NPR Music - Alt.Latino: A conversation with Gloria Estefan

Episode Date: October 8, 2025

Gloria Estefan is one of those musicians whose work and mere presence in the record industry deserves without question platitudes like ‘pioneering’ or ‘ground breaking.’ In fact, we have often mentioned her in that light throughout the fifteen years of Alt.Latino. So it was a thrill to invite her to chat with us once again, this time immediately after a stunning Tiny Desk performance that will publish on October 13th. She gives serious Favorite Tiá vibes, and since she and Felix are close in age, it felt like a conversation with a good friend with a fascinating life story - who just happens to have one of the richest song catalogs in Latin music history.This podcast episode was produced by Noah Caldwell. The executive producer of NPR Music is Suraya Mohamed.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

From NPR music, this is all Latino. I'm Felix Contreras. And I'm Anna Maria Sayer. Let the Chisemet begin. Anna, this week, the Chisemet is that you are on the president of Chile's Instagram. What's up with that? I mean, there's a good reason. It has to do with what we do here, Felix.

Tap, top, top, top, top, top, top, top, top, top, top, top, top. What do you pass, Policarpo? Me pas every that they invite to tell you. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. I, we for El Taini, Latin Music Month this year, brought this Chilean children's show called 30 Minutes.

I think you either really know it or you super don't. It's a children's TV show that's been really impactful in Chile, across Latin America. I think I knew the show would blow up. I didn't know I'd make it on the president's Instagram. Saying it blew up is kind of an understanding. I've been looking at a lot of the metrics since it came out yesterday. We're talking right now on a Tuesday. This came out yesterday, Monday, October 6.

And it isn't the fastest growing Tined Desk of all time. Billy Elish and Sabrina Carpenter hit 2.5 million in a day. This hit 2 million. But I will say it is probably arguably one of the most beloved universally. It's something that is being talked about in pretty much every major news outlet across Latin America. I'm getting emails and texts from reporters across the two continents as well as in Germany, different parts of Europe. It makes sense, though, because that should. show we're hearing from older people who are nostalgic, younger people who remind them of their home.

There are so many different reactions. Very basically, why did you choose this act? It's one of those shows that kind of preserves this period of nostalgia for a lot of people in Latin America. Like I said, it started in Chile. It's a huge deal baseline for any Chilean cultural product to be exported. It's not something that easily happens. Art from Chile does not easily leave the country. and it made its way first to Mexico, then to other parts of Latin America. So it was always something of great Chilean pride and ultimately of Latin American pride. It's one of those things that if you grew up with it, a part of your heart lives with this show.

To see this performance is something that takes you directly back to your childhood. I mean, a thing that I've been receiving, which has never happened to me, including with the Bad Bunny Tiny Desk, is message after message minute after minute of people saying, This brought me back to days, morning, sitting on the couch with my family. It reminded me of my dad, who I just lost, who loved this show. I think it was universally beloved, generationally beloved. It was one of the first TV shows that looked as children as not needing simply dumbed-down children's content, but being able to hold conversations about social issues and the world and the way that it should look.

And so I think it's something that's always been a source of real pride as valuable art. it just never made its way to the United States. This is what their team tells me is the first time, not only the first time they've ever played in the United States, but for them, they've been describing it internally as like playing Tiny Desk was like winning an Oscar. It was like getting the most supreme achievement moment. And I think it's felt as a universal acknowledgement of the value of some of the most

beloved Latin American art. Well, as you mentioned, we're recording this. It's only day two. I'm sure there's going to be more reaction. We'll talk about that in a future episode. But this week, we're here to talk about a musician who has had a major impact here in the United States and whose voice we all know and love. We had a chance to sit down to talk with Gloria Stefan, the legendary Gloria Stefan, right after her tiny desk before. To clarify, the legendary.

Not the other one. Not the other one. The iconic. Not the Gloria Stefan who lives next story to you, who just, just gisando with your tea all day long. We love that Gloria. She's great. We're talking about the iconic, amazing, prolific, singer, songwriter, Broadway star subject, extraordinary creator of an entire wave of Latin sound in the United States. Yes, that Gloria Stephan. At very long last Felix, we finally got Gloria Stefan to come in the building, play a tiny desk. It's not out yet. You're just going to have to be checking for it on YouTube, but we're, are going to play you some of our conversation with her. We're going to break it up with a little bit of music.

