Gloria Estefan talks American Music Awards, new album
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LAS VEGAS – Gloria Estefan shimmied her hips and elbows, shuffle dancing through a song that has probably played on a million wedding dance floors.
“I can’t believe it’s been 40 years. How can it be that long?” she mused to no one in particular on the cavernous stage at the BleauLive Theater at Fontainebleau Las Vegas.
The song is “Conga,” a pop culture staple since 1985, and it’s among the medley Estefan, one of the bestselling Latina singers of all time, will perform during the American Music Awards May 26. It will be her first performance on the show in more than 30 years.
It’s 48 hours before the production airs live from the Fontainebleau (5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET on CBS and streaming on Paramount+) and Estefan is gamely running through her showcase in a blue velvet pantsuit, her down-to-earth charisma apparent in between takes as she talks with stagehands and members of her vaunted Miami Sound Machine.
She’s a seasoned pro, enthusiastically dancing, smiling and pointing through five takes of the medley and thanking the handful of production assistants singing and waving from the floor below her, placeholders for the crowd that will file in come showtime.
Along with Estefan, the AMAs lineup includes Benson Boone, Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani, Lainey Wilson and Reneé Rapp, along with Icon Award winner Janet Jackson and Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Rod Stewart.
The top nominees for the fan-voted show are Kendrick Lamar (10), Post Malone (8), Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan and Shaboozey (all with 7), and all-time AMA leader Taylor Swift, who adds six nominations this year to her overall win tally of 40.
Estefan, 67, will be recognized for her influence on the Latin music industry by show host and performer Jennifer Lopez, who told USA TODAY in a separate interview she appreciates the trail Estefan forged.
“What exactly is a pioneer, right? Someone who opens the door and people’s consciousness to accept certain things,” Lopez said. “She definitely did that with her career for a lot of us Latin artists. She’s dedicated her life to being a musician and singer and it’s exciting to get to celebrate that.”
Estefan demurs when asked if she views herself as a custodian of Latin music.
“It’s nothing we ever sit down and think about because we just keep moving forward in everything we do and pick projects that make us happy,” Estefan told USA TODAY when she finished rehearsal. “It was our purpose when we worked with artists like Shakira and JLo to push the door open a little because we knew they could do it. Everybody always told us ‘no,’ so we wanted to give some yeses. It’s very gratifying when I see Bad Bunny singing in Spanish on ‘SNL’ or Karol G selling out four stadiums in Madrid with urban music. It makes me very happy.”
Estefan recalled watching Desi Arnaz during her childhood and the effect that seeing him sing in Spanish on American TV had on her psyche.
“As (Supreme Court justice) Sonia Sotomayor says, ‘If you can’t see it, you can’t be it’,” she said.
Estefan’s first all-Spanish album in 18 years, “Raíces,” arrives May 30. The title track, released in March, vaulted to No. 1 on the Billboard’s U.S. Latin/Latin Airplay chart, which is gratifying to Estefan not only because she’s still topping charts, but because the music is so personal.
“I wasn’t planning on doing that album at all,” Estefan says, noting she’s been busy writing 20 songs for the musical “Basura,” which she’s worked on with daughter Emily for three years. It will premiere at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta in May 2026. “Emilio (Estefan) wanted me to do it. He can do 50 things at once, but I have to focus, so I told him, ‘Babe, I can’t. But if I ever do an album again I want it to be tropical.’ It’s my favorite genre, my core music that I would sing as a 3-year-old.”
So Emilio wrote the album for his wife, including a valentine. The couple will celebrate 47 years of marriage in September.
“He came to me and said, ‘I wrote you a love song.’ And I said, ‘Oh! You’re going to sing it?’ and he said, ‘No! You’re going to sing it for me.’ And I said, ‘Oh, I see, so you wrote your own love song,’” Estefan recalls with a laugh. “Thank God I agree with everything he wrote.”
