Gloria Estefan Born Biography

Biography for Gloria Estefan

Date of Birth
1 September 1957, Havana, Cuba

Birth Name
Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García

Height
5′ 2″ (1.57 m)

Spouse
Emilio Estefan Jr.  (2 September 1978 - present) 2 children

Trivia

Named after her mother

Has one sister, Becky

Together with her husband, Emilio Estefan Jr., won the court case for the right to use the name Bongo Cuban Cafe for the cafe they own in Disney World. They were sued by makers of Bongo blue jeans for trademark infringement. [13 February 1998]

Singer

Children: Nayib (born 2 Sept 1980) and Emily Marie (b. 5 Dec 1994)

Tour bus crash left her with a broken back. [March 1990]

Her band is The Miami Sound Machine.

Graduated from the University of Miami

Father was a Vietnam veteran and died of suspected exposure to agent-orange

Filmed a commercial with her husband, Emilio, for the Winn-Dixie supermarket chain before reaching stardom.

Got one of her first television appearances courtesy of actress/singer ‘Iris Chacon’ and her show “Show de Iris Chacon, El” (1972).

Her husband, Emilio was her first and only boyfriend.

Perfomed at The Olympics; this is her third time perfoming there. [Feb 24, 2002]

Once worked as a translator for the U. S. Customs Service at Miami airport.

Ranked #81 on VH1’s 100 Greatest Women of Rock N Roll

Attended high school at Our Lady of Lourdes Academy Catholic School in South Miami, Florida.

In the 1950s, her father Jose Fajardo was a personal bodyguard to the first lady of Cuba, the wife of president Fulgencio Batista. Following Fidel Castro’s Revolution in 1959, Jose was captured in the futile 1962 Bay of Pigs invasion that sought to free Cuba from Communist rule. He was held prisoner until an exchange was arranged soon after by U.S. President John F. Kennedy.

Son Nayib is a film major at UCLA

Lives on Star Island in Miami

Her mother, Gloria Garcia Perez de Fajardo, is critical condition in the hospital [October 15, 2007].

In 2006, she donated $1 million to the Miami Paralysis Project.