Gloria Estefan (birth name Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo, born September 1, 1957 in Havana, Cuba), is a five-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter-author, who began her career as lead vocalist for the then exclusively Spanish-language band, Miami Sound Machine in 1975, and crossed over to mainstream popular success with English-speaking audiences with the international hit singles Dr. Beat (1984) and Conga (1986).

In April 2004, Estefan appeared on the Fox Broadcasting Company’s program, American Idol, but she declined an offer to be an official judge because, she said publicly, she does not like to “judge” others.
On July 28, 2004, at the Trump Tower Building, in a press conference hosted by Donald Trump, 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 ... read more »