Gloria Estefan (born Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García; born 1 September 1957) is a Cuban-American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. Estefan is a seven-time Grammy Award winner, a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, and has been named one of the Top 100 greatest artists of all time by both VH1 and Billboard. Estefan's record sales exceed 75 million worldwide, making her the second best selling female latin artist in history and one of the best-selling female singers of all-time.
A contralto, Estefan started her career as lead singer of Miami Latin Boys, which was later renamed Miami Sound Machine. She and Miami Sound Machine earned worldwide success with their 1985 single "Conga", which became Estefan's signature song and led to Miami Sound Machine winning the 15th annual Tokyo Music Festival's grand prix in 1986. In 1988, she and Miami Sound Machine achieved their first number-one hit with "Anything for You". Estefan is credited with breaking down barriers and opening doors for Latin musicians, including Selena, Jon Secada, Shakira and Ricky Martin.
In March 1990, Estefan sustained a life-threatening cervical vertebrae fracture when her tour bus was involved in a serious accident near Scranton, Pennsylvania. She underwent an emergency surgical stabilization of her cervical spine and post-surgical rehabilitation that lasted almost a year, but made a full recovery. A year later, in March 1991, Estefan launched her comeback with a worldwide tour and album, Into the Light.
Estefan's 1993 Spanish-language album Mi Tierra won the first of her three Grammy Awards for Best Tropical Latin Album. Mi Tierra immediately soared to the top of the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart upon its release. The album was also the first Diamond album in Spain.
Many of Estefan's songs, including "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You", "1-2-3", "Don't Wanna Lose You", "Get On Your Feet", "Here We Are", "Coming Out of the Dark", "Bad Boy", "Oye!", "Party Time" and a remake of "Turn the Beat Around," became international chart-topping hits.
In addition to winning three Grammy Awards and being a 2015 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, Estefan has been awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Las Vegas Walk of Fame, and was a Kennedy Center Honors recipient in 2017 for her contributions to American cultural life. Estefan also won an MTV Video Music Award, was honored with the American Music Award for Lifetime Achievement, and has been named BMI Songwriter of the Year. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and has received multiple Billboard awards.
Billboard has listed Estefan as the third Most Successful Latina and 23rd Greatest Latin Artist of all time in US, based on both Latin albums and Latin songs chart. Hailed as the "Queen of Latin Pop" by the media, she has amassed 38 number one hits across Billboard charts, including 15 chart-topping songs on the Hot Latin Songs chart. Rolling Stone has ranked her 1985 hit "Conga" the 11th Greatest Latin Pop Songs of all time. Richard Blanco, the 2013 Presidential Inaugural Poet, told The Boston Globe in 2020 that Estefan is among the Latin singers who helped him gain ground "in the musical poetry of my culture and rejuvenate my spirits".
America Georgina Ferrera (/fəˈrɛərə/; born April 18, 1984) is an American actress, director and television producer. She has received numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to a nomination for an Academy Award. In 2007 and 2024, Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world and in 2023, she was named in BBC's 100 Women list.
Ferrera developed an interest in acting at a young age, performing in several stage productions at her school. She made her feature film debut in 2002 with the comedy-drama Real Women Have Curves, earning praise for her performance. She achieved modest success early in her career with roles in films such as the comedy-dramas Gotta Kick It Up! (2002) and The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (2005). She garnered further critical acclaim and recognition for her starring role as Betty Suarez in the ABC comedy-drama series Ugly Betty (2006–2010). For her performance, she won a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, the first for a Latina woman in the category.
Ferrera's other film roles include the drama The Dry Land (2010), the romantic comedy Our Family Wedding (2010), the crime drama End of Watch (2012), and the fantasy comedy Barbie (2023), which earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She also voiced Astrid Hofferson in the How to Train Your Dragon franchise (2010–2019) and co-produced and starred in the NBC workplace comedy series Superstore (2015–2021).
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John Alberto Leguizamo Peláez (born July 22, 1960) is an American actor, comedian, and film producer. He has appeared in over 100 films, produced over 20 films and documentaries, made over 30 television appearances, and has produced various television projects. He's also written and performed for the Broadway stage receiving three Tony Award nominations for Freak in 1998, Sexaholix in 2002, and Latin History for Morons in 2018. He received a Special Tony Award in 2018.
He rose to fame with a co-starring role in Super Mario Bros. (1993) as Luigi, Benny Blanco in the crime drama Carlito's Way (1993), and later To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995), for which he received a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor nomination. Other films include Romeo + Juliet (1996), A Brother's Kiss (1997), Summer of Sam (1999), Moulin Rouge! (2001), The Alibi (2006), Righteous Kill (2008), Repo Men (2010), The Counselor (2013), John Wick (2014), and The Menu (2022). He served as the narrator of the sitcom The Brothers García (2000–2004) and voiced Sid the Sloth in the Ice Age franchise (2002–2016), and as Bruno in Encanto (2021).
Leguizamo is also known for his television roles including Freak (1998) for which he received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program. He received further Primetime Emmy Award nominations for the Paramount miniseries Waco (2018), and Netflix's limited series When They See Us (2019). He's also appeared on ER, The Kill Point, Bloodline, and The Mandalorian.
Eva Jacqueline Longoria Bastón (born March 15, 1975) is an American film and television actress and director, best known for portraying leading character Gabrielle Solis on the ABC television series "Desperate Housewives". She received a nomination for the 2006 Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series for her performance on this show.
Eddie "Piolín" Sotelo, (born December 1, 1972) is a Mexican radio broadcaster. He is currently host of the nationally syndicated radio show El Show De Piolín on Entravision. His nickname means "Tweety Bird" in Mexican Spanish, a nickname he acquired as a child.