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I Left Cuba When I Was Two Years Old. They Took Away My Country, They Stole The Most Intimate Thing A Human Being Can Have. How Could I Forget That Fidel Castro Was The Person Who Did Me So Much Harm?

-Gloria Estefan

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I Left Cuba When

Gloria Estefan

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I Left Cuba When I Was Two Years Old. They Took Away My Country, They Stole The Most Intimate Thing A Human Being Can Have. How Could I Forget That Fidel Castro Was The Person Who Did Me So Much Harm?

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There Are So Many Difficult Things We're Living Through In The World Today, So Many Horrible Events, But We Cannot Let Them Stop Us. No Matter What Happens, I Feel You Must Move Forward With Optimism And Not Get Totally Sideswiped.

My Son Traveled The World With Me On Every Tour. He Wasn't A Lover Of School, So It Was Easy With Him. I Had A Tutor On The Road, Keep Him At The Same Level, So When He'd Pop Back Home He'd Go Right Back In.

I Don't Want Anything From Cuba. I Want Them To Be Free And Enjoy The Things I Enjoy.

I Majored In Psychology In College. I Was Going To Be A Child Psychologist.

If You Discover A Word In My Book That You Don't Understand, Ask Your Parents So They Can Look It Up In The Dictionary For You.

[cuban Coffee Is] Very Powerful, Very Sweet, And A Little Dangerous - Just Like The People Who Drink It.

It's Important To Me That The Words That I Put Out There Into The Cosmos, Into The Universe, Be Empowering Or Somehow Positive For People That Hear Them, Or Maybe Be Cathartic If Someone Is Having A Relationship That's Having A Tough Time.

I Have A Twenty-month-old Baby, A Sixteen-year-old Boy - Same Maturity Level.

I Was Going To Study At The Sorbonne And Become A Diplomat. Being A Diplomat Comes In Handy When You Are Dealing With Record Companies.

I Have Had A Life In Which I Have Had To Face Every Big Fear, And It Has Not Been Pleasant.

My Inspirations Include The Beatles - Love, Love, Love Them - Elton John, Carole King, And Stevie Wonder.

I Spent 15 Years On The Road Between Touring And Recording And I Never Saw Anything. I Want To Enjoy Life.

We Kiss And Hug Our Kids A Lot! And Even Now When Our Son Lives 3,000 Miles Away, We Talk Every Day, Sometimes Several Times.

There Is Nothing Better Than Humor To Keep A Marriage Going.

Those Of You Who Speak Only English, Applaud [audience Applause]. Those Of You Who Speak Only Spanish, Applaud [audience Applause]. [in Mock Incredulity] Then How Do You Know What I Just Said?

I Dreamed Of Becoming A Writer. And This Dream Is About To Become A Reality With The Publication Of My First, And Hopefully Not My Last, Children's Book.

Everything's Funny For God's Sake. Everything.

She [then Nine-year-old Daughter Emily] Grew Up With 'the Rhythm Is Gonna Get You,' Well . . . It Got Her!

I'm Very Comfortable In My Own Skin Now. I Started Just Being Myself More And More. For Women, This Happens As You Get Older. I Loved My 40s - I Thought They Were Fantastic. And I'm Loving My 50s. I'm Going To Love Everything Because You're Either Older Or Dead!

As An Artist, You Dream About Accumulating Enough Successful Music To Someday Do Just One Greatest-hits Album, But To Reach The Point Where You're Releasing Your Second Collection Of Hits Is Beyond Belief.

When You Sing In English And Spanish, It's Two Completely Different Forms Of Expression And... Even The People Who Don't Speak Spanish Love To Hear Me Sing In Spanish.

We Protect Aspirin Bottles In This Country Better Than We Protect Guns From Accidents By Children.

[after A Poor Prognosis For Recovery From Her Doctor Following Her 1990 Bus Accident] I Said If It Is Up To Me, I'm Going To Be Ok.

I Tell Him [husband Emilio] You Are Lucky I Am Not A Jealous Woman, Because Look At The Women He's Worked With: Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, Thalia, Madonna. These Very Sexy Women. I Trust Him.

There's No Reason That Just Because You're A Celebrity You Can't Write.

I'm Happy And I Have A Great Life.

