- 7 weeks ago
Billboard sits down “In Conversation” with the legendary Queen of Latin Pop herself, Gloria Estefan, for a look back on her incredible 50 years in music with personal stories, like the first time she saw the love of her life Emilio Estefan, meeting Selena Quintanilla before her tragic passing, her new musical “Basura” and her return to her Spanish language roots, with her hit song, “Raíces.”
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00:00He had short shorts, he had great legs, playing the accordion, he looked naked.
00:04If you give the slightest spark, beauty can grow.
00:09And Dick Clark got on a plane and flew to Miami to talk me into that thought.
00:16Hi everybody, I'm Gloria Estefan and you are watching Billboard News in Conversation.
00:26Welcome, Gloria. It's great having you here.
00:29Thank you so much. Feliz de estar aquí.
00:32What's your favorite Billboard moment, past, present or future?
00:36I'd say right now because, you know, there have been so many in the past.
00:42And I have to say though, I think when I got to meet Selena at the Billboard Awards,
00:49right before she was killed and she was so lovely and it was so beautiful.
00:56And thanks to being there at the Billboard Awards, I got to meet her.
01:01But I always like the latest things in this Billboard moment.
01:04All this is fantastic.
01:05And last year we honored you also.
01:06Well, of course.
01:08Latin Women in Music was very special.
01:09Which is incredible, yes.
01:11Well, to be considered in legend territory is always very, very, it's a blessing and very surprising and beautiful.
01:19Emilio ni se daba cuenta que eran mis cincuenta años y le digo a él, cuando él vino con la idea de Raíces,
01:30he brought me this idea a couple years ago and he said,
01:35would you mind if I wrote it for you?
01:38And I go, that would be phenomenal and beautiful.
01:41And he started bringing demos and showing me these amazing songs and I just fell in love.
01:48And I said, we're doing this.
01:50And I go, and it's our 50th year.
01:53And he goes, no puede ser.
01:54I go, yes.
01:54I joined the band in 1975.
01:57Amazing.
01:57Yes.
01:58And, wow, he did all the songs and many are so romantic, so he wrote his own love song.
02:03Absolutely.
02:03Well, he wrote his own love song for me to sing to him.
02:07When he said that, I go, oh, wait, you wrote me a love song, are you going to sing it?
02:10He goes, no, no, you're going to sing it to me.
02:12I agree with every word, though, in that song.
02:14I would have, I could have written it myself.
02:16Right now you're working on another musical, not your story, but Basura, which I want you to tell us about.
02:23Absolutely.
02:24And you're writing lyrics and music with your daughter, Emily.
02:28How, what can you tell us about this experience?
02:31You know, Emily was our miracle baby.
02:33She wasn't supposed to be born.
02:34So when we were able to have her, I remember I was pregnant and sitting by my piano.
02:41And all I could think of was, what if one day I get to write songs, because we knew she was a girl, with my daughter or sing with my daughter?
02:54And then cut two years later, she and I wrote the only original song in On Your Feet, which was called If I Never Got to Tell You.
03:02She wrote the music, I wrote the lyrics.
03:03And it was always a dream, and plus a secret thing to get her to spend more time with me, and it's just to be plain about it.
03:12But I thought, what an incredible opportunity to create something new with her, who is the new Estefan.
03:22And her and my grandson, and my son's already a big dude, and he'd gone in another direction, not music.
03:30So, more than five years ago, Frank, God rest his soul, our ex-president, calls me and says,
03:38there's a man that Michael Shulman wants to meet with you about this idea that he wants you to write music for a musical.
03:45He wants you to watch the Landfill Harmonic documentary.
03:48I watched the documentary, I was blown away, but I'm thinking, wow, this is a serious subject matter to bring.
03:54Tell us in a nutshell what it is about.
03:56Yes, okay.
03:58The musical is based on La Orquesta Reciclable de Cateura, Paraguay.
04:04The Recycled Orchestra of Cateura.
04:07Cateura is the name of a landfill that is, it's a bañero, actually, and that bañero has a landfill in it.
04:16What happened in Paraguay is that a lot of people had farms that were then given over to soy production.
