Gloria Estefan Shares a Heartfelt Moment After Her Grammy Win: Reflecting on Her Journey and Surprising Thoughts About Being a Grandparent

Gloria Estefan Reflects on Grammy Journey and Celebrates Latest Win

• Gloria Estefan recently recounted a moment from 1994, humorously recalling her expectations of winning a “granny” award before her first Grammy.
• The 68-year-old Latin pop icon celebrated her 2026 Grammy win for Best Tropical Latin Album for Raíces at the PEOPLE and Entertainment Weekly live red carpet.
• Estefan attended the ceremony alongside her husband, Emilio Estefan, and expressed her excitement over Bad Bunny’s nominations.

In a light-hearted moment before the 2026 Grammys, Gloria Estefan shared her journey to the prestigious awards, noting that over thirty years ago, she half-jokingly thought she would win a “granny” before receiving her first Grammy.

On February 2, Estefan reflected on her remarkable career as she accepted her award for Best Tropical Latin Album for Raíces during the live red carpet event hosted by PEOPLE and Entertainment Weekly.

Joined by her husband, musician and producer Emilio Estefan, 72, she articulated her enthusiasm for Bad Bunny’s nominations, highlighting their significance for Latin music recognition.

“We would be so thrilled that he would win this incredible award because, throughout our career, we stood up for Latin music and Spanish-language albums. I performed Mi Tierra at the Grammys and won my first Grammy after being nominated six times. I thought I was going to win a ‘granny,’ not a ‘Grammy,’ so we are beyond thrilled for [Bad Bunny], and we are keeping our fingers crossed,” she said about the rising star.

Estefan won her first Grammy in 1994 for Mi Tierra in the Best Tropical Latin Album category. Since then, she has received four additional Grammys and five Latin Grammys.

Gloria Estefan and Emilio Estefan on Feb. 1.
Kevin Mazur/Getty

In a previous interview, Estefan revealed that her most recent album, Raíces, was largely penned by Emilio while she focused on her upcoming musical Basura.

“It’s a very personal love story. There’s a lot of love songs,” she shared. “In fact, Emilio said to me, ‘Oh, I wrote you a love song.’ I go, ‘Babe, you’re going to sing it?’ He goes, ‘No, you’re going to sing it for me.’ I go, ‘You wrote your own love song? I love that.'”

The couple, married for over 40 years, are proud parents to two adult children: son Nayib and daughter Emily.

The 2026 Grammy Awards were held at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles and were broadcast live on CBS.