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Four decades after she first emerged and after more than 30 smash hits, Gloria's entire catalogue
of music is still as popular as ever. The Essential Gloria Estefan released
starts with “Dr. Beat”,
takes us through “Conga,” “1,2,3” and countless ballads like “Here We Are” and the Grammy
nominated “Coming Out of the Dark,” through disco charted waters like “Turn the Beat Around”
and “Heaven’s What I Feel”—even that duet with ’NSync “Music of My Heart.” It’s all here—37 songs
for you to queen out and enjoy.
1984’s “Dr. Beat” began a twenty-two year run of non-stop hits for Gloria Estefan, and throughout this time no other Latin music star had “crossed-over” to such unprecedented English language success. As the 1990s came to a close Latin music exploded in popularity. A new generation of stars including Ricky Martin, Enrique Iglesias and Jennifer Lopez all topped the world’s charts. Not only had Gloria paved the way commercially for this new generation, but she and Emilio have been instrumental in many of their success stories. Emilio produced tracks on both Ricky Martin’s eponymous English language album and Jennifer Lopez’s debut On The 6, while Gloria penned the Jennifer Lopez global dance smash “Let’s Get Loud.” Shakira’s worldwide hit “Whenever, Wherever” was co-written by Gloria, while Emilio executive produced the album Laundry Service, which catapulted Shakira to international superstardom. The new millennium opened with Gloria taking on a new role – as an actress. Playing opposite Meryl Streep in Music Of The Heart she not only received strong reviews for her performance, but also received an Academy Award nomination for the movie’s title song, which she recorded with ’NSync. A new Spanish-language album, Alma Caribena, was another Grammy® Award-winning release in 2000, yielding several chart-topping hits that included a duet with Cuba’s other great, legendary female recording artist, Celia Cruz. Following that was one of Gloria’s most accomplished and personal pieces of work, the album Unwrapped, on which she wrote or co-wrote every song and which features collaborations with Stevie Wonder and Chrissie Hynde. A few years ago she wrote a New York Times Best Seller children's book, and a screenplay based on the life and career ’60s pop icon Connie Francis. Certainly, the story of Gloria’s career is not at the end, but The Essential Gloria Estefan gives us a chance to look back over two decade of hit songs – and although a truly essential collection would require many more discs, this set pays tribute to a singer/songwriter who has achieved so much without ever compromising her integrity as an artist. In April 2010, Estefan and her husband received a star in the "Walk of Stars" in Las Vegas for their contribution to music industry. On April 28, 2011, at the Latin Billboard Awards, Estefan was honored with the Billboard Spirit of Hope Award for her philanthropic work. Three years later, Estefan and her husband received a Caribbean American Mover and Shakers Lifetime Achievement Award, for their contributions to the Hispanic, and multicultural community. In November 2015, it was announced Estefan, along with her husband, would be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama for her contributions to American music. Gloria Estefan - We needed timeClick the picture below to start the video and unmute sound if required:
©2006 GayWired.com, All Rights Reserved The Essential Gloria Estefan is still available from Amazon. |