Later In Life, The Memories I Have Of My Mother Are Of Constant Work Balanced With Caring For My Ailing Father.

Esperando (cuando Cuba Sea Libre) Is Probably One Of The Most Personal Songs From The New [september, 2007] Cd, "90 Millas" . . . As It Really Speaks About The Celebration, Nostalgia And Emotion That Will Happen The Day Cuba Is Free. If We're To Move Forward In Cuba, We Really Have To Have A Lot Of Forgiveness For Each Other And Look Towards The Future.

All I Tell Artists Is, 'do What You Love. Never Let Anybody Talk You Into Changing What Your Musical Idea Is Just To Try To Get A Hit, Because You're Chasing Your Tail That Way. It's Not Going To Happen, And If You're Successful, You Have To Do It The Rest Of Your Life. Stay True To It And Do It For The Sake Of The Art.'

My Friends Call Me 'dolittle One' [a Reference To Her Physical Stature And Affinity For Animals].

We Must Feel The Pain Before The Pleasure, Only Then Can We Tell Them Apart.

There Are Certain Realities We Must Speak Of With Our Children That Were Not Present When I Was A Child.

My Favorite Process Is Writing, From Day One. The Songs I Have Written Throughout The Years Were A Real Great Opportunity For Me To Communicate, Because I Think Tha'ts My Prime Objective On This Planet.

Because It's One Thing When You - Oh, I Love This Tune. But Then When You Go To Sing It, It's Got To Have Something Really Personal. Then Down To 25, And Then To Pick The Final Ones I Just Picked The Ones That Were More Personal, That Had Something To Do With My Life.

Sometimes My Mother Had Difficulty Communicating With Me About Certain Topics.

I Thought It Would Be Lovely To Use [pet Bulldog] Noelle As An Example To Teach The Importance Of Being Who You Are. For Me It's Important To Inspire Children In A Positive Way, And At Times They Understand More Messages Through Entertainment Than When One Is Talking To Them Directly.

Music Has Been One Of The Most Beautiful Things In My Life And Will Always Be A Very Big Part Of Who I Am And What I Do.

Performing Is One Of The Best Feelings I Know!

In Europe There's The Upper Crust, And These Are Long, Historically Families And Social Systems That Have Certain Established Rules That's Harder To Break Into.

I Hold 'mi Tierra,' My First Spanish-language Album, Very Close To Me Because That Was All Done In My Native Tongue And Won Me My First Grammy.

I'd Like Them To See That Those Things That Set Us Apart Or Make Us Different Can Be Wonderful Contributions To The World Around Us. I'd Like Them To See That Size And Color Are Irrelevant To The Dreams We Envision For Ourselves. And I'd Also Love For Them To See That Life Is A Journey, And Every Step Of The Way, We Can Learn Something And Become Stronger And Wiser.

My Guitar And Singing Was My Way Of Crying.

There's Some People That Are 24 Hours With The Baby And It Doesn't Make A Difference. They Could Be Anywhere.

For The Rest Of My Life, The One Song That People Will Remember -- Regardless -- Is "conga" . . . I Never Get Tired Of Singing It. It Never Gets Old For Me.

The Responsibility Of Carrying And Bringing A New Life Into This World Is One That Cannot Be Taken Lightly.

I'm A Writer And This Is What I Love To Do.

I Think We Should All Live The Moment. But You Also Have To Think Ahead. You Have To Think, 'am I Going To Be Happy With This Five, Ten Years From Now? Is It Going To Let Me Evolve And Grow, Or Am I Going To Grow To One Day Wish I Had Never Done It?' Sometimes You Just Have To Think A Little Bit Ahead.

Live In The Moment

You've Got To Believe. Never Be Afraid To Dream.

The Sad Truth Is That Opportunity Doesn't Knock Twice. You Can Put Things Off Until Tomorrow But Tomorrow May Never Come. Where Will You Be A Few Years Down The Line. Will It Be Everything You Dreamed Of. We Seal Our Fate With The Choices We Take, But Don't Give A Second Thought To The Chances We Take.

I Think The Business Of Music Has Really Taken A Huge Hit. There's No Doubt About It. But An Artist Is Always Going To Produce Their Art, Their Music. They're Going To Paint, They're Going To Write.

