Gloria Maria Milagrosa Fajardo Garcia was born in Havana, Cuba sixty-two years ago and became the lead singer and headliner for the Miami Latin Boys-later to become the Miami Sound Machine, established by her future husband Emilio Estefan in 1975. She achieved international recognition with her signature song ‘Conga’ in 1985. The winner of many accolades, including three Grammy Awards, Gloria and the Miami Sound Machine scored their first No.1 hit on Billboard’s Hot 100 with ‘Anything for You’, which she wrote, in 1988, followed by a string of singles success with ‘Rhythm is Gonna Get You’, ‘1-2-3’, ‘Bad Boy’, and ‘Get On Your Feet’.

She has sold an estimated 115 million records worldwide, 31.5 million in the US alone. In 2015 Gloria and Emilio received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honour for their contribution to American music.

Gloria and Emilio wrote the Tony-nominated jukebox musical ON YOUR FEET! THE LIFE OF EMILO AND GLORIA ESTEFAN, which premiered at Chicago’s Oriental Theatre in 2015, before moving to the Marquis Theatre on Broadway. It transferred to the UK earlier this year with an initial run at The Curve in Leicester then to a limited two-month residency at the London Coliseum, followed by a national tour.

Gloria signed my sketch at Wogan House after appearing on Graham Norton’s BBC Radio 2 show in early June this year.