Gloria Estefan is a legend.

This photo, “Hollywood – Gloria Estefan, Walk of Fame” is copyright (c) 2008 Wilson Loo Kok Wee and made available under by a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) license

She has had profound success in both the English and Spanish language markets. Gloria and her husband Emilio Estefan Jr. successfully blended the sounds of their cultural music with American pop music. Gloria, Along with her husband Emilio, changed the face of music.

Gloria and Emilio Estefan at the Miami Film Festival
CC Image courtesy of Miami Film Festival on Flickr.

She became a pioneer for Latinos who would eventually follow her path into the English market. Without her, artists like Ricky Martin, Marc Anthony, Jennifer Lopez, and Enrique Iglesias would not have gained such widespread appeal within the English markets.

Ricky Matin and Gloria Estefan
This photo, “Ricky Martin and Gloria Estefan” is copyright (c) 2002 Save the Children and made available under by a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) license

Their creativity was revolutionary. They made a concerted effort to place their latin rhythms and sounds within their music. This had never been accomplished before. Up to that time, no artist was bold enough to incorporate overt latin sounds in their music. Gloria and Emilio pursued their dream without fear.

They continued to push for their sound to be heard despite rejections from multiple record labels and DJays for being “too latin.” They were constantly told their music was too latin and nobody wanted to hear that type of music. No matter how often they were rejected, Gloria and Emilio refused to relent and maintained their position that their sound was fresh and people did want to hear their music.

Ultimately, they were given a chance and Gloria and Emilio proved to the naysayers they had been right all along. Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine became a national and worldwide sensation.

This photo, “Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine – Let It Loose” is copyright (c) 2008
vinylmeister and made available under by Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC 2.0) a license

They sold out arenas around the country and became one of the biggest musical acts in the country. Their song, Conga reflected their Cuban heritage perfectly. It helped propel her to music royalty. It became an anthem for Latinos everywhere specifically, for those from their hometown of Miami.

Without their push and dedicated belief in their music, Latinos in American Pop music would not be where they are today. Some of our favorite pop acts like Jennifer Lopez and Enrique Iglesias would not enjoy the success their music genre has gained them were it not for the risks Gloria and Emilio took. They, like Gloria and Emilio, incorporated latin sounds and rhythms in their music and found great success, which they continue to experience today. We, as Latinos owe gratitude to Gloria and Emilio because they helped give us visibility. Visibility not just in American pop culture but, in the national American consciousness as well. For a more in-depth look at this post please check out Latinos en Music on Soundcloud.