Shakira

Early life

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll was born on 2 February 1977 in Barranquilla, a city located on the northern Caribbean coast of Colombia. She is the only child of William Mebarak Chadid and Nidia Ripoll Torrado. Her parents are of Lebanese, Catalan, and Colombian descent, though she has distant Italian roots through an ancestor with the surname Pisciotti. She was raised Catholic and attended Catholic schools. Shakira has eight older half-siblings from her father's previous marriage.

Shakira wrote her first poem, titled "La Rosa de Cristal" ('The Crystal Rose'), when she was four years old, and continued to write poetry. As her music interests crystallized, the poetry turned into song lyrics. When she was two years old, her half-brother was killed at the age of nineteen, in a motorcycle accident. Six years later, writing lyrics on her typewriter and having been given a guitar by her aunt, she composed her first song, titled "Gafas Oscuras" ('Dark Glasses'). It was inspired by her father, who for years wore dark glasses to hide his grief.

Shakira grew up in reasonably comfortable family conditions until her father, a jeweler, went bankrupt when she was eight. Her parents sent her to stay for a while with relatives in Los Angeles. When she came back, their two cars, furniture and color TV were gone and she had to adjust to a different reality. She was able to buy her parents a car when she was 14, after receiving some money for the release of the Magia album.

When she was four, Shakira's father took her to a local Middle Eastern restaurant, where she first heard the doumbek, a traditional festive Arabic music drum, also used to accompany belly dancing. Spontaneously, she climbed onto a table and started to dance; soon she wanted to do it for anyone who would watch. At her Catholic school, she demonstrated belly dancing on every Friday morning, encouraged by her parents, teachers and students in the audience, who were convinced of her bright future as a performer. A former classmate recalled, "Just her, singing and dancing on the stage." However, in second grade, Shakira was rejected for school choir because, according to the music teacher, her vibrato was too strong; classmates told her she sounded like a goat. She was often sent out of class because of her hyperactivity. To make Shakira appreciate more the modest conditions of her upbringing, her father took her to a local park so she could see orphans who lived there. The images stayed with her and she said to herself, "one day I'm going to help these kids when I become a famous artist". Having regained some confidence in her singing, she entered a local TV station talent contest when she was ten and won the top prize, a bicycle.

Career

1990–1993: Magia and Peligro

Shakira's debut album, Magia, was released in June 1991 under Sony Music Colombia. Recording began in 1990 when she was 13; the album consists of pop rock ballads and disco uptempo songs with Shakira writing the majority of the album's tracks. The album featured her debut single "Magia" as well as "Sueños" and "Esta Noche Voy Contigo". Magia was not a commercial success and only 1,200 copies were sold in Colombia. Little known outside of her native Colombia at the time, Shakira was invited to perform at Chile's Viña del Mar International Song Festival in February 1993. The festival gave aspiring Latin American singers a chance to present their songs and the winner was chosen by a panel of judges. Shakira's performance of the ballad "Eres" brought her the trophy for third place.

Shakira's second studio album, Peligro, was released in March 1993. It features the singles "Tú Serás la Historia de Mi Vida", "Eres", "Peligro", and "Brujería". Shakira was not pleased with the final result, taking issue mainly with the production. The album was better received than Magia had been, but it became another commercial failure. In 1993–1994, she acted in the Colombian telenovela El Oasis, playing the character of Luisa Maria.

Having been moved up in her classwork ahead of her age, Shakira graduated from a convent secondary school when she was 15, but her professional involvement in music prevented her from continuing formal education. At the Colegio La Enseñanza that she attended, the nuns expected students to visit the poorest areas of the town and help teach reading and writing to unschooled children there. "The seeds of their education are well-planted in my system. I believe in God. I believe in the sacraments" – Shakira told the interviewer in 2002. On starting her career so early, she said: "I wouldn't have done anything different myself ... though I think I missed out on adolescence. I never misbehaved when I was a teenager and that's something you've got to do. I was so focused on my goals. I was already an adult when I was 14. Maybe I'll have a belated adolescence when I'm old."

