(Credit: Manny Hernandez)
By NAN ET Editor
News Americas, MIAMI, FL, Fri. April 1, 2016: One of the top 30 richest celebrities in the world was born right on the Caribbean island of Cuba and remains hopeful, but cautious about changes in US-Cuba relations.
Ranked as the 27th richest celebrity anywhere, is Havana-born, American singer Gloria Estefan.
Estefan’s net worth is put at a whipping US$500 million and she has made her money as not just a singer, but as a songwriter, producer, actress and entrepreneur.
The Miami, Florida resident is considered to be the most successful crossover artist in music history and is still in the top 100 best selling music artists of all time.
She has sold an estimated 100 million records worldwide and some 31.5 million in the United States alone while winning seven Grammy Awards over her five decade music career.
Estefan has released 24 albums and has had 38 #1 hits throughout her career.
She has also written two children’s books; was a contributor to a cookbook; and has received countless awards for excellence throughout her career.
A Broadway musical, ‘On Your Feet,’ currently covers her life and career, including her early years.
Estefan’s family fled to the United States during the Cuban Revolution. Her father joined the US Military and fought in the Vietnam War and participated in the Bay of Pigs invasion while her mother worked as a school teacher for the Dade County Public School System.
Estefan has a BA in psychology and a minor in French from the University of Miami and was once a translator at the Miami International Airport in the Customs Department.
She began her singing career in 1977 while she was working with the band, the Miami Sound Machine.
Estefan and her Cuban-born husband Emilio, recently said they will consider visiting Cuba one day, but only if some major changes occur first in the nation of their birth. That includes no more presence of the Castros!
