Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll (born February 2, 1977) is a Colombian Singer-Songwriter, Dancer, Record Producer, & Actress… Born & raised in Barranquilla, Colombia, Shakira began performing in school, demonstrating her vocal ability with rock and roll, Latin and Arabic influences. Her first studio albums, Magia and Peligro, failed to attain commercial success in the 1990s; however, she rose to prominence in Latin America with her major-label debut, Pies Descalzos (1996), and her fourth album, Dónde Están los Ladrones? (1998)….
Shakira’s success was solidified with her fifth and sixth albums, Laundry Service (2001) and Oral Fixation, Vol. 2 (2005), which spawned the international number-one singles “Whenever, Wherever” & “Hips Don’t Lie”, respectively. In 2020, she was listed as the 58th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes.
In 2009, Shakira released her sixth studio album She Wolf, which was followed by her seventh studio album Sale el Sol (2010). The albums spawned the hit singles “Loca” and “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)”, respectively…..
Shakira is a four-time Grammy Award winner and has sold over 140 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time…. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and is the highest-selling Colombian artist of all time. She has achieved success in multiple languages, including Spanish, English, Portuguese, and Italian. Her social media following is among the most prominent in the world, with over 200 million followers on Instagram and Twitter combined….
Shakira has earned numerous accolades, including two Latin Grammy Awards, seven Billboard Music Awards, 28 Billboard Latin Music Awards, and five MTV Video Music Awards. She has been honoured by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and was named Billboard’s Woman of the Year in 2006. She was also named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2019…..
Shakira is also an active philanthropist, launching the Pies Descalzos Foundation in Colombia in 1997, which provides educational and healthcare opportunities to children in her home country. She is also an ambassador for UNICEF and was appointed to the President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics in the United States in 2011.