The Last Thing I Wanted To Do Was Put Politics Into My Music... Because Music Was My Escape.

I Spent My Childhood Alone, Overweight And Ugly, Angry At Everything, And Knowing Nothing Of A Life Beyond This Sadness.

Knowing Nothing

Motherhood Is... Difficult And... Rewarding.

Neither. I Did Not Bring My Crown, And The Last Thing I Would Want To Do Is Get Into Politics.

You've Got A New Spanish-language Album Out Now ["90 Millas," Released In September Of 2007], And The Single ["no Llores"] Is #1 On The Billboard Latin Chart.

When I Was A Teenager, I Was Fat. I Was Shy. I Wore Glasses. I Had A Big Eyebrow And Hair All Over My Body. They Were Years Of Torture.

I've Got Nine Dogs, Eight Birds, Turtles, Fish And I Had Wallabies At One Point.

We Do Have The Power To Save One Another...

Wherever There's A Human Being There's Going To Be Somebody That Tries To Hold You Back.

[as Of November 17, 2006] 'noelle's Treasure Tale' Has Remained At No. 3 On The New York Times Children's Best Seller List Since Its October 10 Release.

Whatever It Is Your Heart Desires, Please Go For It, It's Yours To Have.

My Conga People [fans] Will Find Me Anywhere I Go.

It's Very Tough For A Woman In The Music Business, And He Really Was Such A Motivator From The Beginning, When I Was Super-shy, And He Saw A Lot In Me On A Personal Level That He Knew Could Carry Through On The Stage.

The Internet Has Been A Blessing And A Curse. The Curse We Know: A Lot Of People Appropriating Your Intellectual Property Without Paying For It. But I Think It's Important To Realize The Blessing Of The Internet, Which Is That Everybody Has A Voice And You Can Break Through, Even Without A Record Company.

Having Felt People's Love And Support First Hand Through Difficult Moments In My Life Makes Me Feel It's Our Responsibility To Help One Another.

Being Latin Parents Makes Us Extremely Expressive With Our Affections.

My Daughter Is Almost A Young Lady. She's Going To Be 10 Years Old In December And I Want To Be There Day-in And Day-out.

More Than Anything I Want To Be Able To Go Back To Cuba, To Have A House To Visit There, To Know My Roots. Then, At Last, I Could Sing For My People.

I'm In Great Shape Considering I Have Hardware In My Back. I Work Out Constantly To Keep My Muscles Limber And My Abs Strong So They Can Take The Burnt Of Everything.

I Think It's Important To Have A Happy Parent.

I Was Going To Be A Doctor, But I Think My Music Allowed Me To Help More People Than I Could Have Done One-on-one As A Psychologist. Just Like Other People's Music Really Helped Me.

If There's Ever Been A Dark Moment In My Life... Well, I Wanted To Check Out. Music Was A Big Escape.

The Library Takes Me Away From My Everyday Life And Allows Me To See Other Places And Learn To Understand Other People Unlike Myself.

Family Has Always Been The Number One Priority No Matter What Happens Anywhere Else.

You Want Your Fans To Like What You Do, Because It's Coming From Your Heart And Soul. You Write It, You Produce This Thing. It's Like Your Baby.

I've Been Offered A Lot Of Things That Celebrities Do That I Wouldn't Do, Like Perfumes, Lines Of Clothing And This, That And The Other.

I Only Used My Whole Life One Perfume, And It's Cartier's Les Must.

You Don't Have To Give Up Who You Are To Be Successful Just Because You're Different.

You Can Put Things Off Until Tomorrow But Tomorrow May Never Come.

Tomorrow May Never Come

I Wrote These Two Songs ["coming Out Of The Dark" And "always Tomorrow"] As A Celebration Of Hope. And I Want To Send It Out To All Of Those People Who Are Suffering Through This Terrible Disaster [hurricane Katrina], And Please Know That You Are Not Alone - And You Will Not Be.

I Doubt That Fidel Will Ever Come Back To Power. I Think He Is Slowly Going To The Great Beyond. Too Slowly . . . He Could Have Gone A Long Time Ago.

I Have A Very Open Line Of Communication With Both My Children.

