The singer-songwriter Gloria Estefan was honored to be the first Hispanic woman to be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) and stressed that it is a sample of the contribution of latinos to the music in USA and the world.
“It means that Hispanics have made an important contribution to the world of music in the United States and hopefully that will help many more Latinos to receive this great honor,” Estefan told the Spanish agency. efe.
Watch as @CBSMornings @AnthonyMasonCBS reveals the SHOF Class of 2023!!https://t.co/vsnEFsEyEa pic.twitter.com/7ad66SqpvE
—SongHall (@SongwritersHOF) January 18, 2023
The 65-year-old interpreter remembers that both she and her husband, producer Emilio Estefan, had to remain “firm” not to change their names and their sound in order to sound “more American.” However, she believes that times have changed.
“This is clearly seen in the success that Camila Cabello, Luis Fonsi and Bad Bunny have had among many, and reggaeton is heard on radio stations in many countries,” he said.
Next June, Estefan, who has sold more than 100 million records and has won eight Grammy Awards, will be inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame at a ceremony to be held in New York.
The singer remembers that when she was a child her inspirations were José Feliciano, Carlos Santana and Desi Arnaz, who sang and spoke in Spanish “in one of the most successful programs” on American television: I Love Lucy.
“For that reason I believed that the doors were open for Latino sounds on American (American) radio. But that was not reality. It took a lot for Emilio and I to convince our own label that we could be successful with our sound,” he explains.
Estefan says that they remained “firm” that they would never change their name and that “we were not going to dilute our sound to sound more American.” “We were sure that what would give us success was that we had a fresh and different sound from what was heard. Today there is not so much resistance anymore ”, he pointed out.
In the case of women, he pointed out that there are even many dabbling in genres that were previously dominated by men. “Fortunately we are seeing a lot more women competing in the previously male field of music like urban music.”
The vocalist of the Miami Sound Machine group remembers that when they had their first worldwide hit, “Dr. Beat” (1984), “few women competed worldwide”.
“Thank God that when I was a teenager in the seventies I had Carole King as an example of what a woman could achieve. She was the first woman to sell out stadium concerts and compose her own music,” she says.
Estefan points out that the only advice she has for the new generations of composers, be they men or women, is to write from the “heart”.
Miami: Gloria and Emilio Estefan mural decorates a wall in Little Havana
“That they talk about their experiences, emotions and ideas and not just sit down and try to compose a hit (success) because those are the songs that last, the ones that make an emotional connection with the listeners,” he explains.
“Audiences may not know what the inspiration for a song was, but they can easily feel if it’s something honest that came from the songwriter’s heart,” he adds.
Estefan is part of a diverse group of seven songwriters who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this year, including famed rapper Snoop Dogg and British-Nigerian Sade. The 52nd incorporation and awards gala will be on Thursday, June 15 at the Marriott Marquis hotel.
Ivonne Malaver/Efe/OnCuba.
