MIAMI, Florida (Gloria Estefan Official Website) - Today, after a six year hiatus, five-time Grammy Award winner,
Gloria Estefan, releases her much-anticipated English language CD titled "Unwrapped". Many anticipate that this album, which contains 14 tracks in English and 4 in Spanish, will become the defining English language CD in her career. It is already obtaining critical acclaim and Billboard Magazine considers, "Estefan at her full-frontal best."
This week, the first single off "Unwrapped" titled "
Wrapped"/"Hoy" hit the No 1 position on the Billboard Latin Charts making this Gloria's 12th No 1 hit. With this chart position,
Gloria becomes the female artist with the most No 1 hits on the Billboard Latin Charts.
"Unwrapped," lyrically resembles a photo album filled with snap shots of Gloria's life. This is her most personal work yet. In this album, she taps into her abilities as a songwriter, producer and singer. She not only wrote most of the lyrics and music of the eighteen tracks, but also co-produced the entire CD. The music was recorded live bringing all the musicians and vocalist to record their takes simultaneously.
Some of the best musicians in the world, including Manu Katache (Sting & Peter Gabriel's drummer) and El Papa Pastor (Carlos Vive's bassist) collaborated in this production. Leaving horns and congas out, a rich fusion of sounds was created. The integration of unexpected instrumentation such as Andean pan pipes and pedal steel guitars all while incorporating unique percussion sequences gives this CD a provocative new sound. Collaborations with world known recording artists, Stevie Wonder and Chrissie Hynde, add to the lush and powerful sound of this album.
To further invoke the personal nature of this CD, Gloria's body is utilized in a very unexpected fashion. Puerto Rican artist Carlos Betancourt, used her body as a canvas for the album cover, creating a visually stimulating body of work that further supports the personal character of this album.
As a gift to her fans, Gloria commissioned her son Nayib to direct and produce a documentary entitled "Famous," an up close and personal look into Gloria's life away from the stage. This one hour DVD is included alongside the CD.
Gloria Estefan co-directed, along with husband Emilio Estefan, the music video for the first single "Wrapped"/"Hoy". For the first time ever, the sacred land of Machu Picchu was used for the filming of a music video.
Coinciding with her CD release is the official website https://www.gloriaestefan.com designed by the Factory Interactive in Miami, FL.
To support this album, Gloria is on an extensive promotional tour throughout Europe, Australia, Asia, Latin America & the United States. On October 10-19 she will take over The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas for seven shows entitled "Gloria Estefan Live & Unwrapped."
