Topic: Gloria Estefan

Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García de Estefan; known professionally as Gloria Estefan (born September 1, 1957) is a Cuban American singer, songwriter and actress. She is in the top 100 best selling music artists with over 90 million albums sold worldwide, 26.5 million of those in the United States alone. She has won seven Grammy Awards, she is the most successful crossover performer in Latin music to date.

Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo was born September 1, 1957 in Havana, Cuba, from Jose and Gloria Fajardo. Her maternal grandfather, Leonardo Garcia, emigrated to Cuba from Pola de Siero, Asturias, Spain, where he married Gloria's maternal grandmother, originally from Logroño, Spain. Prior to the Cuban Revolution. Her father was a Cuban soldier and a bodyguard to Cuban dictator, Fulgencio Batista. The Fajardo family fled to Lafayette, Indiana as a result of the Cuban Revolution, eventually settling down in Miami, Florida. Shortly after they moved to the United States Gloria's father joined the US military and fought in the Vietnam War, later also participating in the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. Gloria attended St. Michael-Archangel School and Our Lady of Lourdes Academy in Miami. She went on to graduate in 1979 with a B.A. in Psychology, with a minor in French, from the University of Miami. When she was studying at university, she had worked as an English/Spanish/French translator at Miami International Airport Customs Department and, because of her language abilities, was once approached by the CIA as a possible employee. Estefan is Catholic.

Gloria became romantically involved with the Miami Sound Machine's band leader, Emilio Estefan, in 1976. She and Emilio married on September 2, 1978. They have a son, Nayib (born September 2, 1980) and a daughter, Emily Marie (born December 5, 1994). The family lives in the exclusive Star Island section of Miami Beach, Florida.