Gloria Estefan (Spanish: [ˈɡloɾja esˈtefan]; born Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García; September 1, 1957) is a Cuban-American singer, songwriter, actress and businesswoman. A contralto, she started her career as the lead singer in the group Miami Latin Boys, which later became known as Miami Sound Machine. She experienced worldwide success with "Conga" in 1985; this became Estefan's signature song and led to the Miami Sound Machine winning the grand prix in the 15th annual Tokyo Music Festival in 1986. In the middle of 1988, she and the band got their first number-one hit with the song "Anything for You".
In March 1990, Estefan had a severe accident in her tour bus. She made her comeback in March 1991 with a new world tour and album called Into the Light. Her 1993 Spanish-language album, Mi Tierra, won the first of her three Grammy Awards for Best Tropical Latin Album. It was the first number-one album on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart, established when it was released. It was also the first Diamond album in Spain. Many of her songs, such as "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You", "1-2-3", "Don't Wanna Lose You", "Get On Your Feet", "Here We Are", "Coming Out of the Dark", "Bad Boy", "Oye!", "Party Time" and a remake of "Turn the Beat Around" became international chart-topping hits. Estefan's record sales surpass more than 75 million worldwide, making her one of the best-selling female singers of all-time.
She has won three Grammy Awards and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Las Vegas Walk of Fame. In 2015, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her contributions to American music and received the Kennedy Center Honors in December 2017 for her contributions to American Culture Life. Estefan also won an MTV Video Music Award, was honored with the American Music Award for Lifetime Achievement, as well as being named BMI Songwriter of the Year. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and has received multiple Billboard Awards. She is also on the Top 100 Greatest Artists of All Time lists of VH1 and Billboard. Richard Blanco, the 2013 Presidential Inaugural Poet, author of "How to Love a Country", told the Boston Globe that Gloria Estefan is among the Latin singers who helped him to ground " in the musical poetry of my culture and rejuvenate my spirits".