1994–2000: Breakthrough with Pies Descalzos and Dónde Están los Ladrones?

In 1994, Shakira recorded "¿Dónde Estás Corazón?" for the compilation album Nuestro Rock Volumen II. After the song became a hit in Colombia, Sony Music Colombia decided to move forward with her third studio album. Shakira began writing and recording for the album with Luis Fernando Ochoa, who would become her principal music collaborator for the next three albums. Her third studio album, Pies Descalzos, was released in October 1995. It reached number five on the U.S. Billboard Top Latin Albums chart. The album spawned six singles, all of which peaked within the top 20 of the U.S. Latin chart: "Estoy Aquí", "¿Dónde Estás Corazón?", "Pies Descalzos, Sueños Blancos", "Un Poco de Amor", "Antología", and "Se Quiere, Se Mata"; the former two were top five hits. Pies Descalzos achieved top ranking in eight countries, and in August 1996 RIAA certified the album platinum in the U.S. Pies Descalzos eventually sold over 5 million copies. In October 1995, Shakira commenced Tour Pies Descalzos, her first international tour. Its about one hundred shows in Latin America, the U.S. and Spain took two years to complete.

In 1997, Shakira received three Billboard Latin Music Awards for Album of the Year for Pies Descalzos, Video of the Year for "Estoy Aqui", and Best New Artist. That year, she released the remix album The Remixes, of which over one million were sold. At 19, Shakira was named a national cultural ambassador by the president of Colombia, a distinction she shared with writer Gabriel García Márquez. Dónde Están los Ladrones?, Shakira's fourth studio album, was released in September 1998. It was recorded at the Miami studio of Gloria and Emilio Estefan. Artistic production was done by Shakira with Emilio Estefan listed as the executive producer. Dónde Están los Ladrones? became an even bigger worldwide hit than Pies Descalzos. The album reached a peak of number 131 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and held the top spot on the U.S. Latin Albums chart for 11 weeks. Over 7 million copies were sold worldwide, including 1.5 million in the U.S., making it one of the best selling Spanish albums there. Eight singles were taken from the album: "Ciega, Sordomuda", "Moscas en la Casa", "No Creo", "Inevitable", "Tú", "Si Te Vas", "Octavo Día", and "Ojos Así". "Ciega, Sordomuda" and "Tú" reached number one on the U.S. Latin chart.

In 1999, Shakira received a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album. Her first live album, MTV Unplugged, was recorded in New York City as MTV Unplugged's first Spanish language broadcast on 12 August 1999 and released in early 2000. The performance was highly acclaimed by American critics; the album topped the Latin charts and sale statistics. In March 2000 Shakira embarked on Tour Anfibio, a two-month series of concerts in Latin America and the United States. In August 2000, she won an MTV Video Music Award in the category of People's Choice – Favorite International Artist for "Ojos Así". In September 2000, Shakira performed "Ojos Así" at the inaugural ceremony of the Latin Grammy Awards, where she was nominated in five categories: Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album for MTV Unplugged, Best Female Rock Vocal Performance for "Octavo Día", Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Ojos Así", and Best Short Form Music Video for the "Ojos Así" video.

2001–2004: Laundry Service and English transition

Upon the successes of Dónde Están los Ladrones? and MTV Unplugged, Shakira began working on an English crossover album. Her manager, Emilio Estefan, took an early notice of Shakira's potential for a "crossover" into the U.S. music market because of her "universally catchy pop-rock melodies, cerebral lyrics, unwavering self-determination and natural sex appeal". Shakira's English language skills were improved with the help of Gloria Estefan. "Whenever, Wherever", called "Suerte" in the simultaneously published Spanish language version, was released at the end of August 2001 as the first and lead single from Shakira's fifth studio album. The song took heavy influence from Andean music, including the charango and pan flute in its instrumentation. It became an international success by reaching number one in most countries. In the U.S., it reached number six on the Hot 100.