But first, I want to hear from you, given that you're on the younger side. Like, what is your impression of Gloria and the Miami Sound Machine? Gloria and Emilio Estefan, Miami Sound Machine? What is your, like, the earliest impression? And then now that you know a little bit more about the music business, where do you place her? Yeah, I guess there are two eras of Gloria discovery for me.

because the first being, I came into the world and Gloria was already an establishment. Sure. Like there was no version of Latin sound, Spanish language sound in this country that Gloria wasn't a part of. So I think initially it was just hearing her all the time everywhere. I mean, it's how could you not hear Gloria, Conga, rhythm is going to get you, these songs that are literally institutions of not only Latin sound in this country, but really Latin American identity. Like, growing up Mexican-American in California did not make me, you know, outside of the purview of Gloria Estefan, which is unique, I think, because Miami and California, they don't always talk. Mexicans and Cubans don't always talk.

But Gloria Estefan talked to everyone. Her music talked to everyone. So that was the first experience with her. The second being, yeah, obviously, as I learned and understood a lot more about the music business. large, the Latin music business, the Latin pop world specifically, I began to understand just how instrumental, both visibly and behind the scenes she was. I mean, she really was that person in the ears and in the boardrooms, not only with artists, but with their teams, with label heads kind of conducting and guiding and being that voice to steer new artists from

Latin America into the United States. And so that's when I really began to understand just how prolific she is really as more than just an artist but a business person as a as a cultural icon is as a fighter in a lot of ways and we talked about this on an earlier podcast because of that I was nervous I was nervous to interview me because name the people you've been nervous Rita Moreno Carlos Santana first time and this one because of all the things you just said because of all of the things that she has contributed she and amelio and the people around them have contributed to the music business. It's almost like you and I, we understand it too much. It's formidable, right? It's so big. And yet here she is. She's this wonderful, friendly, warm, bright, you know, could have been one of She's hard. Yeah. She's. Could have been one of my cousins, right? I mean, like, just like that kind

of familiarity was, it was very nice. She actually does remind me of my Tia a little bit, in that she's a little frightening. She's not a friend. to say what she wants. No. Not in the slightest. One of the things that I've been doing lately with artists that have been in the business for a long time because I interviewed some jazz musicians recently from the first album like in their late 70s. I want to know who they were when they put out their first record and they were making a splash in a big way.

So that's how I started the conversation with Gloria. And then she shared a little bit of insight about her own personal life of what was going on with her at the time. her and her family and her dad, her mom, her grandmother even. That really helped me understand even more the things that she's accomplished. Let's check it out. You know, it's funny because I've never really had fears and anxieties. For some reason, when I was born, I felt very old. So when I joined the band, I kind of started getting younger.

I had a lot of responsibilities. My dad was ill. I had to take care of him. So I had the weight of the world on my shoulders when I was a teenager. My dad had come back from NAM. and he had aged and orange poisoning, and he went downhill fast. So my mom needed all my help. And I was going to school and being with my dad,

taking care of him and my younger sister, but music was always my escape. I could go to my room and lock the door and just sing and cry because I wanted to be strong for my mom. So when I met Emilio and I joined the band, it was kind of like the first fun that I was really able to have. and thanks to my grandma who told me, ignore your mother, just do what I tell you.

You need to do this. You're meant to do this. And I joined just for fun and it just became more and more fun and then we fell in love so it was even more fun. And not that I was shy because I've always been very sociable person, but I don't like being the center of attention. So I truly had to get used to being the frontman in the band. I had to push myself out of my comfort zone.

I took dance lessons, modern dance. to kind of, and I was totally out of my comfort zone there. And I took public speaking because I knew that it would help me just kind of deal with that situation. And I was able to do it slowly, you know? Before we hit it big, I had a good 10 years to be able to perform for all kinds of audiences. And I like to learn and I like to get better at things. But yeah, I was really quiet and love to study, love music, always.

You know, Anna, her new album was called Raises. the title track tells a story of that young woman who cried in her room and then followed her Abolita's advice to follow her heart. Felix, I remember from initial conversations with her team about why now. They were ready. She came ready. We're going to do this tiny desk. And they said this record that she's just released. It's her magnum opus record. This is the review, the look back, the homage to where she comes from, where she's been, this whole story. This is the autobiography moment for her. And so the title track, of course. had to be the inception of her story. That was a That was a With the title track from her most recent album

Rises. And let's go back to the interview To the point where Anna, after we had spent all this time arranging these questions and in what order we were going to ask them, went right out of the window. I'm already going rogue here, Felix, but what you just said really resonated with me.

