Gloria and Emilio Estefan: The Beat That Built A Legacy

AS THEY CELEBRATE 50 YEARS SINCE THEIR FATEFUL MEETING, THE ESTEFANS OPEN UP ABOUT THEIR ENDURING LOVE STORY, THE POWER OF PERSEVERANCE, AND THE LEGACY THEY’VE CREATED FROM THE HEART OF MIAMI.

                                                                                       BY LAURA VALLINA

                                                                       PHOTOGRAPHER BERNARDO DORAL 

                                                                PHOTOGRAPHER JOSE “CHEPE” DEVILLEGAS

                                                                       PHOTOGRAPHER GATO RIVERIA 

Miami’s original power couple, Gloria and Emilio Estefan, are celebrating 50 years of meeting this May. Right after graduating high school, Gloria, 17 at the time, went to a music jam with some friends and met Emilio. A 22-year-old who had fled from Cuba, he was playing an accordion he had purchased for the sole reason to land tips to keep him afloat. This famous accordion caught the attention of Gloria, who reportedly says the instrument took up most of Emilio’s body, with the combination of his very short shorts paired with some nice legs that caught her eye. An interesting first impression.

You know what they say: if someone is meant to be in your life, the universe will put them in front of you at a wedding a few months later. Well, at least for the Estefans, it happened this way. After Gloria’s mom successfully dragged her to a wedding in Hialeah, lo and behold: Emilio Estefan was playing “The Hustle” by Van McCoy.

Let’s jump to Emilio’s point of view: he was instantly captured by Gloria’s uniqueness. The renowned producer later recalled recognizing her, and that very night, he asked her to join his band, the Miami Latin Boys. After an initial “no” from Gloria, her eventual “yes” brought forth not only the most iconic band of the ‘80s, but a true Miami love story. So yes, it was probably a good thing she said “yes” to that date.

Fast-forward to 2025. The Grammy-winning couple has built an empire transcending the music industry that embodies the American dream right in our backyard. Immigrating from Cuba to Miami with a passion for music, the Estefans formed Miami Sound Machine, a band that shook the world so fiercely that its rhythm still pulses to this day.

Pushing back against the biggest record labels in America, they didn’t surrender until their sound pierced through the industry’s barriers. From playing at weddings, bar mitzvahs, and first communions, they soon had the whole world singing and dancing with them.

“Come on, shake your body. Baby, do the conga. I know you can’t control yourself any longer.”

Sorry, I got a little carried away there singing along to “Conga,” but I just can’t help it (or control myself any longer). Because while this is a happy story, it was by no means an easy one.

“When people are in power, they’re in power. Period. So, we figured out ways around it, around the ‘nos.’ And if a door closed, we opened a window,” eight-time Grammy winner Gloria says.

Basking in the frustrations, challenges, and most exciting moments, the couple knew their sound would work because of a prevalent belief: human beings are open to different sounds. And they were right. Once the Estefans opened the infectious and energetic door to Latin music, it never closed.

The couple didn’t take their fame and run with it. Instead, they shared it. After getting told to change his last name at Sony Music, Emilio went on to become president of artistic development for Sony and signing legends such as Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, and Carlos Vives.

“I always say, when one of us makes it big, we all win,” Emilio says.

Doors continued to open in Miami — the city that first believed in their sound. It became the place they chose to call home and have not uprooted since they first met.

“They offered me positions in London, New York, Los Angeles — a lot of places. But we stayed,” Emilio says. “Miami, that was our sound.”

While their family home, love story, and rise to fame all took place in Miami, they were constantly on the road. Specifically in the ‘80s and ‘90s, with their two children, Nayib and Emily. Gloria refused to miss out on her son’s life due to her music career, so she decided to bring along what grounded her the most: family. To the world, Gloria is one of the most successful and respected Latin artists in history. But her number one persona falls under her mom title.

And let’s face it: no one likes to share their mom with anyone, especially as a kid. Her children, on the other hand, had to share their mom with the world. Gloria explains that it’s only at this point in her life that she is finding out the impact and difficulties her children had to face in their own lives.

“We were always interrupted because of what I do, but I kept telling them, look, we have this opportunity when someone comes up to us to traumatize them or make them happy,” Gloria says.

On March 20, 1990, a tractor-trailer rear-ended Gloria’s tour bus in Pennsylvania, rushing the queen of Latin pop to an emergency surgery that resulted in a life-threating cervical fracture and temporary paralysis. One year later, after intense physical therapy, she was blessed to be back on stage, and continued to make history alongside her husband. In 1993, just three years after her accident, Gloria received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

“The amount of love and support we received when Gloria had her accident was a blessing,” Emilio recalls.

