Gloria Estefan Broke Her Back and Nearly Died in a Bus Crash 35 Years Ago. Why She ‘Wouldn’t Change’ Anything (Exclusive)

Thirty five years after Gloria Estefan’s near-fatal tour bus accident, the Queen of Latin pop can look back on that moment as a turning point.

Discussing her 50-year career in music in this week’s issue of PEOPLE, the “Conga” singer shared how the accident impacted her for years to come.

“Especially after my accident, I think that was my biggest lesson. Not that I changed who I was because I’m still the same person, but just the enjoyment factor, the connection factor, the appreciation, and gratitude — it came out in my voice,” Estefan, 67, tells PEOPLE.

“It gave me free rein,” she adds. “I wouldn’t want to go through it again, but I wouldn’t change it.”

On March 20, 1990, a semi truck crashed into Estefan’s tour bus on a snowy Pennsylvania highway, causing her to break her back. Estefan was napping when the accident happened and she previously told PEOPLE the pain was “excruciating.”

“I remember thinking, ‘Maybe this is the reason that I’ve gone through this; maybe I can be an example to people of how to take control of our lives and get past hurdles,'” she said at the time.

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Now, looking back on her career, Estefan says that if she could go back and tell her younger self one thing, it’s to “be in the moment.”

“Don’t worry about anything else. Because time goes by so quickly, and a lot of my life is a blur,” she says, adding that it was easy to get caught in the “roller coaster” of her career. “A lot of the times I was just hanging on for dear life.”

She adds, “So I would say ‘Chillax, girl. Nothing is that important. Just be there, and enjoy the music… And don’t worry about being perfect.”

Estefan released her latest studio album Raíces (Spanish for “roots”) on May 29. The album was primarily written by Estefan’s husband, Emilio Estefan, whom she trusted to write the songs while she worked on the upcoming musical Basura.

“It’s a very personal love story. There’s a lot of love songs,” she says of the album. “In fact, Emilio said to me, ‘Oh, I wrote you a love song.’ I go, ‘Babe, you’re going to sing it?’ He goes, ‘No, you’re going to sing it for me.’ I go, ‘You wrote your own love song? I love that.'”

She adds, “Raíces reminds us that we all are where we came from, and those people that nurtured us and loved us will always be with us. Our culture is important to celebrate… It makes us who we are.”

For more from Gloria Estefan, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, available on newsstands everywhere now.