Global Gloria: Why Gloria Estefan Deserves Consideration for Induction Into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Introduction
On the podcast Who Cares about the Rock Hall?, co-host Kristen Studard continually pleads the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame to “Induct the Divas!,” referring to the once-annual VH1 telecasts featuring some of the greatest female vocalists of our time. The event was created to support the channel’s Save the Music Foundation charity and often featured star-studded lineups with fantastic performances. The inaugural concert, which took place in April 1998 at the Beacon Theatre in New York City, was headlined by an eclectic group of female performers: Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey, Shania Twain, Celine Dion, and Gloria Estefan.
Of the names mentioned, Aretha Franklin is the only inaugural Diva to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. In fact, she was the first woman ever inducted into the institution. Mariah Carey has been eligible since 2015 and her record-breaking chart success and sales will make her undeniable candidate in the near future (Janet Jackson’s recent induction bodes very well for Ms. Carey; if I had it my way, Carey would be an FYE: First-Year Eligible inductee but we know how the Hall of Fame works....). Celine Dion also became eligible in 2015, but her music can hardly be characterized as rock and roll and a nomination is very unlikely. Shania Twain, who became eligible this past year, is in a similar predicament as Twain’s music is labeled country music (although there are definitely strong elements of rock and pop in some of her work thanks in large part to her ex-husband and former producer Mutt Lange). But besides Carey, Estefan has the best shot for induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and with good reason.
Gloria Estefan is one of the most successful and popular singers on the planet. Besides selling over 100 million records in her five-decade career, Estefan is arguably the most musical transport from Cuba and introduced the vibrant sounds of her native country to a worldwide audience. This entry explores Estefan’s career and highlights her contributions to both rock and roll and world music. It will also discuss how Estefan’s candidacy allows the Rock Hall to induct not only more women, but also induct more musicians of Hispanic heritage. For far too long, the Rock Hall has neglected inducting this segment of the population. Perhaps Estefan could be a good starting point for the institution to honor the ever-important contributions of Hispanic musicians to rock and roll over the past seven decades.
Gloria’s Life and Career
Born in Havana, Cuba, Gloria and her family the Fajardos fled to Miami as Fidel Castro rose to power when the young singer was still a toddler. Her father worked as a bodyguard for the Cuban government and her mother was a teacher with a doctorate. When escaping to America, however, her parents’ career plans changed. Her father became a soldier who participated in the unsuccessful Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 and served two years in the Vietnam War. But upon his return, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and the family took care of him. Despite her mother obtaining a Ph.D. in education where she was a teacher in her native Cuba, her degree was revoked upon entering the United States and she had to retake classes to get re-accredited in her field. Taking care of her ailing father and watching her mother struggle to make ends meet, Gloria found solace in music during her teen years.
After meeting her future husband Emilio at a wedding party where the former was performing, she joined his band The Miami Latin Boys. Gloria would perform with the band on weekends but continued to attend college and later obtained an undergraduate degree from the University of Miami. With Gloria joining, the band decided to change its name to Miami Sound Machine, which evoked broader appeal. Miami Sound Machine released their debut album Live Again/Renacer on the Miami-based Audiofon Records in 1977. Two years later, the band signed to CBS International and continued great success in South America.
1984 proved to be a pivotal year for Miami Sound Machine. The band released their English-speaking album Eyes of Innocence (1984), their first album on Epic Records. The single “Dr. Beat” became their first major international hit, charting well in Europe—including #6 on the U.K. charts—and on the U.S. Hot Dance Club charts. Despite the single’s success, “Dr. Beat” failed to chart on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The following year is when Estefan became an international superstar with the release of their next album Primitive Love (1985). The album’s first single “Conga” exploded on the charts and became Miami Sound Machine’s breakthrough hit in the U.S.
“Conga” became an introductory lesson for salsa music to many U.S. listeners and helped ignite the Latin music boom that continued to the preceding decades. Even when listening to “Conga” today, the song’s vibrant sounds provoke a reaction from the listener and it’s impossible to stand still for one second. The song also came out at a time when the city of Miami became more part of the public consciousness, thanks in large part to the success of the television series Miami Vice and the popularity of the Al Pacino film Scarface. In the 2015 HBO documentary The Latin Explosion (a film surveying important Latin artists in the history of American popular music), Estefan recalls her band constantly playing at state fairs and concerts in hopes of achieving bigger success. Well, they hit the jackpot and transformed her into a global superstar. She also became part of the American mainstream with numerous television appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, American Bandstand, and, of course, MTV.