Through their darkest and happiest moments, sharing the same values was their foundation and what kept this union powerful. Emilio matches Gloria’s aura through respect and kindness. The man who launched the Latin pop explosion of the 1990s and 2000s can’t stop expressing how proud he is of his wife’s work as a musician and mother; no doubt, words of affirmation are definitely part of Emilio’s love language. But that’s just my suspicion. I mean, come on, half a century later, and he’s still showering Gloria with praise.

“There are no egos here,” Emilio says.

Maybe that’s the secret to keeping love alive? I’m not sure, but every time they speak, words of wisdom pour out. Each phrase is a key to unlock the mystery of true love — until the next, more profound thought comes, leading me to wonder if that, too, was the answer.

Gloria is a firm believer in the privilege of being able to make someone happy, and sometimes, that meant sharing her family with the world. But for the woman who is a strong advocate of “reap what you sow,” her work’s mission is to bring more positivity into our world.

“If you sow the seeds of happiness, connection, and love, that’s what you’re going to harvest,” she explains.

As our time together elapses, I begin to see another side of Gloria. She is genuinely spiritual, and I mean this in the truest sense, not in a let-me-participate-in-this-trend way. She was connecting with nature before it became cool. I’m talking tree-hugging-to-absorb-their-energy type of spiritual. I’m not kidding: when asked about the lead single from her first Spanish album in 18 years, Raíces, the following words were definitely not what I expected to hear.

“So I’m a Virgo, I’m an earth sign,” Gloria says in response.

Raices’s music video highlights the superstar in a very natural light as she walks barefoot in Coral Gables Fairchild Gardens, one of the oldest places in Miami, with Cuban trees over 80 years old. Yes, even the trees are Cuban in Miami. All jokes aside, the same trees Gloria is sitting in between the roots of are the identical Ceiba trees pictured at the beginning of the video, where we see an AI-generated baby Gloria in a cowgirl outfit. Talk about a full circle moment.

You wouldn’t think someone as classy and sophisticated as Gloria might opt to stroll barefoot on soil, but I also bet you wouldn’t think she’d do it for the sake of chakras. I’m telling you… she’s tapped in.

“At the bottom of our feet is that root chakra that connects us to the earth and each other,” she continues. “Whenever I’m going to do a concert, right before I go on, I imagine all my chakras opening, and I pray that there’s an interchange of energy, not just them watching me sing. But I want to absorb their energy into my chakra and give it back to them.”

The Estefan family is clearly depicted in this video, from their children’s first steps to the youngest member of the family, 12-year-old Sasha, performing in his school play. Gloria went on to share that she almost included the video of her giving birth to Emily, now 30.

“Like, literally coming out of my belly, but then I go, you know what, I think this is a little too graphic,” Gloria laughs.

The music clip leaves the audience with a sense of unity, happiness, and love — the exact sensation Raíces set out to infuse in us. But I had to ask the clear-cut question: Why now? Why release a song 18 years later?

“People, especially now, need happiness. They need to know what the value of life is,” Gloria explains.

It’s safe to say we all know today’s world can be harsh. A society running on Instagrammable lattes — because if you can’t post your double shaken espresso, you’re not buying it. Trending TikTok sounds play as the background music of our lives, and the fact that catfishing is even a phenomenon. The list goes on. But what we don’t have enough of in this age is happiness and gratitude.

The song that reminds listeners to never forget to enjoy the good moments and tell your loved ones how much you love them is not just a catchy introduction, but, quite literally, the secret to this couple’s long-lasting love story.

“If you’re going to throw in the towel the minute that things become hard, or if you’re going to want everything to go your way, then you’ve got a problem. Because once you get a partner, you’re a unit,” both Emilio and Gloria explain.

They make it sound so easy. Getting relationship advice from the Estefans was not only iconic but cleared things up for me personally. Now, for those who have been lucky enough to already find their dream guy, Gloria has some things to say to you too: “I always tell the girls, keep shaving your legs and boys, keep treating her like your girlfriend,” Gloria jokes.

Take notes, everyone (I know I am). This beautiful couple has lasted 50 years together, something unheard of in the music industry — or quite frankly — the world these days. Who knows, maybe you can find a partner in Miami after all. If Gloria and Emilio can do it, we all can, right?

At least that’s what I initially thought when meeting the couple, but Gloria makes a good point.

“People think, ‘OK, I found my dream guy. This is it,’” she teases. “But no, you have to continuously put in the effort. Because we get comfortable, we forget that things happen, you have children. Both people need to take care of each other.”

She adds, “Relationships are like everything else: careers, family, it’s an ebb and flow. You have to continuously nourish the relationship and commit to saying ‘we’re going to get through everything that gets thrown our way.’”

Ok, let me get real with you: I know I just made you read this whole love story. But the truth is, it wasn’t at the end of this conversation that I found out they were the real deal: I knew it from the second we started talking.  

The post Gloria and Emilio Estefan: The Beat That Built A Legacy appeared first on Haute Living.