Miami’s own 9-time Grammy winning superstar Gloria Estefan returns to her roots with “Raices,” which means “roots,” her first Spanish-language album in 18 years. She said it’s about the love story of her and her husband Emilio.
“A love story first of all, big time, most of them (the songs) are about our love story,” she said. “Emilio brought me these amazing songs and he said to me, ‘I wrote you a love song.’ I went, ‘Oh, you’re gonna sing it for me?’ He said, ‘No, you’re gonna sing it to me.’ He wrote his own love song,,” she said with a laugh.
The project was done hand-in-hand with her husband of 46 years, Emilio, at a time when the singer was busier than ever. She’s working on a Broadway musical called “Basura” with her daughter Emily and the children’s TV show “Gaby’s Dollhouse.” But it was that title track, written by Emilio, that held her heart.
The video was shot on location at Fairchild Tropical Gardens. Artificial intelligence technology projected real pictures of Gloria as a toddler, the actual picture is displayed on the walls at the Estefans’ Miami Beach offices.
“That’s me in Miami and I am in between the roots of the tree that is in the “Raices” video that I am singing from the middle of these two roots and this is Emilio in Cuba. Clearly cowboy gear was very popular,” Gloria explained, pointing to the childhood photos.
Estefan goes back to her roots
“Raices” is an Estefan autobiography set to music, it showcases their entire family. Gloria said the idea for the project was to inspire all people, but especially immigrants.
“Their contributions aren’t ever really, you know, held for what they are, which is a lot because this country is built on immigrants. I just wanted to put positivity and love out there into the universe,” she shared.
For her lively new single and video “La Vecina,” meaning “the neighbor,” Gloria returned to the very first neighborhood she called home after fleeing Cuba. It was all shot there, near LoanDepot Park.
“The day that I sang ‘La Vecina’ in the studio, I got the whole video in my head, and I went, ‘Oh my God,'” she recalled. “I started in this place when we came to the United States from Cuba, and look at where we are now.”
Estefan says she feels the love from her fans
It all started 50 years ago when she joined a band called Miami Latin Boys led by a percussionist named Emilio Estefan.
“I told Gloria that I found out she had played at a friend of mine’s bar mitzvah,” said Emilio.
“Oh, of course I did, Absolutely,” she said laughing.
That connection born in Miami half a century ago has never waned. In fact, she feels the love from her fans everyday and says it never gets old.
“Are you kidding me? There’s nothing like it, and people will say ‘I just want to hug you’ and when they put their arms around me, they say these beautiful things. ‘I feel like you’re my family. I feel like you’re my tia or my grandma or, you know, my mom, my sister.’ It’s a beautiful, beautiful thing,” she said.
“Raices” is set to be releases on May 29. Her Broadway musical “Basura” will debut in 2026, and her TV show “Gaby’s Dollhouse” will be release in the Fall.