The rest of 1980s saw Estefan have one hit song after another and having, in my opinion, one of the greatest streaks of great songs in popular music history. Singles such as “Rhythm is Gonna Get You,” “Words Get in the Way,” “1-2-3,” “Bad Boy,” “Get on Your Feet,” and “Don’t Wanna Lose You” are fantastic songs representative of Estefan’s talents as a celebrated performer, vocalist and songwriter. A dozen top 40 chart hits on the Billboard Hot 100 in the 1980s, nine of which reached the top 10. Although Estefan and Miami Sound Machine’s Cuban-based sounds made them stand out in the plethora of 80s pop singers, the adult-contemporary ballads became their biggest chart hits. After the success of “Conga,” Estefan’s name became so well-known that her name was added to the Miami Sound Machine’s follow-up album Let It Loose (1987). Just like many Rock Hall-inducted bands and groups (e.g., The Supremes, The Animals, The Miracles, The Four Seasons), the lead singer is thrust into the spotlight and so widely-known that their name appears either alongside or above the band/group’s name on album and single covers. And, of course, this often causes tension amongst members of a band/group and their forgone demise. After Let It Loose, most of the Miami Sound Machine left the band and forced Estefan to make a serious and life-changing decision in her musical career: could she sustain a solo career? The answer’s an obvious yes and in the process became an even bigger star in the decline of Miami Sound Machine.
At the peak of Estefan’s career in early 1990, her tour bus was struck by another nearby motorist and the accident was so severe that she had a fractured spine. After a year of intensive physical therapy, she made her triumphant return with an appearance at the American Music Awards in 1991 and received a standing ovation. Shortly after, she returned to touring and her comeback single “Coming Out of the Dark,” the leadoff single from her album Into the Light released that same year, reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The rest of the 1990s saw Estefan enjoyed consistent success in the music world. She released her first Greatest Hits album in 1992, released her first completely Spanish-language album Mi Tierra in 1993, and had a crossover hit with her cover of “Turn the Beat Around” in 1994. The 1990s is also a period where Estefan released albums and singles entirely sung in her native Spanish and enjoyed tremendous crossover success. Two of her albums, the aforementioned Mi Tierra and Abriendo Puertas, won the singer her first two Grammys for Best Tropical Latin Album (she would win her third and final Grammy for the 2001 album Alma Caribena in the same category). Her song “Reach” became the official theme for the 1996 Summer Olympics and she performed that song at the closing ceremony in Atlanta. She made her acting debut in the Wes Craven drama Music of the Heart (1999) and performed the Diane Warren-penned song of the same name as a duet with the boy band NSYNC. The song received several award nominations including an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song.
Interestingly, Estefan tried to kick-start a music biopic of the famed pop singer Connie Francis throughout the 2000s and even slated to play the singer in the film. The film was ultimately dropped after Francis disapproved of the screenplay and butted heads with the film’s screenwriters and producers. I wonder if the biopic happened if Francis’ name would’ve re-entered the public consciousness and maybe Francis would finally get her long overdue induction into the Rock Hall. I guess we’ll never know…
In 2015, Estefan and her husband-collaborator Emilio wrote and produced the music and lyrics for the jukebox musical On Your Feet! based on her life and features almost all of Estefan’s hit songs throughout her long career. On Your Feet! played on Broadway for over two years and spawned a highly successful tour in the U.S. in 2017. Last month, Estefan appeared on the Netflix show One Day at a Time as the lead character’s sister.
Oye Mi Canto (Hear My Voice): The Rock Hall’s Problem Honoring Hispanic Musicians
Estefan’s career highlights her importance as a musical trailblazer of contemporary popular music. Estefan broke a lot of ground for Latin artists and served, in many ways, as an ambassador of Latin music to the general public. Without Estefan’s breakthrough success with “Conga” in the mid-1980s, these artists might have had a harder time achieving success in the music industry. Part of her success can be attributed to the fact she kept the Latin beats and sounds of her heritage intact, but changed the vocals to English. As a result, she paved the way for more Hispanic artists to be visible in American popular music while also honoring the legacy of her musical ancestors.