04:23They were kind of pushed out of where they lived, and the people that had money could go to the city and find a place,
04:29but a lot of the people had nothing, and they created these bañeros where they built their own little city.
04:37They live off the grid.
04:39There used to be a beautiful lake where this place was, but now there is a giant mountain of trash,
04:46and the only work that they can get is literally, they call them gancheros, finding stuff in the trash, making it new, and selling it again.
04:56So this environmental engineer went down there trying to make things better.
05:00It wasn't going to be, but he was a musician, and he played music, and he thought, I want to bring something beautiful.
05:06So he started giving, with his violin, lessons to the kids there, and created this orchestra.
05:15Needless to say, it was a tough place for instruments.
05:18Ash storms, floods.
05:20Sometimes floods will come through and take all the homes, and they rebuild them again.
05:25So one of the kids that was very attached to nature, they got the idea of building the instruments out of the trash.
05:36So we, for months, we called it the creative team basura.
05:42It was hard to get that kind of pushed through, because it's not by any means that these people or anything about that is,
05:53but the center of the story is about finding beauty, finding something beautiful, even in the most difficult circumstances.
06:02And how from trash came music, from music came hope.
06:06Their slogan is, the world sends us trash, and we give back music.
06:12So, without taking their line, we, and writing these songs has been a blessing.
06:19They're done.
06:20We're working with the incredible Alex Lacamoire.
06:23I think we probably wrote about 17, 18 songs.
06:28We wrote some that then didn't end up in there, so you do it again.
06:32It's quite the process, and it's been beautiful throughout.
06:35And I'm so excited.
06:36We open May 30th of 2026, next year, at the Alliance Theater in Atlanta, and then hopefully in 27 for Broadway.
06:45Amazing.
06:46What do you hope the audiences take away from this?
06:48Okay, number one.
06:50I hope they take away the power of the arts, the power of music, and how even in the most dire circumstances, beauty can be found.
06:59I hope they think about the things that we throw away, because sometimes things do not need to be thrown away.
07:11We're getting so used to a disposable life, and the things that are of real value usually span years and centuries.
07:21You know, we have these amazing buildings that have lived so long, you know, the disposable nature of the life we live.
07:28I hope they think about that, but not in a heavy-handed way.
07:32And I hope that they realize and remember that the human spirit is something that cannot be squashed,
07:38that if you give the slightest spark, beauty can grow.
07:44And, you know, these kids have done amazing things, and we want to celebrate them and bring their story to Broadway.
07:52Which are the three songs that you consider to be the most important in your career?
07:56Oh, glory.
07:58Just three.
07:59Why are you doing this to me?
08:00Three songs.
08:01Oh, my God.
08:03All right, Conga, clearly.
08:06Probably Mi Tierra.
08:09Because it was, you know, very important.
08:12It's become a love song and a wedding song, and it's the first song that Emilio and I wrote together way back in the day.
08:27There could be so many more, but tell me two more.
08:31If we're going to be real, Dr. Beat, which actually broke through, but I didn't write that one.
08:36Anything for You, my very first number one, Coming Out of the Dark.
08:39I finally see the light now, and it's shining on me.
08:45Which was a big thank you to everyone that sent prayers my way after the accident.
08:50That song poured out of me in ten minutes.
08:54I still remember the first time you sang it live.
08:57Oh, my gosh.
08:58It was insane.
08:59All on the American Music Awards.
09:00All the American Music Awards.
09:01Which I wanted to kill Emilio, because Dick Clark had called.
09:06The accident was in March.
09:07Dick Clark called Emilio in September.
09:09So I was still at a point where I couldn't move by myself anywhere.
09:15And Emilio actually came to me to tell me that Dick Clark wanted me to perform in January of,
09:21like the following January, and I'm thinking to myself, I was inside this new body that didn't feel familiar,
09:30that I was relearning everything, relearning how to walk, relearning how to wash my face,
09:36to be able to not be in pain.
09:38And I'm thinking, the last thing I'm going to think about is getting on a stage.
09:43I want to be able to walk and get a glass of water by myself.
09:47I want to make, you know, not put my family through what I went through if I could help it.
