Gloria Estefan channeled fan prayers into her rapid tour bus crash recovery

Gloria Estefan enjoyed a phenomenal rise to stardom and was at the height of her fame when it seemed her life as a performer had been cut cruelly short.

A Cuban immigrant whose family had fled the country’s revolution, she cast a spell on her adoptive US and then the world, becoming known as the Queen of Latin Pop for her infectious hits and stunning dance moves.

But tragedy struck in the middle of a sell-out string of dates in 1989 when an 18-wheeler truck ploughed into her tour bus during a snowstorm.

Lying in hospital, paralysed with a broken back, Gloria could have given in to despair and resigned herself to her amazing journey being at an end.

Instead, she drew strength from her plight by taking it as an opportunity to reassess her life – and became determined to get back on her feet as an inspiration to others.

Gloria says: “We were at the peak of our career, we were world-known, we were selling millions of records and one moment, in the blink of an eye, everything changed.

“All of a sudden I was paralysed. My dad was in a wheelchair, so this was one of my biggest fears coming true.

“It was earth-shattering.

“I could have died but at the same time I started thinking, what if this was the reason I became famous, because I was destined to go through this and have the opportunity to be an example for people?

“Things happen to everybody and the outcome depends on how you deal with it.”

Surgeons put two titanium rods in her spine and Gloria threw herself into rehab.

She says: “I’d do six or seven hours a day. I thought, ‘If I end up in a chair, I’ll figure out how to live my best life in a chair but I’m going to fight hard’.

“Four months after the accident, I wanted to throw a party when I was able to lift my leg high enough and throw my underwear low enough, so I could put it on by myself.”

She insists her fans helped heal her too, saying: “I felt people’s prayers, I used them. I imagined them channelling into my spine and re-connecting stuff. They helped me. It was almost like a physical energy, it was really powerful.”

Astonishingly, 10 months after the smash, she was performing on a new world tour and released hit album Into The Light.

It included chart-topping single Coming Out of the Dark, a ballad inspired by a phrase husband Emilio wrote on a piece of paper after the accident, as a helicopter took her for surgery.

The hits kept on coming and 30 years after that terrible day, Gloria’s story is being celebrated in musical On Your Feet!. The show is named after one of her biggest hits – and perfectly captures her fighting spirit and the message she wanted to send.

On Your Feet! has opened in London’s West End ahead of an eight-month UK tour. It tells of Gloria and Emilio’s journey from Cuba to Miami and then global stardom.

“The musical is a love story to both our countries,” she smiles. “Our native land Cuba, where we were born, and the US, which opened its arms and let live the American Dream. It’s also a love story to each other and to music.

“One of the things I’m proudest of in my life is the fact I was able to take the sounds of my native country and through music communicate with so many different countries and be a part of people’s lives. I really do feel a dual nature in me. My mother kept our heritage very much alive in our home.”

Gloria and Emilio met performing at a church ensemble.

He had his own group, Miami Sound Machine, and persuaded Gloria to join.

She says: “We’ve been married 40 years. He was my first and only – I told him he got a good deal! I wasn’t looking to get married, we just fell in love. Neither of us wanted to touch that with a 10ft pole because we didn’t want to mess up the professional part. But it was just inevitable.

“We spent two years together and then married and it’s been a long, beautiful life together.”

After five years and hits including Get On Your Feet, Dr Beat and Rhythm is Gonna Get You, the band’s name was dropped and Gloria was credited as a solo artist.

More than 100 million record sales later, she and music producer Emilio, 66, are still very much in love.

Gloria says: “We’re very different, so we balance each other out. But in the things that really matter, like priorities, it’s always our family, values, morals. We’re on the same page.

“We’ve grown together, ­especially since my accident. Those things can break you apart, but it cemented us.”

The couple still live in Florida and have daughter Emily, 24, and son Nayib, 38. She is also grandma to Nayib and wife Lara’s son Sasha, six.

It is hard to believe Gloria is now 61 and she says with a wry grin: “The number is not fun and anybody who tells you otherwise is lying. But I feel like I felt when I was 18. I have infinite amounts of energy. And no matter what, there’s less life left than you’ve lived, so it becomes important to enjoy every single moment and do what makes you happy.”

That includes enjoying good food, though for the past year she has been on the ketogenic diet, which helped her lose 25lb. “For a couple of years before we started working on this show I let myself have a little too much fun,” she smiles. “Then I went, ‘OK, enough fun, now you’ve got to get back to a better weight’.”

Gloria, whose estimated wealth is £400million, is also planning a new album, plus some live shows – where she hopes daughter Emily, also a singer, will be the opening act.

She has also written two children’s books and a cookery book in recent years and she and Emilio own several businesses, including Cuban-themed restaurants and hotels.

With so much going on, does she ever think about retirement?

“My husband would die if he retired!” she grins. “We’ll keep doing things as long as they’re fun and exciting. I feel blessed and lucky I’ve been able to make a life doing what I love and sharing that. I try to give back as much love as I feel I’ve received.”

• On Your Feet! is at the London Coliseum until August 31, then on tour nationally