OUR LATEST ISSUE
Gloria Estefan
Gloria Estefan
Gloria Estefan has been doing her thing since 1984 when ââ¬ËDr Beatââ¬â¢ propelled her to pop superstardom. Since then sheââ¬â¢s won five Gra
"When you have to fling them [your breasts] over your shoulder itââ¬â¢s definitely time to have a tuck but fortunately Iââ¬â¢m not at that point yet!"
You’ve been in the business for a quarter of a century, do you ever think, ‘I’ve made enough money, let’s not do another album’?
We’ve never made music to make money and I did take time off with Emily to be a mummy but our business is very diversified, we’ve got bars and restaurants and even though we have a slew of people you have to oversee them and be on top of it. And the day I want to throw it in, I’ll do it. I worked hard to give myself that option.
At 51, have you ever been tempted to do a Madonna and strip off to promote an album?
For God’s sake! I didn’t when I could have. Why would I do it now? Are you crazy? It’s just not me. I’m not exhibitionist and I don’t have to share every private aspect of myself with the world. I don’t have that need. It just wasn’t me.
And we’re assuming no Madonna and Britney style snogging to push album sales either?!
[Laughing] Not in public! Not Britney Spears, she’s like my daughter for god’s sake.
So, what woman would you snog in private?
I haven’t thought about that but definitely not in public. It’s a private thing. Photographers are always going, “Give Emilio a kiss” and I’m like ‘What are you? A voyeur?’ It’s not me. I’m very private, it’s not in my nature.
The Latin stereotype is that you’re very sexually out there though...
We’re sexual but it doesn’t have to be out there. I would say that those stereotypes may have truth to them. We like sex. We have lots of beds in our house. We have places to go. Which keeps it exciting. We put her to bed and it’s like, ‘Quick, go to sleep. Do you want to go to Benadryl Gardens?’ Latins are very sexual. They may not talk about it very much but the Cubans that I know are very passionate. If you’re passionate about politics and religion you’re going to be passionate in bed as well.
Do you still feel sexy in your 50s?
I think you get sexier as you get older. You feel so comfortable, and you know yourself and your partner and you enjoy it all a lot more. I’ve stayed very fit. I’ve had to, I had no choice. Time goes by but I feel good about my body.
Never tempted by surgery?
Maybe when they’re [breasts] are hanging down to your knees. When you have to fling them over your shoulder it’s definitely time to have a tuck but fortunately I’m not at that point yet! But if it makes you feel better about yourself then that’s cool. I don’t see anything wrong with that. But I take good care of my skin. I have great genes. My mother looks very young.
What about that other Hollywood staple – therapy?
I haven’t had therapy but I studied psychology and I have a theory that everyone who studied psychology goes in for some self-help. And I got it and I looked at my professors and thought, ‘They need it’. But it helped me and it fascinates me, psychology. But I’m always in auto analysis. I analyse everything and myself to death.
Do you think you’re hard on yourself?
I was but not so much now. I think it was hard for me to be expressive about my inner feelings and it took quite a while for me to be comfortable about just telling people what I thought. As a child I had to keep my feelings in looking after my dad I didn’t want my mum to think it was weak so she wouldn’t feel guilty about the things she had to do so I was already shy those things together got me into a habit of being very closed. But I’ve got over that but it’s taken time. I had a younger sister that I had to care for, so I had to grow up quick. I was 12, 13. I don’t resent it. I’ve had my adolescence backwards.
Did that affect the way you brought up your children?
It did affect me a lot when I had the accident [in 1990 a truck crashed into her tour bus, causing spinal injury that she took a year to recover from] because I knew what it was like to live with someone in a wheelchair because I experienced it and I thought if there’s anything I can do to stop this from happening I will and it made me work very hard, five or six hours every day of physiotherapy. And it helped. And of course I want my kids to be as carefree as possible but you have to teach them responsibility. It’s a balance. Yeah, sure. Everything you live as a kid affects the way you treat your kids.
What would you do if your son brought home a boy and said, ‘This is my boyfriend’?
I’d go, ‘Well, I guess I’m not going to have grandkids,’ although nowadays I guess I could. I really want them to be happy if it what makes them happy is being with a boy then, you know, what are you going to do? I have too many friends and people who are gay that I really adore and respect. In my career you’re surrounded by gay people that are happy and have great relationships. As long as he’s happy, I don’t care.
Gloria Estefan is performing at Wembley Arena in London on September 10th 2008. For more tour details visit her official site here.
