BMI honored Gloria and Emilio Estefan at the 72nd Annual BMI/NAB Dinner held this week at the Encore Las Vegas. The legendary couple was honored with the BMI Board of Directors Award for their body of work and influence in introducing Latin music to a global audience.
Caroline Beasley, Chairperson, BMI Board of Directors and CEO, Beasley Media Group and Mike O’Neill, President & CEO, BMI presented the award to the Estefans, celebrating the couple’s musical legacy and impactful career, which has spanned more than five decades.
O’Neill called the duo “true visionaries” and went on to thank them for inspiring so many throughout their illustrious career, and for “paving the way for countless artists to follow.”
Over their careers, The Estefans sold more than 100 million albums and had 38 #1 hits on the Billboard charts. The pair rose to global fame in 1985 with their group Miami Sound Machine’s first hit song, “Conga,” which debuted on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart and made its way to No. 10 in 1986.
Together they’ve won 26 GRAMMYs, the Songwriters Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, among others. BMI also honored Gloria with the BMI Icon Award in 2009 and presented both Gloria and Emilio with the BMI President’s Award in 1996. They also have a combined 35 BMI Awards and have 13 songs each with over one million broadcast performances. In 2021 Emilio received the Medallas de Cortez Distinguished Leadership award at Radio Ink’s Hispanic Radio Conference.
