara Diamante Coppola, have an 8-year-old son, Sasha, who is already displaying musical talent.
In fact, the We Needed Time track was inspired by Nayib, who was discussing life under quarantine and the concerns Sasha had. Estefan told him that perhaps we all needed this time to stop and focus on the needs of others. She started writing the song in bed that day and finished it in the evening. It’s no wonder that Estefan is inspired by her children, with whom she's very close, but a love story for the ages is the one with her soulmate, Emilio, a visionary producer in his own right and winner of 19 Grammy Awards. “With Gloria, what you see is what you get. She’s not a hypocrite. She’s the same person. She’s still very shy. She doesn’t like to bother anyone. She’s a good human being and takes pride in family. She’s always thinking that everything has a consequence,” he says. “If Gloria threw me out of the house, I’d still say she’s the best woman in my whole life.” He’s proud that even though the record company wanted them to change their name and sound when they first started out, they refused and became role models for Latinos. “You don’t have to change yourself to be successful. Never let anybody change who you are,” Emilio says. “We became successful because we were different than anybody else.” So what’s next for the 63-yearold Estefan? For the time being, it’s pretty simple. She wants to see her grandson grow up. She wants her children and grandson to flourish. She wants to spend time with her husband, her sister Rebecca Fajardo-Cabrera, who is a nurse, and other family. “I’ve done so much more than I’ve ever dreamed,” Estefan says. “I just want to live. I want time, which no one can guarantee. Give me good health and time, and I will take care of rest.”
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