09:55So he was nuts.
09:57And then I said, babe, I can't.
10:01And then he told Dick Clark, I can't convince her.
10:04You're going to have to.
10:05And Dick Clark got on a plane and flew to Miami to talk me into that thought.
10:13Did that help you with the recovery?
10:15Did you work harder?
10:16Because Emilio, as usual, was right.
10:18My first outing, three months after the accident, was to the studio because I felt so bad for him
10:24that he hadn't left my side.
10:26He said, I have this piece of paper that I wrote this thing on the day you had the accident in the helicopter.
10:32He goes, I found it today in my pant pocket, getting a quarter for the toll.
10:37And it was all washed.
10:39He hands it to me and I look at it and I go, why is it in English?
10:43Emilio, what happened?
10:44I don't know, what happened?
10:45And it said, coming out of the dark.
10:47And he said, I would love for you to come to the studio.
10:49John Sakata is going to meet me there.
10:51And I went for him.
10:53And when I just heard the one melody line of coming out of the dark that John sang, it was like, oh, my God.
11:02And it all poured through me.
11:04So that's what he, you know, I was going to perform on the American Music Awards.
11:09And having that goal really helped me to focus and not just deambular, even though I was being, every day I was focused to get better.
11:20It gave me a date to shoot for.
11:24And it was important to focus on something other than what I was going through at the moment.
11:31Going back to your beginnings, what do you remember the most about your start in the music business?
11:38You said before that you were very shy.
11:41Were you scared?
11:42How did you conquer your fears?
11:43How did you feel?
11:44What do you remember?
11:45It's not that I was shy because one-on-one I was perfectly fine and I could handle any situation.
11:51I was an observer.
11:52But what I don't like is to be the center of attention.
11:55That's just not my nature.
11:58So to join the band, it was for fun.
12:02I never thought, oh, I'm going to be famous or I'm going to do, you know, these crazy things.
12:09No.
12:09Because there was a really nice guy in that band.
12:11There was.
12:12But I saw him as a man, like he was only four and a half years older than me, but he was very responsible.
12:19He took care of his parents.
12:20Just in case, I'm talking about Emilio.
12:21Emilio, Emilio, yes.
12:23He worked during the day.
12:25He had studied at night.
12:26He had side jobs.
12:28He had businesses.
12:30So I saw him as like, oh, Mr. Estefan, you know, the boss.
12:34And when I met him at a friend's house, he came with his accordion to give us some tips on how to get a band together for one night.
12:42We were going to play for our parents.
12:43They were coming back from these spiritual retreats that they were doing back in the day.
12:50So he did.
12:51He came.
12:51He gave us some pointers.
12:52He walked in.
12:53He had short shorts.
12:54He had great legs.
12:55Playing the accordion.
12:56He looked naked.
12:57I was sitting on the floor.
13:00And I really, you know, I thought, wow, this guy's got charisma.
13:04We left.
13:04We did our gig.
13:05Everybody went their separate ways.
13:06I had two jobs that summer.
13:09And I was starting full time in school.
13:11And my mom drags me to a wedding.
13:14And when we go in, because she was always late, so we missed the ceremony in the church.
13:18We walk into the banquet hall.
13:20And I go, I know that guy in that tux.
13:24And he was playing Do the Hustle on the accordion.
13:27Not naked this time.
13:28No, not naked.
13:30But still cute.
13:32We ran into each other in a doorway.
13:34And he goes, you're that girl.
13:35I go, yeah, you're that guy.
13:36He goes, sing with the band.
13:37I'm going like, ah!
13:38But these people had heard me play guitar and sing since I was a kid.
13:42They were my dad's army buddy.
13:44And it was his daughter getting married.
13:45She was my friend.
13:47So I go, well, what do you know?
13:48I go, I know Sabor Ami.
13:49Tu me acostumbraste.
13:50I play them for my grandma, because I figured Latin band.
13:54He was playing all Latin songs, except Do the Hustle.
13:57And I sang.
13:59And I got a huge ovation.
14:00And that night, he asked me to join.
14:02And I said no, that I appreciated it.
