Tommy Mottola - A New America

This book has probably been building inside me ever since I was stopped cold at the age of three by the music of Tito Puente coming from radios on the streets of the Bronx.

But it wasnt until a few decades later that I really started to pay attention to the unfolding story thats at the heart of A New Americaand the basis for The Latin Explosion, the HBO documentary that I produced in 2015. The turning point in my awareness came in the wake of a conversation with Gloria Estefan that took place back in 1992, about four years after I took over at Sony Music.

Gloria and I want to talk to you about the next album, her husband, Emilio, had announced on the phone one day in his rich Cuban accent. Without much more of an explanation, he asked me to come to Miami so that we could discuss everything in person.

The Estefans were already family to meespecially after the eventful four years wed shared since Id come on board as president at Sony. Prior to that time, my journey in the music industry had taken me from my first career as an artist/musician to learning the ropes of music publishing to making a name for myself as a manager for such acts as Hall and Oates, John Mellencamp, and Carly Simon. As it happened, one of the first pieces of business to cross my desk at Sony had been the pending release of a new Gloria Estefan album. Up until then, Gloria and Emilio and their band had performed and recorded as the Miami Sound Machine. This new release, however, would be the first to feature Glorias name out front and had the potential, in my view, to truly position her as the next global superstar. But after reviewing the album cover and all the other marketing elements, I came to the conclusion that we needed to develop a much stronger campaign. So I stopped the release in its tracks to revamp everything.

Instead of being upset, Gloria and Emilio were thrilled to have someone at the label who cared and understood what they were all aboutand who was willing to reach into the deep pockets of the corporation to boost them to the next level. There may have been some initial resistance at the company to the money I budgeted for marketing the album, but nobody complained when Cuts Both Ways went on to exceed everybodys highest hopesselling many millions of copies worldwide.

Then, in March 1990, while they were on tour for the album, came the terrible accident on a snowy interstate in Pennsylvania when a tractor-trailer plowed into the Estefans tour bus, hurling Gloria off a couch inside where shed been sleeping. After she was lifted out through the smashed windshield, the word was that she might end up a paraplegic. Emilios first call to me was to say she was going to have surgery the next day. Instead, I was able to get them to hold off so we could locate the leading spine surgeons in New York City and have Gloria flown in on a medevac helicopter. During the four-hour operation that followed, surgeons inserted two eight-inch metal rods inside of her to align and fuse her vertebrae.

The public outpouring of support and prayers was incredible. Glorias determination throughout the brutal rehabilitation was superhuman. Less than a year after the accident, she returned to the stage at the American Music Awards to sing Coming Out of the Dark, the first single to be released from her next album, Into the Lightwhich kicked off an enormously successful tour that culminated with her unforgettable performance at the Super Bowl halftime show in Minneapolis.

And thats where we were when Emilio asked me to come to Miami and meet with him and Gloria in person to talk about what was to come next. Heres what I knew: Timing was everything. If ever there was a time to take Gloria completely over the top with her next move, it was right then. She could now release a pop album, attach it to a world tour, and easily double the sales of her last album.

But as I was about to hear loud and clear, Gloria and Emilio wanted to go in another direction. In those days, I spent so much time in Miami that instead of working from a hotel I actually rented a house on Star Island that belonged to the Estefanswhose main residence was nearby. To give you an idea of how close we were, later on I even built my own home next to theirs, which would be paradise found for me; that is, until I was no longer spending as much time in Miami and subsequently sold it to P. Diddy.

In the meantime, there I am in the backyard of this rented house on Star Island, having just arrived from New York and taking a few minutes to enjoy the lush tropical setting with a view of the bay and the Miami skyline beyond, when Emilio stops by to broach the subject of this new album. Its what theyve wanted to do for a whilean all-Spanish album release that honored their Cuban roots.

Now, of course, I got it. But anybody with experience in the industry would see how risky that could be. An unexpected turn could cut Glorias audience in half at precisely the time we were hoping to double it. Besides, Sony had never released a foreign-language album the way you would a pop album. On top of that, I knew just how many walls had to be smashed down to make an all-Spanish album successful. The only way to do itand not have extreme pushback at Sonywould be to release it after the next pop blockbuster album.

And thats what I say to Emilio, telling him, Listen, its a great idea. Well make that album soon. But you have to get her to make another pop album first. Then I point out how weve been rolling off these monster Top 40 hits. Emilio, it makes no sense to stop that momentum and drop a Spanish album now. We can do one and we should, but not as the very next album.