The new album, titled Laundry Service in English-speaking countries and Servicio de Lavanderia in Latin America and Spain, was released on 13 November 2001. Servicio de Lavanderia features the same songs, arranged in different order. Nine out of thirteen tracks Shakira sings in English. The album debuted at number three on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, selling over 200,000 records in its first week. It was later certified triple platinum. Its success established Shakira's musical presence in the mainstream North American market. "Underneath Your Clothes", "Objection (Tango)", "The One", "Te Dejo Madrid", "Que Me Quedes Tú", and "Poem to a Horse" were other Laundry Service songs issued as singles. Shakira wrote or co-wrote each of the songs and Laundry Service was produced by her alone. Critics gave Shakira's English-market debut mixed reviews, with some questioning her ability to write lyrics in a second language. Laundry Service became the best-selling album of 2002 and eventually more than 15 million copies were sold worldwide.

Laundry Service, the "crossover" transition process and its manifestations created a rift among Shakira's followers. The new album's detractors considered the singer a sellout and claimed that her now blond hair, English language singing and new look showed that she was "abandoning her essence" and "transforming into a whiter, sexier version of herself", one more "palatable for Anglo audiences". Shakira insisted that her only motivation for blonding her hair was her own vanity. Regarding the disgruntled fans, she replied: "I'm so sure of what I represent for my people and of what I am. I know that my roots are very well-planted in Latin America. And I feel proud of being Colombian and Latin, and I say it out loud to the rest of the world every time I can." Having opted now for musical stylistic "fusion", she told the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo in 2001: "Fusion offers me the opportunity to remove any type of label people want to place on me. It gives me freedom ... I don't want to be tied to a specific style and become the architect of my own prison."

2005–2007: Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 and Oral Fixation, Vol. 2

Preparing for her next productions, Shakira wrote sixty songs, in Spanish and in English. Out of these, she selected twenty to be used in two albums, separated by language. "La Tortura", the lead single from Shakira's sixth studio album Fijación Oral, Vol. 1, was released in April 2005 and features Spanish balladeer Alejandro Sanz. For a record 25 weeks, it remained on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart. It reached number 23 on the Hot 100, number one in Spain and enjoyed high rankings across the world. "La Tortura" was one of the first Spanish-language songs to be performed at the MTV Video Music Awards; Shakira performed the song at the 2005 Awards in Miami.

Fijación Oral, vol. 1, released in June 2005, was well received in North America, South America, and Europe. It debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 157,000 copies in its first week and becoming the highest U.S. debut ever for a Spanish-language album. It has since sold over two million copies in the U.S., earning an 11× Platinum (Latin field) certification from the RIAA. In Venezuela, it earned a Platinum certification, in Colombia, a triple Platinum certification, while in Mexico demand exceeded shipments and it became unavailable after one day of sales. It was a top album in Spain, Italy, Greece and Germany. Four more singles were released from Fijación Oral, vol. 1: "No", "Día de Enero", "La Pared", and "Las de la Intuición". The album has sold over five million copies worldwide. On 8 February 2006, Shakira won her second Grammy Award, winning Best Latin Rock/Alternative Album. She received four Latin Grammy Awards in November 2006, winning in the categories of Record of the Year and Song of the Year for "La Tortura", Album of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Album for Fijación Oral, vol. 1.

Shakira's second English album and seventh studio album, Oral Fixation, Vol. 2, was released in November 2005. It debuted at number five on the Billboard 200, selling 128,000 copies in its first week. It went on to sell 1.8 million records in the U.S. and over eight million worldwide. The lead single for Oral Fixation, vol. 2, "Don't Bother", missed the top 40 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. In most countries worldwide, it reached the top 20. "Hips Don't Lie", which featured Wyclef Jean, was released as the album's second single in February 2006. It became Shakira's first number one single on the Billboard Hot 100. The song reached the number one spot in over 55 other countries and became the biggest-selling single of the 21st century worldwide. Shakira and Wyclef Jean performed the song at the closing ceremony of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The third and final single from the album, "Illegal" featuring Carlos Santana, was released in November 2006.