14:05But I had two jobs already.
14:06I was going to start school.
14:08He called me.
14:08He found the number and called me two weeks later.
14:11And my sister, oh, it's a boy.
14:14My mom, what?
14:15What boy?
14:16And my grandma, remember I told you that it was going to land in your lap.
14:19And you weren't going to be happy in your life unless you share your gift.
14:23I hope you listen to me and not your mother.
14:26And I did.
14:27And I joined the band for fun.
14:28And every step of the way has continued to be fun.
14:33It's been exciting.
14:35We've been our own best cheerleaders.
14:37I didn't start dating him until a year after.
14:39He had an older girlfriend, let me tell you.
14:41She was 36.
14:42He was 22.
14:43Oh, my God.
14:44And I didn't think he'd be interested in me.
14:46I had zero experience.
14:48I never went out anywhere because I took care of my dad.
14:52So joining the band was a freeing experience.
14:56And marrying him was an even bigger freeing experience.
14:59I didn't think I'd get married the day after I turned 21.
15:03And I had no doubt that I wanted to be with him the rest of my life.
15:07And we've made a very unique partnership.
15:10And I think a lot of the things we've accomplished is because we're together.
15:14And I would have it no other way.
15:17I have only beautiful memories from every single step.
15:21Because Emilio would say, thank God I speak Emilio.
15:24He would say to me before when we started dating.
15:28He goes, you could improve 95%.
15:31I'm going like, 95%?
15:33Really?
15:34Like what 5% are you hiring or dating me for?
15:39Because he goes, well, I love your lashes.
15:40And I go, oh, great.
15:42But I knew what he meant because he would see me in the rehearsals.
15:47And I was so loose.
15:49And then when I would get on stage, it was a little bit like, uh.
15:53You know, so that's what he meant.
15:55Thank God I understood how he spoke.
15:57If not, I don't think we would have been married at all.
16:00But yeah, he saw something in me before I even saw it.
16:03And he helped me bring it out.
16:07When did you realize that you really made it in music?
16:10What changed in your life?
16:12I think when Conga crossed charts in Billboard, that I thought, okay, they're getting it.
16:20They're understanding what we have believed all along could happen.
16:25And look, that song is now going to be going to the Grammy Hall of Fame 40 years of that song.
16:30So that was a very special moment.
16:33And look, Billboard was a part of it because it, you know, Billboard is what tells you the success that you're having or not.
16:40And I remember that that was so exciting for us just to see, wow, my gosh.
16:46And it took a year.
16:47Anything you miss doing or wish you could do without being recognized?
16:50Oh, I do it.
16:51Because you're still famous.
16:52Yeah, but nothing stops me from doing anything I want.
16:56At this point, I love, I was talking to my grandson about that the other day because him and I will get in a car and go to an escape room.
17:03And, you know, inevitably, somebody will ask for a picture.
17:07He knows I'm always going to stop.
17:09He always says, I'll take the picture.
17:11He's very kind about it.
17:13My kids lived a different experience because that part of it, when you're at the top, you literally can't go anywhere because it becomes impossible.
17:23It creates a scene.
17:24People go crazy.
17:26You can't, you divert from the kids.
17:29And even though I told them, if we're in public, you know I'm never going to say no to an autograph because we have a moment to either make them happy or possibly traumatize them from approaching anyone ever.
17:40So they understood, but it was harder for them.
17:43That's why I love this moment where, yes, we have a beautiful career and I still get the love.
17:48People ask me for hugs, but it's not the craziness of that moment when you're new, fresh.
17:55The fame is huge and that part is tough.
17:58It, you know, you have to sacrifice your privacy and I'm a pretty private person, but I love people.
18:05So everything is a balance.
18:07I love where I am right now and I can do anything I want to and it's manageable.
18:13As one of the most stable and beloved couples in Latin music and in music in general, I would say, how do you keep the spark alive after all these years?
18:22Oh my gosh. He makes me laugh every day.
18:25And if he goes on a trip, I'll go to brush my teeth and there's a little note, babe, I'm going to miss you.
18:33He draws a little thing, him with a guitar or something.
