“Music is almost mystical to me. It really has an incredibly powerful force.” — Gloria Estefan

I know that people think of me in terms of Latin music and that's wonderful, that's my heritage, that's who I am, but there's so much more to me and my music.

I'm careful what I put out there into the universe, musically. I don't take it lightly.

My family was musical on both sides. My father's family had a famous flautist and a classical pianist. My mother won a contest to be Shirley Temple's double - she was the diva of the family. At 8, I learned how to play guitar. I used to play songs from the '20s, '30s and '40s in the kitchen for my grandmother.

My inspirations include the Beatles - love, love, love them - Elton John, Carole King, and Stevie Wonder.