2008–2009: She Wolf

In early 2008, Forbes named Shakira the fourth top-earning female artist in the music industry. In July, she signed a $312 million contract with Live Nation Entertainment, an international touring conglomerate, which was to remain in effect for ten years. According to the artist, the deal would encompass tours, recordings, sponsorship and merchandise worldwide. Her existing contract with Epic Records (Sony Music Entertainment) called for three more albums – one in English, one in Spanish, and a compilation, but the touring and other rights under the Live Nation contract were to begin immediately.

On 17 May 2008, before an audience of over 150,000 people, Shakira was one of the artists who performed at the ALAS Foundation charity concert in Buenos Aires. Invited by Alejandro Sanz, she led the presentation of his song "No Es lo Mismo". Mercedes Sosa, Shakira and Pedro Aznar performed there a cover of Silvio Rodríguez's song "La Maza". On 18 January 2009, Shakira was among the participants of the "We Are One" festivities in honor of the inauguration of President Barack Obama, at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. She sang "Higher Ground" with Stevie Wonder and Usher. In March 2009, a studio recording of "La Maza" by Sosa featuring Shakira was released on Sosa's album Cantora, un Viaje Íntimo.

In July 2009, Shakira released "She Wolf" as the lead single from an upcoming album with the same title. The single was a commercial success, receiving certifications in 17 countries. Her eighth studio and third (mostly) English album She Wolf was released in October 2009. It received mainly positive reviews from critics. Mike Diver on BBC Review saw in it "perhaps the most enjoyably varied pop album of 2009" but detected "a greater sense of passion in songs playing out in her native tongue". Beyond the chart-conquering smashes, Shakira had "often explored some truly mind-boggling pop territories, deep-drilling for veins of inspiration absolutely alien to so many of her peers". She Wolf was included in AllMusic's year-end Favorite Albums, Favorite Latin Albums, and Favorite Pop Albums lists. It reached number one on the charts of Argentina, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, and Switzerland. It also charted inside the top five in Spain, Germany, and the United Kingdom. It debuted at number fifteen on the Billboard 200. It was certified double-platinum in Colombia and Mexico, platinum in Italy and Spain, and gold in numerous countries including France and the United Kingdom. Over two million copies were sold worldwide, making She Wolf less successful in terms of sales than Shakira's other albums. Four singles were released off the album: "She Wolf", "Did It Again", "Give It Up to Me", and "Gypsy". "Good Stuff" was released as the album's sole promotional single. The heavily electronic She Wolf record was produced by Shakira.

2010–2014: "Waka Waka", Sale el Sol and Shakira

In 2010, Shakira collaborated with the South African Afro fusion band Freshlyground to create the official song of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)". Released on 7 May 2010, "Waka Waka" was performed by Shakira at the World Cup kick-off and closing. The single reached the top 20 in several countries of Europe, South America and Africa and the top 40 in the U.S. "Waka Waka" has sold more than four million copies worldwide and is the biggest-selling World Cup song of all time. For her involvement with the World Cup related campaigns and other philanthropic work, Shakira received the 2010 Free Your Mind MTV award.

In October 2010, Shakira released her ninth studio album, the mostly-Spanish Sale el Sol. It received critical acclaim and was included in AllMusic's Favorite Albums of 2010 and Favorite Latin Albums of 2010 year-end lists. At the 2011 Latin Grammy Awards ceremony, Sale el Sol was nominated for Album of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Album, winning the award in the latter category. Commercially, the album was a success throughout Europe and Latin America. It peaked atop the charts of Belgium, Croatia, France, Mexico, Portugal, and Spain. In the U.S., it debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200 chart, marking the highest debut for a Latin album for the year; it was Shakira's fifth album to peak at number one in the Latin albums category. Its lead single, "Loca", was number one in several countries. "Sale el Sol", "Rabiosa", "Antes de las Seis", and "Addicted to You" were also released as singles. The album has sold ten million copies since its release.

In September 2010, Shakira embarked on the Sale el Sol World Tour. Countries in North America, Europe, South America, Asia, and Africa were visited, with 106 shows in all. The tour was met with positive reactions from critics, who praised her stage presence and energy. In August 2011, she participated in an episode of Dora the Explorer animated TV series. A song titled "Todos Juntos" by Dora, featuring Shakira, was released with a music video. Promoted with the single "Je l'aime à mourir", in December 2011 her fourth live album, Live from Paris, was released.