In the last decade, the Rock Hall induction classes are less diverse despite the best efforts of the nominating committee to diversify the artists nominated on official HOF ballots. Although they nominate musicians from various ethnic and racial backgrounds, white men (usually from the Baby Boomer generation) usually get the most votes and creates a backlog of worthy non-white performers on the outside looking in. The homogeneous selections have put the Rock Hall in an unfortunate corner: denying great music from ethnic and racial minorities across the diaspora of rock and roll.
The 2015 HBO documentary The Latin Explosion: A New America (2015) surveys the important contributions of Hispanic musicians on American popular music and culture. One of the most staggering statistics occurs when narrator John Leguizamo states, “In 1950, 1 in 50 Americans were Latino. By 2050, it will be 1 in 3, the most significant demographic shift in U.S. history.” As more Hispanics populated the U.S. in recent decades, music became one of the signifiers for cultural acceptance and, eventually, assimilation. The wide range of performers shown in The Latin Explosion include Desi Arnaz, Jose Feliciano, Rita Moreno, Jennifer Lopez, and Shakira. While the film quickly became a paint-by-numbers Civics lesson meant to shown in classrooms, the film sheds light on the economic plights and societal discrimination of Hispanic citizens and migrants throughout the 20th century. As America’s population becomes more diversified, so should the Rock Hall’s induction classes.
Although there are fewer black musicians getting inducted in the last decade or so, Hispanic musicians are even scarcer in the Rock Hall. Sure, there a few prominent musicians the Rock Hall has honored over the years such as Carlos Santana, Jerry Garcia, Ritchie Valens, Linda Ronstadt, and Joan Baez. And the Nominating Committee has put forth a few musicians on the ballot in recent years (e.g., Los Lobos, Dave Navarro [Jane’s Addiction], Zack de la Rocha [Rage Against the Machine], and various members of both The Sir Douglas Quintet and War), but the Rock Hall has a long way to go to properly honor the long-lasting contributions of Hispanic musicians to rock and roll of the last six decades. According to Alex Voltaire’s research for his revised Top 100 Rock Hall prospects project, he found that several Nominating Committee members—such as long-time and now former member Dave Marsh—advocated for more “South of the Border music represented.” Although I do not believe the Rock Hall should meet a quota with their selections, it would be nice to see more diverse selections for the induction classes.
In an article written last year, Ricardo Colon discusses the discrepancy of Hispanic musicians represented in the Rock Hall. Although some of the information is factually incorrect (such as when he claims Santana and Valens are the only two Hispanic Rock Hall inductees), he brings up a few noteworthy points. One of the more interesting and salient observations is the Rock Hall’s Museum no longer celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month. The Rock Hall’s Museum held an event (usually a free outdoor concert) which has been suspiciously absent. When Colon contacted one of the Rock Hall staff members for a comment, they said plan to “do something else” to honor Hispanic musicians and their contributions. It’s been nearly five years since the Rock Hall celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month so there appears to be no urgency to have those festivities in the nearby future.
One of the main arguments Colon is the Rock Hall’s lack of marketing outreach to members of the Hispanic community in the Cleveland area. Although Colon suggests the Museum should have a special exhibit highlighting the contributions of Hispanic musicians to rock and roll (and they should do this down the road), let’s start by nominating and more importantly inducting more Hispanic musicians into the Rock Hall. If more Hispanic musicians are inducted, their visibility will be seen and thus put the spotlight on them.
Perhaps a problem with Estefan’s Rock Hall candidacy is that many observers might not categorize her music as rock and roll. At its very core, rock and roll music should cause audiences to dance and have fun. It is nearly impossible to stand still for a single second when listening to a Gloria Estefan record. She crafted several perfect records—both solo and with the Miami Sound Machine—that have become integrated into American popular culture and remains one of the most beloved international musicians of our time. And isn’t that what rock and roll is all about: provoking some sort of reaction and signaling new trends and directions in the ever-expanding definition of rock and roll? Estefan’s music certainly comprises the sounds and spirit of rock and roll and to deny that is an unfortunate mistake.
