Talking about Gloria Estefan means celebrating living history. She not only broke barriers for Latin music in the United States, but transformed the sound of an entire generation. Over more than four decades, he built a race with more than 100 million albums sold, eight Grammy awards and recognition as prestigious as the presidential medal of freedom and honors of Kennedy Center. Gloria Estefan left an indelible mark on global culture without ever losing contact with her roots.
Today it strengthens and visible even more that connection with roots, its new single – and the first of an album of the same name – that already reached #1 on multiple Billboard lists. The song not only celebrates the rhythms that marked his career, but also honor the cultural heritage that molded his artistic identity.
In this exclusive interview, Gloria Estefan frankly shares the personal meaning of this project, talks about her relationship with Emilio Estefan, humor as a life tool, the challenges she faced as a Latin woman in the music industry and the legacy she wants to leave the new generations. With the warmth and honesty that define it, the great lady of Latin music reflects on what has sown and harvested, and reminds us that authentic art – the one born from the soul – never goes out of style.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8m4fple2HC
You have said that “roots” expresses how love and life are like planting. What seeds do you feel that you sowed years ago and today they are fruit with this project?
The most important seed in my life, obviously, are our children and now my grandson, because the family for us has always been number one, and I think that has been reflected in our music. On a musical level, for Emilio and for me, music has always been an escape, a catharsis, a point of joy that has filled our lives a lot. There are the seeds: every time I compose a song – whether I or Emilio – we always think about how the person who listens to her will feel. We want me to inspire them, make them feel something positive. Let them cry, perhaps, let off steam. Give them words, to dance, enjoy, have fun. Every time we get a subject we think about that. It is a very large responsibility and privilege that we have kept very present throughout our career.
What can you tell us about the second single, the neighbor (I don’t know na ‘)? What place occupies humor in your music and in your way of connecting with the public?
Humor in our life is essential. We are always laughing, we make fun of ourselves and we don’t take things so seriously. Humor helped me to cross the most difficult moment, which was my accident. The neighbor, although it is very funny, comes from a very real place, because we recorded it in the first place where I lived with my mother, who still looked exactly the same. I wanted to tie that spirit and that energy to the song.
You are one of the first Latin artists to achieve a successful crossover. What challenges did you face then as a woman and as Latin, and how do you compare them with today?
At that time there were not many spaces for Latin music, there were not even radio stations in Spanish in many places. The challenge was to convince the label that a song as Latin as Conga, or even Dr. Beat, could work. As a woman, I had the advantage of having Emilio as a manager, which protected me from many situations that women face in this industry, especially when dealing with powerful men. We were always a team.
Today, there are other challenges. The world of physical disc no longer exists as before. To earn money, artists have to go on tour and make live shows, but for that, you need to have a success. At the same time, there is much more freedom thanks to the Internet and all the tools that young musicians have to create, but everything is much more fragmented. Each era has its challenges and good things, but the important thing is to continue putting art in the world.
After so many achievements – Grammys, Billboard, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, among others – what continues to motivate you to create and share new music?
The creation of something new is what drives us. I am motivated to continue trying to inspire people. When we made this album, roots, we thought about how people were going to feel it. If I was going to cause them nostalgia, if they were going to remind them of something or make them think. For me, that is the greatest motivation: to have the joy of reaching people with something that inspires them.
Throughout your career you have been a cultural ambassador of the Latin community. What does the word “roots” represent for you as a Cuban American woman?
The roots of all human beings are deep, and many times we don’t even know them at all. I did not live my Cuban roots in my own flesh as well as others, because I arrived in the United States at two and a half years. But for my mother it was very important to soak our culture so that we would not forget. I think everything one lives enriches, because they are mergers. And only in the merger can something new arise.
If you could talk to the young glory I dreamed of singing, what would you say today, after everything lived and everything achieved?
Interestingly, the glory of before did not dream of singing, because he did not like to be the center of attention. But singing, since I speak, it was a necessity for me, like breathing. I was happy doing it in my room, locked up with my guitar. Music helped me go through difficult moments. The young woman who entered the group for fun would say: Don’t worry so much, simply enjoy when you are up there. It took me a long time to learn that.
Finally, how would you like the public to remember this stage of your career? What legacy do you want to leave with roots?
I would like the day not to be, it reminds me with much love, with love, and that they continue to have fun with the music we create. Look at Celia, ”he is very alive through his music. That is the beauty of music: that one can create something that will continue to exist when we are no longer.