On 9 November 2011, Shakira was honored as Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year for her artistic achievements and philanthropic undertakings; she was the youngest of the musicians who had received this distinction. At the event, she performed a cover of Joe Arroyo's "En Barranquilla Me Quedo", as a tribute to the singer who had died earlier that year. In early 2012, Shakira signed to Roc Nation. She collaborated with rapper Pitbull for the song "Get It Started", a single from his 2012 album Global Warming. The single was released in June 2012. In September 2012, it was announced that Shakira and Usher would replace in March 2013 Christina Aguilera and CeeLo Green as coaches for the fourth season of the U.S. TV show The Voice. Shakira also served on the sixth season of the series. In January 2013, Ivete Sangalo released "Dançando", a single featuring Shakira, off Sangalo's album Real Fantasia. In February 2013, Draco Rosa released "Blanca Mujer", a duet with Shakira as a promotional single for his album Vida.

2015–2021: El Dorado

Shakira's work on her eleventh studio album, the mostly Spanish El Dorado, had been in progress from the latter part of 2015. Among her other projects was starring as a voice actress in the 2016 animated movie Zootopia. She voiced a character named Gazelle and sang a song titled "Try Everything". In May 2016, she collaborated with Colombian singer Carlos Vives on the track "La Bicicleta", which subsequently won the Latin Grammy Award for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. On 28 October 2016, Shakira released the single "Chantaje" with Colombian singer Maluma; the song was a track from the upcoming El Dorado. It became her most-viewed YouTube video, with over 2.1 billion views as of 1 June 2018. Maluma had previously created a remix to "La Bicicleta". Shakira was featured on the single "Comme moi" by French rapper Black M. "Comme moi" and its English version were also included on El Dorado. On 7 April 2017, the song "Me Enamoré" was released as the second official single from El Dorado.

The El Dorado album, produced by Shakira, was issued on 26 May 2017. "Perro Fiel" featured American singer Nicky Jam. Its official release as El Dorado's third single took place on 15 September, the same date its music video, filmed in Barcelona, was premiered. Before being released as a single, "Perro Fiel" was already certified gold in Spain. "Trap" was released in January 2018 as the fourth single off the album, her second collaboration with Maluma. In January 2018, Shakira won her third Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Album for El Dorado; it made her the only female Latin artist to have done so. The album also earned her a top Latin Grammy and she was recognized by a number of other prizes. With El Dorado, she had received thirteen Grammys overall, including ten Latin Grammys. El Dorado had over 10 billion streams, which made it one of the most-streamed female albums of all time.

The El Dorado World Tour was announced on 27 June 2017. After several postponements due to Shakira's vocal injuries, the tour commenced in Hamburg on 3 June. The same month, she released "Clandestino", another collaboration with Maluma, as a standalone single. The European leg of the tour was followed by performances in Asia and in North America. The Latin American shows ended in Bogotá, the tour's last stop, on 3 November. A total of 54 concerts took place. On 3 November 2018, "Nada" was released as the fifth and final single off El Dorado. In October 2019, Shakira was featured on a remix of Camilo and Pedro Capó's single "Tutu". Shakira's fifth live album, Shakira in Concert: El Dorado World Tour, was released in November 2019. Forbes ranked Shakira among the world's highest-paid women in music in 2019, at number 10. In January 2020, she released "Me Gusta", a collaboration with Puerto Rican rapper Anuel AA.

2022–present: Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran

In 2022, Shakira began releasing singles from her then-upcoming twelfth studio album. The lead single was "Te Felicito", a collaboration with Rauw Alejandro, released on 21 April 2022. The song was nominated for Record of the Year at the 23rd Annual Latin Grammy Awards. On 19 May she was granted the Special International Award with Apple Music at the British Ivors Academy's Ivor Novello Awards. On 31 May, the dance competition show Dancing with Myself premiered on NBC; Shakira served as an executive producer and judge alongside Liza Koshy and Nick Jonas. The series was canceled after one season. In June, Shakira released "Don't You Worry", a collaboration with Black Eyed Peas and David Guetta. "Monotonía", a collaboration with Ozuna, was released in October as the second single from her twelfth studio album. It was the most-successful Spanish language debut of 2022, the biggest female solo debut on YouTube, and the biggest song debut in Shakira's career.