Love You All The Time, 'cause When I Close My Eyes, I Still Can See Your Smile, It's Bright Enough To Light My Life

Make Sure Everything You Do You Really Like, Because You Have To Sing It The Rest Of Your Life.

Rest Of Your Life

Of Course In Miami, Not Denouncing Fidel Castro At Every Turn Is Almost As Bad As Saying Gloria Estefan Can't Sing.

When You Are Happy It Is Harder To Write [songs].

Music Is Almost Mystical To Me. It Really Has An Incredibly Powerful Force.

What's The Point If You Make Something That's Not You, And You're Successful? You Have To Perform It The Rest Of Your Life.

Rest Of Your Life

My Mum Had A Very Strong Moral Code, Which I Kind Of Came With. I Never Really Had To Be Told What Was Right Or Wrong - I Knew. I Was Very Mature From Early On And I Was A Very Good Girl, So She Never Had Any Trouble With Me.

I Am Trying To Teach My Children To Feel A Responsibility For Their Fellow Human Beings And A Sense Of Connection With ... The World Around Them.

[i Would Like To Be] One Of [the First Pop Singers To Perform In A Free Cuba]. I Know The List Is Huge. And It Would Be Hard To Pull Off -- I'd Have A Lump As Big As A Tostone [fried Green Plantain] In My Throat. But Oh My God, What A Dream -- It Would Be The Height Of My Personal And Professional Career.

I'd Love To Have A Program Like 'dr. Laura.' I Studied Psychology At The University Of Miami, And When I Rode The Bus Home From School, Perfect Strangers Would Strike Up Conversations With Me And End Up Telling Me Their Life Stories. I Think They Could Sense That I Was Studying To Help People. That, Or I Have A Face Like A Priest.

I'm Careful What I Put Out There Into The Universe, Musically. I Don't Take It Lightly.

It's A Universal Story, It's An Immigrant Story, And It's A Love Story. In The United States, If You Believe In Yourself And You're Determined And Persevere, You're Going To Succeed.

My Mom Was Definitely Very Strict With Me.

Sometimes Parents, When They Have A Lot Of Small Children, It's Hard Because Your Time's Got To Get Divvied Up. There's No Other Way.

She's An Amazing Dog And Really Inspired Everything That's In This Book.

If You're Trying To Do What's Popular Now, You're Way Behind Already. By The Time You Record It And Do It And Try To Copy It, It's Moved On.

A Parent That's Upset Or Resentful Is Not Going To Be A Great Paren.

It Is Always So, I Guess, Validating When You Meet Somebody That You Esteem -- And Then They Turn Out To Be Everything [you Thought] And More.

I Stare To Memorize Your Face, To Kiss You In My Mind, Love You All The Time.

Everything That An Artist Does Is A Risk. Some People Want You To Stay The Same. If You Want To Evolve, They Want To Keep You In A Certain Place.

Stevie Wonder Always Smells So Good... I'm Like A Dea Dog, I Can Smell People A Block Away!

I Wrote Poetry, Which Got Me Into Lyrics. Stevie Wonder, Carole King, Elton John Pulled Me Into Pop. I Started Singing With A Band - Just For Fun - When I Was 17. And Pretty Soon, I Was Thinking I Could Sing Pop In English As Well As Spanish.

I Think That The Only Way To Teach Is By Example, As Children Will More Easily Follow What They See You Do Than What You Tell Them To Do.

I've Sung Since I Talked, When I'm Two, But What I Sang Was Ballads, Because It's Very Hard To Do A Dance Track With Your Little Acoustic Guitar When You're A Kid.

I Wouldn't Recommend Working With Your Partner For Everyone, Because It's Tough. There's Got To Be A Really Keen Balance. You've Got To Know When To Stop Being The Manager And Become The Husband. I Can't Go Home And Complain To My Husband About My Manager.

The Part Of My Education That Has Had The Deepest Influence Wasn't Any Particular Essay Or Even A Specific Class, It Was How I Was Able To Apply Everything I Learned In The Library To Certain Situations In My Life. . . The Library Takes Me Away From My Everyday Life And Allows Me To See Other Places And Learn To Understand Other People Unlike Myself.

