Gloria Estefan announces final tour

March 03, 2009 02:46:23 PM

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Cuban-American pop diva Gloria Estefan said Monday that an upcoming tour of Latin American will be her last.

"It is an end to something that began many years ago, in 1975, and it is a dream to be able to do it in Latin America," the Grammy-winning singer said.

After a career spanning more than two decades and 90 million albums sold, Estefan said she would take her greatest hits tour to South America for the first time.

"These will be the last concerts I do, after I want to focus on my daughter, who is going to high school and continue working in other areas," she said.

"We have eight restaurants, three hotels; I am working on a third book and on films," she said.

A household name in both the Spanish- and English- speaking worlds, her hits "Conga," "1,2,3," and "Rhythm is Gonna Get You," are still played around the world.

Estefan is to kick off her "Latin America Tour" on April 9 in Uruguay, with dates in Chile, Argentina and Peru before her final curtain call scheduled for April 23 in Ecuador.

Dates my also be added in the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica and other Central American countries, she said.

With 24 albums, Estefan has won seven Grammys, two of which were for her latest, Spanish-language, disc "90 Millas" -- or 90 Miles, a homage to her native Cuba which lies at that distance from the tip of the Florida Keys.

Estefan has long been a vocal supporter of democracy for Cuba, which has been under communist control for the last 50 years.