Cuts Both Ways

History

By 1989, Gloria Estefan was one of the most successful female Latin artists in the world. After a decade of being the lead singer of Miami Sound Machine, she had been credited above the group name (Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine) on their 1987 album Let It Loose. With the release of Cuts Both Ways, it was widely believed that Estefan had gone solo, but Miami Sound Machine continued to perform as her backing band in the studio and on tour (however, the only original member of MSM to play on the album besides Estefan was her husband/producer, Emilio).

The album contains dance music, Latin rhythms and ballads. It has sold more than 4 million copies outside the USA, and reached the Top Ten on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, also peaking #1 in the UK and Australia.

The first single from the album was "Don't Wanna Lose You", which became one of Estefan's biggest hits, reaching #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 (her second U.S. number one) and was certified Gold by the RIAA. It also reached the Top Ten in The Netherlands, Ireland and the UK. Other singles from this album included "Here We Are", another big hit for Estefan and one of her signature songs, "Oye mi Canto", a huge hit in Europe but ignored in the U.S., "Get on Your Feet", another signature song and huge hit, and finally the title track, which didn't make as strong an impact on the charts as the previous singles.

The artists Betty Wright and Jon Secada were backing vocalist for the album, and also both appeared on Estefan's next album, 1991's Into the Light.

Miami Sound Machine

Additional musicians

Production

Design