Gloria Estefan Wrote 1 Song on New Album Raíces. It’s Dedicated to Her Grandson: ‘Joy of My Life’ (Exclusive)

There’s nothing Gloria Estefan values more than family.

On Friday, May 29, Estefan released her latest studio album titled Raíces (Spanish for “roots”). The 13-track album was mainly written by Emilio Estefan, her husband of 45 years, and celebrates her Cuban roots.

“It’s a very personal love story,” Gloria, 67, tells PEOPLE of the album. “Raíces reminds us that we all are where we came from, and those people that nurtured us and loved us will always be with us. Our culture is important to celebrate.”

Though Emilio, 72, wrote the majority of the album while Gloria was hard at work making music for the upcoming Broadway musical Basura, she did craft ad-libs for “La Vecina (No Sé Na’)” — and she wrote “My Beautiful Boy (For Sacha)” long before the concept of Raíces came to be.

“We had been in Vero Beach, him and I, on a little vacay at our home there, and he had to go back home. I was there writing, and I missed him so much,” she recalls of Sasha. “I knew that that moment would come. I didn’t want to ever push it, because it has to be inspiration.”

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She adds, “I grabbed my guitar, and I wrote the song, and I called him. I wanted him to be the first to hear it. And him, my son and his wife, Lara, were on the phone, and they were all crying. So, I told them, ‘Baby, one day I’m going to record this.'”

When Gloria got into the studio to record Raíces, she realized that this was the missing piece.

“I go, ‘Oh my God. It’s just a perfect fit, because we’re talking about our roots, where we come from,’ and these are the things that I want to pass on to him. He’s the latest gift in our family and one that is the joy of my life,” she explains.

Similarly, Gloria wrote a translation for “Cuando el Tiempo Nos Castiga,” which is also featured on the album, called “How Will You Be Remembered.”

“The translation that I wrote for ‘Cuando El Tiempo Nos Castilla’ takes a little different [approach] on being at this point in our lives,” she says. “It was very introspective, and thinking about what are you leaving behind really? What is in your wake? What is your legacy?”

She continues, “Those are things that you think about at this age. I mean, I’ve thought about them through my whole life because that’s… Emilio and I have always made decisions thinking about our kids, our future grandkids, how they might feel about what we did. So that has always [been] our culture, our people.”

As for her relationship with Sasha, Gloria says they have a “beautiful relationship.” Sasha was born to Gloria’s older child, Nayib Estefan, and his wife, Lara Estefan-Coppola, in 2012. 

“We’re super tight. We have the same sense of humor. We love the same things. We go to escape rooms, him and I alone, and we whip it. We win,” she says of Sasha, with whom she recorded a Christmas album in 2022.

“From the moment he was born, I’ve made it a point to spend as much time as possible with him. Every weekend, thanks to my daughter-in-law and my son that are very open about it, he’s either at my house or at the OGs, the other grandparents,” Gloria says. “He’s blessed to have four grandparents. We all get along. We love each other, and it’s a blessing to be able to see him grow like this.”