Beginning her career in 1975 as lead vocalist for the then exclusively Spanish-language band, Miami Sound Machine, before crossing over to mainstream pop success with the international hit singles "Dr. Beat" (1984) and "Conga" (1986), Estefan emerged as one of the biggest new stars in the mid-'80s, predating the still nascent Latin pop explosion by a decade, and scoring a series of propulsive dance hits rooted in the rhythms of her native Cuba, before shifting her focus to softer, more ballad-oriented fare.
Born in Havana, Cuba, the young Gloria Fajardo was raised primarily in Miami, FL, after her father, a bodyguard of Cuban president Fulgencio Batista, was forced to flee the island following the 1959 coup helmed by Fidel Castro. In the fall of 1975, Fajardo and her cousin Merci Murciano auditioned for the Miami Latin Boys, a local wedding band headed by keyboardist Emilio Estefan. With their addition, the group was rechristened Miami Sound Machine and four years later, Fajardo and Estefan were wed. As Miami Sound Machine began composing their own original material, their fusion of pop, disco, and salsa earned a devoted local following, and in 1979 the group issued their first Spanish-language LP on CBS International. Despite a growing Hispanic fan base, they did not cross over to non-Latin audiences until "Dr. Beat" topped European dance charts in 1984.
With 1985's Primitive Love, Miami Sound Machine recorded their first English-language effort, scoring three Top Ten pop hits in the U.S. alone with the infectious "Conga", "Bad Boy", and "Words Get in the Way". Following 1987's triple-platinum Let It Loose, Estefan took top billing and the group changed its name to Gloria Estefan & The Miami Sound Machine in 1988, reeling off four Top Ten hits - "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You", "Can't Stay Away from You", the chart-topping "Anything for You", and "1-2-3". 1989's Cuts Both Ways was credited to Estefan alone and generated her second #1 hit, "Don't Wanna Lose You". However, on March 20, 1990, while touring in support of the album, her bus was struck by a tractor trailer. Estefan suffered a broken vertebra that required extensive surgery and kept her off the road for over a year. Her husband Emilio and the couple's son were injured in the crash as well, but all three recovered. Estefan resurfaced in 1991 with Into the Light, again topping the charts with "Coming Out of the Dark", a single inspired by her near-fatal accident. Two more cuts from the album, "Can't Forget You" and "Live for Loving You", secured her foothold on the adult contemporary charts.
With 1993's Mi Tierra, Estefan returned to her roots, recording her first Spanish-language record in nearly a decade and earning a Grammy Award for Best Tropical Latin Album; on the follow-up 1994 covers collection, Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, she also recalled her dance-pop origins with a rendition of the Vicki Sue Robinson disco classic, "Turn the Beat Around". Another all-Spanish effort, Abriendo Puertas (1995), earned her a Grammy as well, while Destiny featured "Reach", named the official theme of the 1996 Summer Olympics. As Latin pop made new commercial headway, thanks to the efforts of acts like Ricky Martin and Enrique Iglesias, Estefan reigned as the most successful crossover artist in Latin music history, with international record sales close to the 50 million mark. In 1999, she also made her feature film debut alongside Meryl Streep in Music of the Heart, recording the film's title song as a duet with *NSYNC, and scoring both a massive pop hit and an Oscar nomination in the process. A new Spanish-language album, Alma Caribeña, followed in the spring of 2000. Several months later, Estefan was awarded a Grammy for Best Music Video for "No Me Dehes de Querer" at the inaugural annual Latin Grammy Awards. Her husband, Emilio, won for Producer of the Year. - Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
Appearances and tours
In April 2004, Estefan appeared on the Fox Broadcasting Company’s program, American Idol, but declined an offer to be an official judge, saying she did not like to “judge” others.
On July 28, 2004, in a press conference hosted by Donald Trump at the Trump Tower, Estefan announced that her then-upcoming tour would be her final one. The Live and Re-Wrapped Summer/Fall 2004 Tour, her first tour in eight years was produced by Clear Channel Entertainment. The tour featured Estefan’s greatest hits, along with new material from Unwrapped.
In December 2006, Estefan appeared as a special guest singer on the UK talent show The X Factor.
Gloria's 11th studio album,Miss Little Havana. The Miss Little Havana Songfacts says that the first nine tracks tells the tale of a young girl who hooks up with the wrong guy in Miami after moving there from Cuba. All of these tracks were written or co-written by Pharrell Williams of The Neptunes. It is described by Estefan as a project in the vein of her 1998 hit album gloria!.
Songfacts reports that "Hotel Nacional" debuted at #1 on Billboard's Latin countdown - the first time a female artist had achieved that feat since the chart was introduced in 1986. Both "Wepa" and "Hotel Nacional" achieved number one on Billboard Latin Songs and on Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs.
Estefan started a reality show called The Next: Fame Is at Your Doorstep opposite Joe Jonas, Nelly and John Rich on the CW Network, where she, and the other three mentors are searched for the next big star, to record an album with Atlantic Records. Unlike other music reality shows, in this program, the mentors selected the "candidates" for the show, and trained them for a live performance, where they'd be voted for the best act of the day. The first season ended in October 2012, with musician Michael Ray, as the big finalist.