On 11 January 2023, the single "Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53" was released, a collaboration with DJ Bizarrap. It reached number one in 16 countries, achieved 14 Guinness World Records, and peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100, marking Shakira's fifth top-ten in the U.S. and her first since "Beautiful Liar" (2007). She became the first woman to debut a Spanish language track in the top-ten of the chart. The song reached number two on the Billboard Global 200 and Global Excluding U.S. charts. A diss track aimed at Shakira's ex-partner, Gerard Piqué, the song achieved record-breaking success on streaming services and had a measurable cultural impact.

On 24 February 2023, the single ″TQG″ by Karol G and Shakira was released. Debuting in the U.S. at number 7, it broke the Guinness World Record for the highest-charting Spanish language track by a woman in the country. It debuted atop the Global 200, her first number one. Further singles from Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran, "Acróstico", "Copa Vacía", and "El Jefe" were released in May, June, and September respectively. On 29 July 2023, Shakira became the first woman to occupy the top three on the Latin Pop Airplay chart with "TQG" at the summit followed by "Acróstico" and "Copa Vacía" respectively. On 12 September, she received the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards and performed a medley of her hits. At the 24th Annual Latin Grammy Awards, she was nominated in seven categories, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Shakira became the first artist in the show's history to receive three nominations for Song of the Year in a single ceremony—with "Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53", "TQG", and "Acróstico". She won Song of the Year and Best Pop Song for the former and Best Urban/Fusion Performance for "TQG".

Artistry

Music executive Freddy DeMann, who managed Shakira's career from early 2000, spoke of her: " I was blown away by how gorgeous she was in person. She's a brilliant songwriter. She has an unbelievable voice; her vocal instrument is phenomenal and unique. She dances better than anyone out there, and she writes her own songs, sings her own songs, and she actually plays her own instruments. And she produces her own music. She's the whole package".

Music influences and styles, works

Shakira has been characterized as a "legacy artist". "The Colombian hitmaker", wrote the Billboard reviewers, "is intentional in her songwriting with raw lyrics, meticulous as a producer and an extraordinary performer bringing to life the songs that define not only her eras but those of women across generations." Her texts relate to women and their vulnerabilities. "Pushing the envelope" with "Se Quiere, Se Mata" on Pies Descalzos, "she sang about the dangers women face with unsafe abortions when there's no legal option". Shakira's vocal style was described as "warbling", her songwriting as "confessional", and the content of her verbal creations as "poetic". Her music is "underpinned by two things: rock guitar and Latin rhythms".

In 2017, Deutsche Welle journalist Kate Müser commented on Shakira's diverse artistic output: "Latin beats, spiced with Middle Eastern and other world elements and made comfortably familiar by being churned through the pop machine, make you feel like a citizen of the world". Müser quoted the Rolling Stone magazine's comparison of Shakira with her contemporaries and rivals, American female pop idols: "the stylistic breadth of Shakira's music – elements of folk, Middle Eastern and traditional Latin styles over a foundation of rock and pop – gave her a degree of credibility the American teen queens lacked". Müser wrote that Shakira's "globalized sound could be a healthy escape ... in times where national boundaries are being fiercely defended and cultural differences become points of contention".

From her early teens, Shakira was influenced by rock music, listening heavily to such bands and performers as Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Nirvana, The Beatles, the Police, The Cure, Tom Petty, and Aerosmith. According to Shakira, "Underneath Your Clothes" (2001) is where she shows her devotion to music of the Beatles. "I was so in love with that rock sound" – she said. Her other influences included Madonna, Sheryl Crow, Alanis Morissette, Janis Joplin, Billie Holiday, Marc Anthony, and Van Morrison. She cited Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence" as the song that made her appreciate the power of the electric guitar and "kick started her passion for music".