18:37He's just very sweet and thoughtful.
18:40He will buy me stuff all year round, like to the point where I tell him, babe, please, I don't need any more jewelry.
18:47But he's happy doing that.
18:50He spoils me in so many ways and I try to do the same for him.
18:55We're excited.
18:57We love being with each other.
18:58We miss each other.
18:59You know, we don't sleep the same when we're apart and it just becomes deeper, you know, and there's a lot of respect and admiration.
19:10There's no arguing at all for anything at this point in our lives.
19:14You know, there's no reason we feel the same about music, business, politics.
19:20And when you don't argue a lot, that's a really good thing for a relationship.
19:25So it just, it becomes deeper and much more meaningful.
19:30So you have a new album, you have a Broadway show, you just did a movie last year.
19:33You have your foundation for many years.
19:36How do you choose your projects nowadays?
19:38Well, a lot of it has to do, is it going to take me away from my family because they've been wanting me to tour for a long time.
19:46And touring is wonderful because I get to be with the fans, but it's like boot camp for me.
19:53Musicians can get up there, live the life they want to live.
19:57They give it and they blow.
19:58And it's the same, you know, my voice, my body is my instrument.
20:04So when I'm on tour, I can't go out to restaurants.
20:07I can't leave, like, be talking.
20:10It's tough.
20:11And I worked really hard on my life.
20:14And I think, do I, did I really work that hard to work this hard?
20:17I don't know if that's what I want.
20:19So I'm picking and choosing.
20:21Like, I will be in Tenerife in concert at a festival that's a super cool festival.
20:27I'll put the show together, especially for them, because I know the certain songs that they want to hear that I might not do on a regular tour.
20:35But if it's something that's going to take me away from my grandson's life and miss big chunks of it, that's high on my list of priorities.
20:45He is growing so fast.
20:47And before your eyes, they're out the door.
20:50So I want to enjoy as much as I can.
20:52Those relationships you really have to build from early on, and I have.
20:56What tips are you going professionally at this point?
20:58Creating new things.
20:59You know, like, doing something that wasn't there three hours ago.
21:05You know, this show, this musical, Basura, has been beautiful.
21:10It was funny, because when the man came, he brought me one of the instruments.
21:16Frank was still alive, as I was saying.
21:18And I thought, oh, my God, this is such a beautiful idea.
21:21And then I said, okay, I'll do it.
21:24And then when I went home, I get, what the hell did I just do?
21:27What did I do?
21:28You know, I have to write all these songs.
21:32And then when I got in the process, you know, the only way to finish something is to start it.
21:38And that's the way I look at it.
21:39I just dive in, and it's been a beautiful process.
21:44Anything you still would like to achieve professionally that you haven't achieved?
21:49Oh, gosh.
21:49Well, this was always my go-to answer, and it's getting a little more difficult to envision it.
21:55But if it were to happen within the next few years to sing in a free Cuba, somehow that dream just, you know,
22:07every time we feel a piece of it, like on July 11th, a few years ago, when we thought, oh, maybe this is it, maybe this is the moment.
22:15And then it dissipates under the, you know, crushing weight of that dictatorship, of that very difficult government.
22:24And I think, well, Celia had that dream too.
22:28I was going to say.
22:29And it wasn't in the cards, so, and just to enjoy life more, take more vacations.
22:35As the closing song of Raíces says, how will you remember, how will you be remembered?
22:41How do you wish to be remembered?
22:44I actually wrote a song answering that exact question years ago, and the title is Remember Me With Love.
22:50That's all I hope, that when people think about me, either because of my music or the way I represented the culture or family life or whatnot,
23:03that they remember me with love, that there's a smile on their face and that they play the music a lot.
23:10That for sure.
23:11Thank you so much for being with us, Gloria, today.
23:15It's always a pleasure talking to you.
23:17You're such a big inspiration.
23:18I love talking to you always.
23:20Thank you so much.
23:21And thank you to Billboard, by the way, for all the support and the love through the years that I've seen.
23:28It continues to be the magazine for the industry, and it's fascinating how the industry has changed.
23:35I'd love to interview you about those things.
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