This same year, Estefan appeared as a musical guest in Tony Bennett's compilation of duets with Latin-American musicians, Viva Duets with a rendition of the song, "Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)". Weeks later, she helped the American version of Teleton, releasing the charity single "Por Un Mundo Mejor" along with Mexican singer Lucero, Dominican rapper El Cata and Mexican pop band, Reik. A video for the song was shot, with them recording the song, which was marked as the official hymn for the foundation.
In May 2013, she appears doing another duet with the song "Think I'm In Love Again" as part of the albums Duets released by Paul Anka.
Estefan has announced she was working on a new album of covers, The Standards, released in September 2013. The album will feature some collaborations with artists like Laura Pausini, Dave Koz and Joshua Bell, and the selection of songs are mostly songs from the Great American songbook. Estefan released the first single, "How Long Has This Been Going On?", digitally on Amazon and iTunes on July 9, 2013
Official website: http://www.gloriaestefan.com
Love On A Two Way Street
Gloria Estefan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Lost it on a lonely highway
Love on a two way street
Lost it on a lonely highway
True love will never die
So I've been told, but now I must cry
It is finally goodbye, I know
With the music softly playing
His lips were gently saying
I love you
He held me in desperation
I thought it was a revelation
And then he walked out
How could I be so blind
To give up love the very first time
To be fooled is a hurting pain
To be loved and fooled
Is a crying shame
While I bear the blame
As he laughs my name
With the music softly playing
His lips were gently saying
Honey, I love you
He held me in desperation
I thought it was a revelation
And then he walked out
I found love on a two way street
Lost it on a lonely highway
Love on a two way street
Lost it on a lonely highway
I found love on a two way street
Lost it on a lonely highway
Love on a two way street
Lost it on a lonely highway
The lyrics of Gloria Estefan's Love On A Two-Way Street is a sad song about finding and losing love in a short time, hence the title of the song. The first two lines of the song explicitly describe the entirety of the song's message. Gloria Estefan sings about how she found love on a two-way street but lost it on a lonely highway. The two-way street symbolizes the love that was reciprocated by both parties and the lonely highway symbolizes the loss of communication and the difference that led them apart.
The singer believes in the immortality of true love, but her love has died, which makes her cry. She knows it is time to say goodbye to the love that once existed between them, no matter how hard it is to let go. The third stanza of the song reveals the backstory of their relationship. The man was expressive about his love for her, his lips were gently saying "I love you," and he held her in desperation. She thought this was a revelation and believed that he was the one. However, he walked out on her, leaving her heartbroken.
The fourth stanza is a reflection of Gloria Estefan's thoughts as the person who lost the love. She was foolish enough to give up on love the first time and feels the sharp pain of being fooled by someone she loved. This left her with a heavy load of constant pain, and the man remembers the hurt that she feels as he laughs mockingly at her name. The song ends with Gloria saying that she found love on a two-way street, which she later lost on a lonely highway, a repeated metaphor that persists throughout the lyrics.
Line by Line Meaning
I found love on a two way street
I fell in love with someone who reciprocated my feelings
Lost it on a lonely highway
But our love didn't last and ended up in a lonely place
Love on a two way street
I experienced real love, when two people are in it together
Lost it on a lonely highway
But our love didn't last and ended up in a lonely place
True love will never die
Everyone says that true love is eternal
So I've been told, but now I must cry
But sadly for me, the same thing did not happen, I have to cry now
It is finally goodbye, I know
So it's time for me to say goodbye now
With the music softly playing
While the music was playing quietly
His lips were gently saying
He was whispering loving words to me softly
I love you
He was expressing his love towards me
He held me in desperation
He hugged me tightly as if his life depended on it
I thought it was a revelation
I felt like I'd had an epiphany or revelation, but it wasn't meant to be true
And then he walked out
Unfortunately, he left me, deserted me unexpectedly
How could I be so blind
I couldn't see what was happening or what was about to happen
To give up love the very first time
I was willing to give up on love so easily
To be fooled is a hurting pain
Being deceived or lied to is a painful experience
To be loved and fooled
To think someone loves you, but really they're lying
Is a crying shame
It's pitiable and shameful
While I bear the blame
I'm the one who has to take responsibility for it
As he laughs my name
And he laughs at me, probably making fun of me and the situation we're in
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Howard Greenfield, Neil Sedaka
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Ricardo Vieira
música linda e emocionante ....saudades gloria ......
Helcio Gomes
Música linda assim como ela
staffon wilkinson
I love both Gloria Estefan and Stacy lattisaw
PaisaEsteban
@Margaret Nahmias Same, I LOVE the instrumentation of this version.
Margaret Nahmias
This was probably based on the Stacy Lattisaw version, but I like the instrumentation of this one better even though it was 4 years apart.
Doug Funny
Biutiful song. Best ever!
Canille Alexander
Love love it.
Howard Fagan
The best rendition was done by the Moments who did the original not Stacy Lattisaw nor Gloria Estefan. There versions are cover versions. Listen to the moments then compare!
Vipada R.
Love both
Storm KARDING
classic