Case Study: Estefan/Miami Sound Machine, Rufus/Chaka Khan and the Problem of Female-Led Bands on Rock Hall Ballots
One of the major problems with Estefan’s candidacy is how the Nominating Committee would properly nominate her. Would the Nominating Committee nominate Miami Sound Machine, her solo work, or a mixture of both (Miami Sound Machine/Gloria Estefan)? The problem becomes what aspect of her career warrants the most consideration for a Rock Hall and if the honor would discount her associated collaborations? My guess is that the Nominating Committee would go with “Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine,” but the Rock Hall has tended to have front(wo)man fever in the past (for example, Steve Miller inducted without his ‘Band’). Estefan’s name would have to appear for the ballot for name recognition and would probably garner more votes. A similar situation has clouded Chaka Khan’s recent Rock Hall nominations of the last decade. Both Estefan and Khan are singers who quickly became the central focus of their bands and eventually embarked on solo careers.
Khan was first nominated as a member of Rufus back in 2012 and disappeared from the ballot for 4 years. She was then nominated for her solo work (sans Rufus) for 2 straight years in 2016 and 2017. After her failed attempts to get in as a solo artist, the Nominating Committee decided to nominate Rufus the last two years in 2018 and 2019 and their still not in the Rock Hall. On a related note, there has been some controversy over how the Rock Hall officially nominate Khan’s band. Based on the band’s album title, they went by four separate names throughout their career: “Rufus,” “Rufus with Chaka Khan,” “Rufus & Chaka Khan,” and “Rufus featuring Chaka Khan.” The Rock Hall went with the last name listed, even for it unnaturalness and the fact it sounds like she’s a featured artist collaborating with Rufus. At least when evaluating Chaka Khan’s career, there is a clearer distinction between her solo work and Rufus. She released five solo albums before the release of Rufus’ final 1983 album Stompin’ at the Savoy—Live (which featured one of the band’s biggest hits “Ain’t Nobody”) and the band broke up later that year. Khan would continue burning up the charts with her album I Feel for You the following year and cemented her status as one of the great R&B singers of our time.
Estefan’s career picked up the most steam starting with Miami Sound Machine’s chart dominance in the mid-1980s. Those songs—“Conga,” “Rhythm is Gonna Get You,” “1-2-3 (Remix)” among many others—are arguably her most popular songs in the public consciousness and best representative of the Cuban-influenced music that made her stand out in 80s popular music. Her time with Miami Sound Machine cemented her legacy as one of the most reliable hitmakers of the late 20th century and cannot be separated when discussing her Rock Hall candidacy. Unlike the Chaka Khan and Rufus nomination situation, there is a clearer distinction between the names of Estefan solo and her work with Miami Sound Machine. From their 1977 debut album to Primitive Love, the band’s name was Miami Sound Machine. After the commercial breakthrough of Primitive Love in 1985, the band’s follow-up album Let It Loose (1987) renamed the band to “Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine” to capitalize on the increasing popularity of its lead singer. After almost all of the original band members left the following year, Estefan decided to pursue a solo career and that’s how it’s been ever since.
If this comparison of Estefan and Khan’s careers highlight anything, it’s the Rock Hall lacking an understanding of honoring female singers. Although the Rock Hall is inducting two women in the Performers category later this month (Janet Jackson and Stevie Nicks), Khan was the only other woman nominated last year. Surely there are more worthy female artists that could have gotten a nomination this year. When the 2019 Nominees were announced on SiriusXM’s Volume, current Nominating Committee member Alan Light mentioned the female Nominators threw out a few names such as Pat Benatar, Cyndi Lauper, and The Go-Go’s as prospective candidates. But, according to him, they clambered together and pushed for Stevie Nicks who eventually got the nomination and eventual induction. Why can’t the Nominating Committee have the courage to include those 3 other women on the same ballot? The problem: it’s all politically motivated and strategically planned.