I think there is something about being a woman in this country, being a Latina in this country, where I feel that completely, like growing up and realizing, oh, I can have fun because I have actually less responsibility than I did. And the music is an escape, absolutely. And your music specifically has been that for many young women here.

And that makes me very happy because, you know, I sing since I talk. So it came with me. It's not something that I learned or that I picked up later on. The first things that I did as a baby was to sing. And the only way my mom could get a diaper on me was to sing to me. And I would just melt and relax. So I know that that came with me. And it's always been important through my music.

Still using the psychology to empower and to make people. feel positive about themselves, maybe give them words to communicate emotions to someone that they may not necessarily know how to talk to or, you know, maybe just catharsis, like it was for me, let people cry. And so that means a lot to me that you would say that. Thank you. So with that kind of hindsight of where you are now, looking back who you were then, what kind of advice would you give to Gloria back then? Oh my God, I would tell her, girl, chill out. You know, nothing is as important as you think. it is because I'm pretty much a perfectionist, not for everything, but if I want the music

to be good, I want the music to, you know, really do what I intend with it. And a lot of times, just to get through the moments, I would kind of have to look over people's heads and not let it overwhelm me. And if I had to do it again, and I tell my daughter this all the time, I go, be in the moment because you don't know if you're going to get that moment again. And there's such an exchange that happens with the audience and the performer on that stage. It's a communication that goes both ways. So I would definitely say, you know, just relax, relax, and let people see what music does for you, how you feel about music.

And I had to learn that a little bit the hard way. Felix, there's so much in that answer that could be dissected to me as what has has made Gloria who she is. It's like this intense commitment to what she does and the value of what she does and being a woman and a hard worker and staying committed to the craft, but also recognizing the value of, we've mentioned this a lot, but like, Disfrutando la Vida in the moment where you are. And I think that that's what people gravitate towards about her music. There's a craving for that that she was able to like put onto paper.

put into speakers and represent for so many Latinos, I think, in this country who were desiring that feeling and that type of an approach to life from whatever home country they came from. With that in mind and knowing what you know about her, do you have a favorite cut? Putting you on the spot because you don't look at the scripts I write. I think very much in theme with what we were just talking about, I have to pick OI. Today, my favorite is OI. I've been done all the days that the time no me to be here A fe that madura that

Heva, that's with me cure And since I've known I. A one way ya, a way that's a burden and the mrs. That no me de'a I'm a mean I'm a money

in the fount, you my desire, pendent, my my garras to revivis. Okay, we're going to take a quick break. Then we're going to come right back to this amazing interview. This very fun interview with Gloria Stephan. And we're back, and we're in the middle of an interview with Gloria Stefan.

And again, you threw me a curveball, even though we had stuff set up, because you actually are very good friends with someone who benefited from Gloria's mentorship. By far, one of the things that I've always admired from afar, Felix, is that Gloria has been this mentor to a lot of Latin singers. And it just so happens that I got to kind of experience it firsthand in the sense that, yeah, my friend has benefited from Gloria's mentorship. And by extension, I mean, this is a friend who's like a sister to me. I have very much benefited in a way from that lineage or that trail of, like you said, she's so kind, she's so good. She conducts herself in this way.

I feel like I'm a recipient of that through Leslie. So it's a very personal, beautiful thing that I'm. I've been able to witness. And I love this part of the interview. Let's check it out. You have been a mentor to many young Latinas singers in this country. And I didn't have the words. So I reached out.

We have a friend in common. I told you, Leslie Grace Martinez is like one of my dearest friends in the world and has been mentored by you, loved by you, inspired by you. So I asked her, I was like, what would you say about Gloria as a mentor? And she said, she's the queen, all caps. You are going to love her. The most beautiful thing about her is that she's so warm. She's journeyed through so much in the course of her career and has truly trailblazed the crossover crisscross artist

way for all of my generations of artists and she remains so humble and grounded. Sometimes when you hear about women that broke through so many barriers in a male-dominated industry that warmth and humility can be framed as a contradiction to the assertiveness and willpower necessary to break through. But not with Mrs. Stefan. She's all love and she's the realist.

Oh, what's you doing, call me, Mrs. Stefan? She's the glory. No, you know what? That's so beautiful. And I love her and she's so incredible, so proud of everything she's done. But I have to say that I'm married to probably the biggest feminist that I know. And that was really helpful because he was there to kind of navigate those waters that for a woman in the business is so tough, you know, because you're, you know, you're prey to, you know, a lot of people that are in power.

