Gloria Estefan is embracing her raíces…
In the lead up to the release of her first Spanish-language album in 18 years, the 67-year-old Cuban Grammy-winning singer, actress and businesswoman has released the first single from the set, written by her producer-husband Emilio Estefan and aptly titled “Raíces.”
“Always enjoy the moments because you never know what surprises life will bring,” Estefan sings, expressing how love and life are very much like planting seeds. “If you want a good harvest, you need to know how to sow/ With faith and dedication, that tree will grow roots.”
“The song ‘Raíces’ touched my soul the first moment I heard it,” Gloria Estefan tells Billboard Español. “Being a Virgo, my connection with nature is strong, and I see life as a garden, with love as the seed. I believe that what you cultivate with kindness, patience, and faith will one day bloom into joy.”
She adds: “It is important not to miss the opportunity to express love because every sincere word and gesture plants the roots of a beautiful tomorrow — and that is what this song is all about.”
Recorded at their Crescent Moon Studios in Miami, “Raíces” is a tribute to the rhythms that have defined Estefan’s sound: salsa, tropical beats, classic Latin music.
The song will also give its title to her new album — the 30th in a 50-year career — which will be released at the end of May under Sony Music. It will be her first fully Spanish-language album in 18 years, since 90 Millas, which debuted and spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart in October 2007.
“For me, recording in Spanish again was a contribution to our music,” Emilio Estefan tells Billboard Español, noting that they worked with “great musicians, engineers, and industry professionals” and that he personally wrote almost the entire album because “I wanted it to reflect our essence: Gloria’s sound and mine.”
“[When we started], I remember people telling us that our sound would never work and that we should change our last name. But we understood the value of our culture and our roots,” he explains, referring to their beginnings in the mid-1970s with the Miami Sound Machine. “When Gloria reached the top of the charts worldwide [singing in English], we took a big risk and decided to record Mi Tierra, an album that represented one of our greatest victories.”
The iconic first LP by Gloria Estefan in Spanish from 1993, which included hits like “Mi Tierra” and “Con Los Años Que Me Quedan,” spent a whooping 58 weeks at No. 1 on Top Latin Albums.
More than three decades later, the renowned Cuban producer and musician along with the singer-songwriter present “a letter of gratitude to the fans, to the press, to those who believed in us, and to the city of Miami, which watched us grow and then allowed us to bring our music to the whole world.”
“It is a moment full of emotions for Gloria and me, a celebration of our culture and our audience,” Emilio Estefan says. “The most beautiful thing about a career is being able to leave a legacy of gratitude.”
