Cuban-American singer, Gloria Estefan has a long list of accomplishments, from being one of top Latino recording artists to creating the Broadway show “On Your Feet!” she continues to work hard never forgetting the most important thing in her life–family. She and her husband, Emilio Estefan have one of the longest marriages in the music industry and she shares how he’s been her rock and how she’s balanced family and work life.
The singer remembers how difficult it was after a horrible bus accident left her unable to walk, and it was her husband that helped her get through that difficult time. “Emilio was incredibly supportive. He did not leave my side for three months, and if you know Emilio, you know how impossible that is because he’s in constant motion. It’s not so much that he taught me to walk again, but the fact that he was with me 24/7. At night, I couldn’t sleep for more than 45 minutes because I wasn’t taking pain medication—I wanted to feel how far I could push my body on the rehab. It was a lot of nerve pain. He would literally walk me every 45 minutes throughout the night because that’s the only thing that would relieve me,” she said in an interview with Long Island Woman Magazine.
Prayers
Being spiritual helped her get through the difficult time she was going through. “I learned a lot about the power of prayer and connection. That connection with people is what allowed us to have so much success with our music throughout the world, but then it is also what got me through one of the toughest moments in my life. When it happened, people no longer identified with me just as a singer or pop star, but as a human being that had to go through super difficult times in front of the whole world. I learned that we all have such a hand in each other’s lives and how important that can be,” she says.
Married 39 Years
She and Emilio have been married for almost 40 years and everywhere they go, they are together collaborating on so many different projects. “I know who I am, what I love and what I like, so it hasn’t been a discovery for me. What I went through in my early life gave me a very clear picture of what I value. Family has always been number one for me, and it’s always kept us very grounded. It has been very helpful that Emilio and I have been together. I know that a lot of women in this industry can get lost in the fact there are a lot of people in positions of power that will wield that power over you and get in your way unless you acquiesce to their demands (it was more common when I was coming up). I think it also helps that we took our family everywhere. Otherwise you’re on the stage getting thrown love by 25,000 people, and then you go home and you’re alone in your hotel room,” she says.
Family
This is definitely something that singers and actors deal with everyday and the biggest reason why there are so many divorces in Hollywood. “I’m in command of my world now, that’s the bottom line. When you first have your kids and even when you’re younger, most women make decisions that put their families first. That’s what I’ve done in many ways, but if I couldn’t combine my career with my family then I would choose family always,” said the singer.
One of the things that most women can agree with is that in order to be successful in your career and have a happy family is that you have to have a balance. “You can have it all, but you have to have balance. There are moments when you have to choose, and something’s always going to have to take precedence. You have to make a decision about what you will get back in the end. I think we all can do anything we set our minds to, but it is a balance, and there are choices that have to be made between your career and family. Making those choices in those moments is the interesting tightrope in the walk of life.”