It's Not So Much For Me Where You Come From, Who You Are, What Race You Are. We're Just Human Beings That Are Still A Work In Progress And There's A Lot That We've Got To Overcome, So That We Can All Be Equal.

I Wanted To Talk To Very Young Kids About Self-image And About Being Different And How That Can Be Your Strength, Especially From The Immigrant Perspective.

The Separation Of Families To Me Is Very Close To My Heart Because We Lived That As Immigrants. I Strongly Feel That We All Connected, And Having Felt People's Love And Support First-hand Through Difficult Moments In My Life, Makes Me Feel It's Our Responsibility To Help One Another. I Am Privileged To Help In Some Way, And I Will Always Take That Opportunity.

Sex And Drugs Were Simply Not Discussed In Our Culture At That Time.

A Woman's Exterior Beauty Is A Reflection Of Her Internal Peace And Happiness.

Peace And Happiness

As An Entertainer, My Job Is To Help People Have Fun.

The Music Is One Of The Beautiful Things That Has Survived The Castro Regime. I Have Played For Audiences All Over The World But I've Never Played For A Cuban Audience. For [husband] Emilio And Me, The Music Is The One Tie To Our Homeland.

A Lot Of The Way I Sing Is Playing Off Other Musicians. It's What I Love To Do The Most.

My Mother Had A Beautiful, Soothing Voice That Made Me Melt.

I Make The Best Pancakes You'll Ever Have! And I Claim That Title Gladly. On Saturdays I Make Them For Everybody.

Toys Are Not A Need People Typically Think Of, But They've Got All These Kids Who Have Absolutely Nothing To Do.

My Mom Was An Amazing Singer And Music Was A Big Part Of My Life, So I Grew Up Listening To Nat King Cole, Johnny Mathis, Henry Mancini; I Used To Watch 'the Andy Williams Show' On Tv. I Was Very Musical, So I Was Watching Stuff That Most Kids My Age Wouldn't Be Interested In.

We Seal Our Fate With The Choices We Take, But Don't Give A Second Thought To The Chances We Take.

We Seal Our Fate With The Choices We Make.

And, Because Of The Life That I Shared With These Two Amazing Women [her Mother And Maternal Grandmother] And The Hardships And Struggles That I Saw Them Overcome, I Learned An Invaluable Lesson, And That Is That Women Can Do Anything We Set Our Minds To... And Then Some!

I'm Very Appreciative Of, And I Also, Having Traveled The World, Know That The United States Is One Of The Few Places Where There Really Are No Limitations. As Long As You've Got Drive And Hard Work And A Good Idea And You Can Get Out There And Do Your Thing, There's No Social Classes, So In A Lot Of Countries There's A Big History Of Regardless Of How Much Money You May Make, There's Still That Little Thing Where You're Not In Society. That Doesn't Exist Here.

It Is So Important For Me To Keep Authentic Cuban Sounds Alive. All Of These Great Artists Have Changed The Landscape Of Latin Music And It's An Honor To Have Them On This Album ["90 Millas," Released In September Of 2007]. I Believe This Album Will Expose A New Generation To The Richness Of Cuban Music.

Once You Know The Romance Languages, Singing In Those Languages Is So Sexy And Sensual. I Do Have A Global Audience, So Why Not?

The Script [for The Movie Based On The Life Of Singer Connie Francis -- "who's Sorry Now?"] Is Finished And Is In The Hands Of Several Artists To See If Somebody Wants To Film At The Start Of [2006].

One Of The Most Beautiful Things We Can Give Our Child Is Music Education.

When I Write A Song It's Always From The Point Of View: Makes The Song The Best It Can Be.

To Know That Everything We Say And Do To This New Little Human Being May Have A Profound Effect On Him Or Her Is A Daunting Obligation.

I Left Cuba When I Was Two Years Old. They Took Away My Country, They Stole The Most Intimate Thing A Human Being Can Have. How Could I Forget That Fidel Castro Was The Person Who Did Me So Much Harm?

For I've Finally Realized That I Could Be Infinitely Better Than Before, Definitely Stronger. I'll Face Whatever Comes My Way, I'll Savor Each Moment Of The Day, Love As Many People As I Can Along The Way. Help Someone Who's Given Up, Even If It's Just To Raise My Eyes And Pray.

