After taking several years off to focus on motherhood, Gloria Estefan, 54, is back with a new album, Miss Little Havana, produced by Pharrell Williams. The Queen of Latin Pop talked to Parade.com about her new album, her musically talented daughter, the secret to her 33-year marriage to music producer Emilio Estefan and more.
Here are some highlights:
On what prompted her return to the studio…
“It happened naturally. Pharrell and I share a trainer and he kept telling me, ‘Pharrell wants to talk to you. He’s got an idea.’ So we set up a meeting and he brought me ‘Miss Little Havana.’ He also lives in Miami, so we wanted to make a Miami-feeling record. When I heard the songs, it sparked such curiosity in me to see what kind of baby we could come up with. When we got into the studio we clicked. It was just so easy. It poured out.
“I always tell Emilio, women in the entertainment industry are kind of like athletes, you have a window and then suddenly you’re gone. So I feel so fortunate that so many years later I’m still making music and there’s still fans that want to hear it.”
On the sexier look and sound of Miss Little Havana…
“It’s fun for me. Everything ended up with a lot of double entendres, but Cubans, we use that a lot. It’s part of our culture and the music was sexy, so it just all led in that direction. I’m very comfortable in my own skin now. I started just being myself more and more. For women, this happens as you get older. I loved my 40s — I thought they were fantastic. And I’m loving my 50s. I’m going to love everything because you’re either older or dead!”
On having her 16-year-old daughter Emily play guitar on the album…
“She’s an amazing musician. I sit in awe of her quite honestly. She gets on the drums and then she grabs the guitar, and now she’s programming all this music. She did a remix for ‘WEPA.’ She does sing, but she won’t. She’s got a beautiful voice. She sounds actually like me — even in her speaking voice. She’s kind of like a clone! But I guess she doesn’t want to touch that, but I can understand. Maybe one day she’ll venture out a little into singing. I don’t want to push her. I just want her to be happy and decide what she wants to do. But she’s a total musician.”
For more on Gloria, including the secret to her successful marriage, how being critically injured in an accident 20+ years ago changed her and the possibility of a future world tour:
http://www.parade.com/celebrity/celebrity-parade/2011/10/gloria-estefan.html