For Hispanic Heritage Month, Gloria Estefan spoke to ABC News about her life and career. In her decadeslong career, you could say the Cuban-born star has lived the American dream, but her dreams, she said, have always been about creating and not about receiving accolades.
“It wasn’t part of my dream,” Gloria told ABC News when asked about her many awards, like her seven Grammys and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. “My dream was to be successful, to be educated, to make a life — later on, it became to make a life in music, and to be able to reach people’s hearts and minds with my music.”
“Those awards are all beautiful and fantastic, but we never, ever made music thinking of a hit song on the radio, or a Grammy,” she continued. “You might say, ‘Oh, come on, really?’ And I go, ‘Yes, really.’ Because to me, the joy is in the creating.”
The “Get On Your Feet” star says that every time she writes a song, “I know that somebody somewhere is going to be able to listen to those words and hopefully it will empower them, or make them feel better, or be able to cry. That to me was my American dream.”
Admitting that her success in achieving her dreams “comes with a lot of really nice perks,” Gloria noted that she and her husband and musical partner, Emilio Estefan, have been “very blessed and privileged.”
“We’ve tried to turn that into making life easier for other people through philanthropy and my foundation,” she continued. “But the dream was just to do what we love, to do what makes us happy and passionate.”
Next up for Gloria is an album called Estefan Family Christmas, which will feature her daughter, Emily, and her grandson, Sasha.
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