So having my husband tell me and motivate me and say, hey, you can do this, you can do this. And he was always right, even though I bucked him and he's like, oh, I don't want to do this. He's usually right. So we've made a great team. And that's why it's not really a contradiction. I mean, and we both stayed very grounded. Our family is number one. Our priorities.

Maybe what I went through in my life and what he went through as a young man really teaches you what is really worthwhile and valuable in this world. and all the other stuff is just, you know, fun and icing on the cake, but your identity has to be real with or without the fame, with or without the attention. And the respect is so clearly there between you guys that direction. You can see it. But I have a lot of respect. These amazing Latin women that are broken molds because, you know, even now with the urban music, women were not welcome in that world. and now you see people like Carol G and Nati Natasha and Fariana, really taking it to a whole other level and feeling free to be who they are.

That means a lot, Shakira, needless to say. Jailo, so many amazing artists that continue to push those boundaries and open more doors, push it open a little more. We have you to think for that. I don't know, but it's... Honestly, I mean, I know people say that, And we just feel blessed, Emilio and I, that we were able to make a little more room.

But for me, I used to watch Desi Arnaz singing conga on TV, playing his conga drum and singing in Spanish and talking in Spanish. I never thought, oh, no, I can't do this. I saw his example. People like Cachao and Tito Puente and Carlos Santana, Jose Feliciano, never changed his name, even though they tried to get him to do that.

And to me, they were like, yeah, Of course we have space. We have room. So I thank them as well. We talk about those pioneers all the time, and it's just really good a specialty here, her, include herself along with the other people that we talk about all the time. It was, it was, that part was moving for me. It's not every day you get to sit down with one of the people who made, who helped really make so much of what we do possible. It was a big deal. So speaking of opening doors for others. We want to play a little bit of a song from 1995 that Gloria released.

The track is called Abriendo Puertha, and it has the lyrics, And We're Abriending Pueras, opening doors and closing wounds. Okay, Felix, I'm also your favorite Gloria song is. I had to think about it, but it didn't take long because I want to go back to one of the early, early hits. I think it's from her first solo album. It's called Don't Want to Lose You.

And I want to talk you through it because there's a little bit of Afro-Cuban music that they sneak in there and you wouldn't know it unless. you know it. Check it out. Sometimes it's hard. You hear that? So what that is, it's a check-a-part.

So what that is, it's a check-a-day part on the Afro-Cuban Rumba, and I'm going to hum the part that goes along with it. It mixes in. It's like it's part of this Afro-Cuban Rumba that's played with a chequette. that they sneak in this pop song and it goes through the whole song. And if you listen when the drums come in, it sounds like a regular pop song.

But unless you know, you don't know. But to me, that's the brilliance of what they did. There's another song where they were playing a check-a-in instead of playing the hi-hat on the drum set. For musicians, it's the minutiae. It's the DNA that makes it so very special. So this is the song that I've always, always liked because I can hear that Afro-Cuban Rumba

Check it out. Okay, Felix. So we've been hearing a lot about this tiny desk. It feels a little unfair. We can only play a little bit of it. And we want to play this section where she introduces the song that everybody knows Conga. And maybe not everybody knows the story behind it. So let's hear the story first, because I love this story, that she told at the desk,

and then we'll hear the song. This next song was born of a medley of Cuban Santiago, Congas. that were some over 100 years old, some a couple hundred, and we were playing in Utrecht in Holland, and we ran out of material, so Emilio says, let's play the medley of congas, but they don't speak Spanish, because they don't speak English either.

Doesn't matter. So, I go, true, we did the song there, and those Dutch people went insane. They loved it. They loved it so much. that at 3 in the morning when we were waiting for our ride to take us back to a hotel, I said to my drummer, you know, we need to write a song that talks about what this rhythm is, but we need to do it in English so that the vast majority of the world can understand it,

this time with the original percussion in those Cuban congas. So you've heard the song a gazillion times. So we would like to take it back to the way it was born, all right? And we hope you love this, baby. Thank you for that. It was all your idea. And look where we are. Look.

50 years later, baby. Let's do this thing. You have been listening to Alt Latino from NPR Music. Our audio editor is Noah Caldwell. Sarai Mohamed is the executive producer of NPR Music. I'm Felix Contreras. And I'm Anna Maria Sayer. Thanks for listening.