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
My Homeland
Gloria Estefan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Oigo ese grito de los tambores
Y los timbales al cumbanchar
Y ese pregón que canta un hermano
Que de su tierra vive lejano
Y que el recuerdo le hace llorar
Una canción que vive entonando
De su dolor de su propio llanto
La tierra te duele, la tierra te da
En medio del alma, cuando tú no estás
La tierra te empuja de raíz y cal
La tierra suspira si no te ve más
La tierra donde naciste
No la puedes olvidar, porque tiene tus raíces
Y lo que dejas atrás
La tierra te duele, la tierra te da
En medio del alma, cuando tú no estás
Siguen los pregones, la melancolía
Y cada noche junto a la luna
Sigue el güajiro entonando el son
Y cada calle que va a mi pueblo
Tiene un quejido, tiene un lamento
Tiene nostalgia como su voz
Y esa canción que sigue entonando
Corre en la sangre y sigue llegando
Con más fuerza al corazón
La tierra te duele, la tierra te da
En medio del alma, cuando tú no estás
La tierra te empuja de raíz y cal
La tierra suspira si no te ve más
Tiene un quejido (mi tierra)
Tiene un lamento (mi tierra)
Nunca la olvido (mi tierra)
La llevo en mi sentimiento, si señor
Oigo ese grito, (mi tierra)
Vive el recuerdo (mi tierra)
Corre en mi sangre (mi tierra)
La llevo por dentro como no
Canto de mi tierra bella y santa
Sufro ese dolor que hay en su alma
Aunque estoy lejos yo la siento
Y un día regreso yo lo sé
Siguen los pregones, la melancolía
Y cada noche junto a la luna
Sigue el güajiro entonando el son.
Y cada calle que va a mi pueblo
Tiene un quejido, tiene un lamento
La nostalgia como su voz.
Le llega con fuerza al corazón
La tierra te duele, la tierra te da
En medio del alma, cuando tú no estás
La tierra te empuja de raíz y cal
La tierra suspira si no te ve más
The lyrics of "My Homeland" by Gloria Estefan express the deep connection that people have with their birthplace. The song refers to the pain that is felt when one is away from their homeland, and the longing to return. The opening lines, "From my beautiful land, from my holy land, I hear the cry of the drums and the timbales," represent the pull that the music of the homeland can have on an individual. The use of the words "holy land" reinforces the idea that one's birthplace is not just a physical location, but also a spiritual connection.
The lyrics go on to describe the pain that is felt when one is away from their country. The line "the land hurts you, the land gives you" represents the duality of the experience of being away from one's homeland. The reference to the land pushing an individual in their roots and bones illustrates the depth of the connection that one can feel to their birthplace. The use of the words "the land sighs if it doesn't see you anymore" expresses the idea that the homeland misses those who have left and longs for their return.
The use of the word "güajiro" in the song is a reference to a person from the Cuban countryside, which adds to the cultural significance of the song. The song's message of longing for one's homeland has universal appeal to anyone who has experienced homesickness or nostalgia. Overall, "My Homeland" is a tribute to the power of music and the connection that individuals can feel to their birthplace.
Line by Line Meaning
De mi tierra bella, de mi tierra santa
I am from a beautiful and sacred land
Oigo ese grito de los tambores
I hear the sound of drums
Y los timbales al cumbanchar
And the timbales playing cumbia
Y ese pregón que canta un hermano
And the chant sung by a brother
Que de su tierra vive lejano
Who lives far away from his homeland
Y que el recuerdo le hace llorar
And memories make him cry
Una canción que vive entonando
A song that he always sings
De su dolor de su propio llanto
Of his pain and his own tears
Y se le escucha penar
And you can hear his sorrow
La tierra te duele, la tierra te da
The land hurts you, the land gives you
En medio del alma, cuando tú no estás
In the depths of your soul, when you are not there
La tierra te empuja de raíz y cal
The land pushes you with its roots and sand
La tierra suspira si no te ve más
The land sighs if you do not come back
La tierra donde naciste
The land where you were born
No la puedes olvidar, porque tiene tus raíces
You can't forget it, it has your roots
Y lo que dejas atrás
And what you leave behind
Siguen los pregones, la melancolía
The chants and the melancholy continue
Y cada noche junto a la luna
Every night, under the moon
Sigue el güajiro entonando el son
The farmer keeps singing his song
Y cada calle que va a mi pueblo
And every road that leads to my town
Tiene un quejido, tiene un lamento
Has a moan, has a lament
Tiene nostalgia como su voz
Nostalgia is in its voice
Y esa canción que sigue entonando
And that song that he keeps singing
Corre en la sangre y sigue llegando
Runs in the blood and keeps coming
Con más fuerza al corazón
With more strength to the heart
Tiene un quejido (mi tierra)
Has a moan (my land)
Tiene un lamento (mi tierra)
Has a lament (my land)
Nunca la olvido (mi tierra)
I never forget it (my land)
La llevo en mi sentimiento, si señor
I carry it in my heart, yes sir
Oigo ese grito, (mi tierra)
I hear that sound (my land)
Vive el recuerdo (mi tierra)
Memories come back to life (my land)
Corre en mi sangre (mi tierra)
Runs in my blood (my land)
La llevo por dentro como no
I carry it inside like no other
Canto de mi tierra bella y santa
I sing about my beautiful and sacred land
Sufro ese dolor que hay en su alma
I suffer from the pain in its soul
Aunque estoy lejos yo la siento
Even though I am far away, I still feel it
Y un día regreso yo lo sé
And I know that I will come back someday
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: F. SALGADO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Lenna Freeman
Maravillosas fotos de verdad preciosa nuestra tierra ¡¡ que orgullo!!..
Yaki Loki
cubaaaa la tierra donde naci es un orgullo ser cubanaaaaaaaa gracias gloria por esta bella cancion
Gaby052509
Viva Cuba Libre.. mi tierra bella
Yone Yakubiu de Mello
Maravilhosa...
Sissiaraujo
Wonderful song and pictures, great edition!!!!
Chris C
Beautiful video and song. It's a wonderful country. 50k*
waterhands20
Such a beautiful combination :)
francis ortiz
cuba es una isla bella la ma linda del caribe gracias a dios que tengo la oportunidad de vicitarla me encanta su jente maravillosa los campo todo cuba es bella este ano boy de nuebo desde moca republica dominicana cuba bella
G H
Ay mi Cuba. If it's possible..I wish I could live in Cuba ... forever..
Karenn Lopez
mi tirra nunca la voy a olvidar por que tiene mis raizees que bonita cancion