As a Nominating Committee member, Light gets to put forth two names for consideration into the Rock Hall for discussion among the larger Committee group. He chose The Cure and Jackson as his two picks (both of whom got nominated and will be inducted as part of the 2019 class), but his rationale for choosing both artists represents the problematic nominating process. He felt Jackson had “one last shot” for induction, but did not elaborate why this would be the case. It’s a sad state of affairs when a prolific and hugely popular female artist like Jackson is thought of as a “now or never” situation when she’s been eligible for a little over a decade with just two failed attempts for induction. And yes, the 2004 Super Bowl controversy clouded her legacy, but it’s still alarming that it took a grassroots group to advocate for an artist who sold well over 100 million and had some of the biggest and best-selling hit singles of the last three decades. And if Jackson can barely break through, what does this say about other female performers’ chances for a Rock Hall induction? It’s borderline insanity that female performers cannot compete against each other on the same ballot.
The Nominating Committee (and perhaps the entire Rock Hall institution and community) has a problem giving women at a chance to become two-time Rock Hall inductees. Nicks—no matter what one thinks of her solo career—is the first woman to join the Clyde McPhatter Club of two-time Hall of Fame inductees and it’s the year 2019. Why is there a hesitation for them to consider Khan’s solo work from Rufus or Estefan with/out Miami Sound Machine? Isn’t there enough room to honor both periods of their respective careers? The answer’s complicated, but plausible. Unlike Nicks, Khan and Estefan’s music does not play on Classic Rock radio stations. Khan and Estefan’s music are considered more R&B and Pop respectively than Rock, so the distinction hurts them when people evaluate their careers for a possible Rock Hall induction. The Committee might think, however, a combined induction could be Estefan and Khan’s best chances for a Rock Hall induction and that’s unfortunate.
Conclusion: The Rhythm is Gonna Get You
Gloria Estefan is one of the great female entertainers of the last half-century. Along with the Miami Sound Machine, she created a distinctive style of Cuban-infused dance music that broke new ground for Hispanic musicians in mainstream American popular music. With infectious sounds and sophisticated lyrics, she paved the way for virtually every Hispanic pop star in her wake (e.g., Selena, Shakira, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin, Marc Anthony, and Demi Lovato). Alex Voltaire sums up Estefan’s musical importance in the 1980s by stating, she “…brilliantly merged Florida’s Cuban culture with burgeoning 80s dance music, so that Latin pop became a legitimate category.” In essence, she provided the template for the modern crossover Latin pop star that would dominate the airwaves and charts for the next three decades. Along with her husband, she would mentor and produce many of these aforementioned acts to global success.
Estefan has won numerous awards and accolades throughout her career. She appears on VH1’s list of the 100 Greatest Women in Rock and Roll (#81) and Billboard’s list of All-Time Top Artists on the Hot 100 (#45). In 2017, she became the first Cuban-American Kennedy Center Honors recipient for lifetime achievement in the arts. And along with her husband Emilio, she will be given the Library of Congress’ Gershwin Prize for songwriting. The ceremony will take place in Washington D.C. sometime later this month with an all-star lineup of musicians paying tribute to the pioneering husband-and-wife duo.
Coming to America as a refugee from the rising Castro regime, she crawled and fought for her everything in her life. When record executives wanted her to change her name to hide her Hispanic heritage, she refused and became a pioneer for Hispanic performers in mainstream American popular music. Rock and roll music is about defiance, encourage, and individuality, and Estefan has those in spades. She made her mark as a musician, businesswoman, and humanitarian who inspired millions to chase their dreams. She is the epitome of the American Dream.
She helped millions of fans get up on their feet, embraced her Cuban heritage, and crafted some of the greatest pop songs ever recorded. Let’s not discount the fact she crafted some of the finest pop songs ever recorded, fused the musical traditions of her native Cuba to create a distinct sound, created the template for the modern-day Latin music superstar, and positively impacted the perception of Hispanic citizens in our culture. With all the accolades bestowed upon her in recent years, an induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame still eludes her. To paraphrase one of her biggest hits, the rhythm will eventually get the Rock Hall and nominate one of the most unique-sounding, trailblazing, and beloved pop stars in contemporary music.
