Born Gloria Maria Milagrosa Fajardo on Sept. 1, 1957 in Havana, Cuba, recording artist Gloria Estefan celebrates her 61st birthday today. The Latin pop diva who fronted the Miami Latin Boys band — later renamed the Miami Sound Machine — is presumably having a good birthday week. Her 1993 album Mi Tierra continues to hold the record for most weeks, a whopping 59, at No. 1 on the Top Latin Albums chart.
1993 saw Estefan release Mi Tierra, her third studio album as a solo artist and her first all in Spanish, which paid homage to her Cuban roots and helped encourage the popularity of Latin music worldwide. The album earned her first GRAMMY Award (for Best Tropical Album) and was produced by husband, Emilio Estefan, as well as fellow musicians Clay Ostwald and Jorge Casas. It debuted atop the Top Latin Albums chart on the July 10, 1993-dated tally and peaked at No. 27 on the Billboard 200 chart.
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Mi Tierra boasted a string of hit singles which landed on the Hot Latin Songs chart: “Mi Tierra” (peaked at No. 1, Aug. 7, 1993, reigned for 6 weeks), “Con Los Años Que Me Quedan” (No. 1, Nov. 13, 1993, ruling for 4 weeks), “Mi Buen Amor” (No. 1, March 12, 1994, crowned for 2 weeks) and “Ayer” (No. 5, June 25, 1994).
25 years after its release, Mi Tierra continues to hold the record for most weeks atop the chart. Ozuna’s Odisea recently surpassed Selena’s Dreaming of You for the second-most weeks at No. 1 on the Top Latin Albums chart with 46 weeks.
Let’s commemorate the double fête by celebrating the hottest of the album’s recordings.
“Mi Tierra” (written by Estefano and Estefan)
“Con Los Años Que Me Quedan” (written by Emilio Estefan, Jr. and Estefan)
“Mi Buen Amor” (written by Estefan and Estefano)
“Ayer” (written by Juanito R. Márquez)
“Tradición” (written by Estefan and Emilio Estefan Jr.)