Thirty years after a traumatic and near-fatal bus accident, Gloria Estefan is sharing gratitude for her loved ones.
In 1990, the “Conga” and “Get on Your Feet” singer broke her back and underwent surgery after being in a bus crash on a snowy Pennsylvania road while on tour with her husband, Emilio Estefan, and their then 9-year-old son, Nayib. According to The Miami Herald, Gloria was sleeping in a bunk and hit the ground upon impact. At the time, doctors worried she’d become paralyzed and would no longer be able to have children.
During the Wednesday, Nov. 11 episode of Red Table Talk: The Estefans, Gloria recalls how she felt in the aftermath of the crash. Joined by her 25-year-old daughter, Emily Estefan, and her 53-year-old niece, Lili Estefan, she explains how the event inspired her 1991 single, “Coming Out of the Dark.”
“When we wrote this song, your dad said, ‘I want to show you, I wrote this down the day of your accident when I was going in the helicopter,” Gloria tells Emily. Emilio shares, “In that moment, I saw a little light come into my eye and I wrote it on a piece of paper, ‘coming out of the dark. We’ll be okay.'”