Whoever first said life can change on a time knew what she was talking about.
Gloria Estefan experienced that clich� firsthand when she and her family were involved in a serious collision with a tractor trailer. According to reports at that time, Estefan's tour bus was smashed into when they were traveling in Pennsylvania.
The five-time Grammy award winning singer and songwriter had to undergo extensive surgery for broken vertebrae that kept her off the road for a year in 1990. Surgeons permanently implanted two titanium rods in her back to stabilize her spinal column. Her grueling rehabilitation required almost a year of intensive physical therapy but she sustained a fairly complete recovery.
Her husband Emilio and her son were also injured in the crash but all three recovered.
Time away from the music scene and the accident itself helped inspire the chart-topping hits Into the Light and Coming Out of the Dark the following year, she recalled.
Prior to those successes though was a long train of fame dating back to the early 1970s when Estefan was working as the lead singer of the Hispanic dance music band Miami Sound Machine.
The group caught on in North America in 1975 when they crossed over to mainstream and produced English hits like Dr. Beat and Conga.
By 1988, crowds were clearly coming to see Estefan in action so the name changed to Gloria Estefan and The Miami Sound Machine. The following year Estefan's name was the only name in lights but the band continued to play on with her and continue to back her to this day.
In addition to her Grammys, Estefan has received a number of other awards that include the Ellis Island Congressional Medal of Honor, the highest award that can be given to a naturalized U.S. citizen. Her fan recognition earned her a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Her husband also has a star right beside it.
Estefan is a mother of a son, born September, 1980 and a daughter, born December, 1994.
Album sales for Estefan were last reported to be at more than 90 million.