[my Mother] Closed The School The Next Day [after A Visit From Castro's Soldiers], Because She Knew That The Purpose Of Education Was The Broadening And Opening Of Children's Minds. And She Couldn't Be A Party To The Systematic Closing Of Minds, Borders, Freedoms And Ideals.

Love Is A Constant Source Of Inspiration, Surprise, And Wonderment.

You Never Know What Life Has In Store For You, But I Believe There Are Certain Things One Is Meant To Go Through

I Voted, Always Vote. It's Very Important To Me. My Kids, I Take Them With Me Since They Were Little, So They Realize It's A Responsibility.

I Love Gershwin. I Love Musicals.

I'm Very Excited About This Wonderful Opportunity To Take Part In The Evolution Of A Company That Is Integral To The Hispanic Community And A Powerful Force In All Areas Of The Media.

It's Crucial With Today's Challenges That Our Children Feel They Have A Source Of Information They Can Trust In Their Parents.

When I Went To Do "carson" That Night, They Wanted Us To Do Two Songs, But We Were A Brand New Band. "conga" Hadn't Even Hit The Top 10 Yet. They Go, "do You Think You Could Do Something That People Know, Because We Want You To Do A Second Song, But Not Two Originals, Because We Don't Want To Lose The Audience, Just In Case."

I've Bought More Music For My Ipod In One Year Than I Bought In The Last Ten Years Of My Life.

Everybody's Not As Fortunate As I've Been That Can Have Their Hubby With Them On The Road, That We Can Do Whatever We Want And Mainly Be Honest With The Kids. Just The Time That You Do Give Them, Make It Be Great Time. It Doesn't Have To Be Hours.

The Challenge Is Always As A Writer, Is This Going To Work, Because It's A Very Intimate Process, And I Tend To Be Very Introverted And Insular, And When I Write, It's In My Head.

Well First Of All, I'm A Singer. I Sing Since I Talk. So The Great Ballad Singers, The People That Sang With So Much Feeling, Jazz, Blues, All Those Singers, They Were Songs That I Listened To, Records That My Mom Played For Me, And Then Later I Bought.

[my First Children's Book] Is Very Subliminal, Let's Put It That Way. It Even Has A Bit Of A Metaphysical Little Message In There [about How] We're All Somehow Connected And We All Have A Responsibility Toward Each Other. Although You May Feel Alone In The World, You Definitely Are Not.

My Grandmother Would Shanghai Pilots At The Havana Airport So They'd Bring Me Cartons Of Mango Baby Food - The Only Kind I'd Eat. I Learned To Eat Peach Later. And In Every Carton, She'd Slip A Cuban Record.

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.

I Received An Award For 25 Million In [album] Sales The Night Before The Bus Accident [in 1990].

If The 70's Freed Our Inhibitions, What Good Did It Do?

Unanswered Questions

I Was A Straight-a Student, Baby!

There Are So Many Beautiful Things That Are A Part Of The World, And Ive Always Looked At Life That Way; Ive Always Tried To Put On A Smile And A Brave Front, Not Just For My Kids But In My Own Life And All The Difficulties That Ive Gone Through.

The Reason I’m Not More Political Is Because I Have Music. And From A Young Age, I Needed It. After Prison, My Father Came To America, Joined The Army, Fought In Vietnam - And Was Exposed To Agent Orange. He Died A Slow, Horrible Death. Music Was My Escape.

The Secret Of A Long Marriage Is Shaving Your Legs Every Day . . . Because It Shows You Still Care.

I Have Great Genes. Thank You To My Mom And Dad For That One.

I Bit Down Three Nails Rooting For The Heat.

How Can We Expect Something Positive To Come From All The Negative That We Put Into This World?

Getting This Caliber Of Musicians Together [for "90 Millas" Cd In September Of 2007] Is Almost Impossible To Do Again.

This Blend Of Musicians On '90 Millas' Is Historically Significant On A Number Of Levels. This Is The First And Quite Possibly The Last Time That All Of These Legendary Artists Will Play Together On One Cd.

The Sad Truth Is That Opportunity Doesn't Knock Twice.

The Most Beautiful Thing About Music Is That It Transcends Most Anything.

Beautiful Things

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