Shakira recalled her early convictions as follows: "There was no doubt for me, ever. Call it a premonition, call it an instinct. I was born to do this, to connect with a wide audience. The calling I have is the same reason why a dog barks. I always knew I would be a big performer and a public figure". Yet, she is a person of extreme humility, "hesitant to take credit for her own success", "bonded with her massive audience by sharing with them their awestruck worship of her public persona". She credited Gloria Estefan for "opening a big heavy door that was closed for many years" for Latin musicians in the U.S., facilitating the kind of progress that Shakira herself was able to make later.

Dance and stage appearance

Next to performing music, Shakira is dedicated to dancing. She credited her belly dance-derived dancing with helping her overcome shyness. Her distinctive style is said to combine Latin dancing with Middle Eastern belly dance, which she was exposed to because of her Lebanese heritage. As Shakira said, "because my father is of 100 percent Lebanese descent, I am devoted to Arabic tastes and sounds". She told MTV that she learned how to belly dance by trying to flip a coin with her belly. Her hip shaking is mentioned, for example, in Fifth Harmony's "Brave Honest Beautiful" song, where the girl group members claim they can "dance like Beyoncé" and "shake like Shakira".

In her earlier live performances, Shakira was noted for usually employing minimal production, taking to the stage with little makeup and, until and including the El Dorado World Tour, without or with few background dancers. She preferred to focus on her vocals, dance moves, and stage presence. In 2006 she confessed, however, to "getting lost in a cloud of hairdressers, make-up artists and assistants" for years, but declared "reclaiming her image" and doing her own make-up.

Shakira had spoken of being a "control freak", wanting to do and be involved with "everything" on "her ship" by herself. "So I get involved in every part of my career. I'm in total control. Sometimes I feel like my mind is going to explode, but I can't change it. I've tried to delegate, but believe me, it doesn't work". On being a perfectionist, she said, "I'm not as confident as people think. ... I still have that monster inside of me that wants to do everything better and right."

The stage has been the one and only place of public exposure where Shakira feels uninhibited. She greatly enjoys performing before large gatherings, but feels uncomfortable when the number of spectators is small. "The stage and crowd and lights and applause of the people dress me. Once you take that away and you're there with your voice—it's such a private, intimate act, the one of singing and exposing your soul." She easily and naturally connects and bonds with stadiums full of fans and demonstrates in such settings "boundless self-confidence".

Beginning in her twenties, Shakira dyed her black hair blond (first) and often performed barefoot (later). For her light-dyed hair (on account of which she has been called a "sellout"), she gave an interviewer the following explanation: "But it wasn't a calculated move. It wasn't like, Oh, I want to reach the American audience—let me be blonde and let me get a pair of blue contact lenses and bleach my skin. I didn't want to be white. I just thought my curls looked cool with a blonde, beachy style". However, a fan wrote: "she's got to dye her hair blond and bare her body ... to succeed in the United States". Between Shakira's MTV Unplugged (1999) and Roseland Ballroom (2001) Manhattan shows, with the Tour Anfibio transition intervening in 2000, her stage appearance and style changed dramatically. "Her previous look was just as pretty, but the new one is tougher and wilder", noted in December 2001 Frank Kogan in The Village Voice. To Ted Kessler of The Observer (2002), Shakira "did look like a Latino Britney", with her "all bleached blonde curls" and a "tiny 5ft frame", "but as soon as she opened her mouth, she slipped into gear and motored powerfully past Britney's breathy bump'n'grind".

Songwriting

Music industry executive and artist manager Merck Mercuriadis praised Shakira's songwriting footprint, saying in 2021: "what no one should ever take for granted is that she is one of the most serious and successful songwriters of the last 25 years, having written or co-written virtually every song she has ever recorded". Isabelia Herrera, a music editor, critic and curator, wrote of Shakira's "fascinating, idiosyncratic songwriting". Shakira has written several hundred songs, of which at least several dozen have become widely-known hits.

Singing

Shakira is a contralto and is known for her "unique and mesmerizing" singing voice, which includes her "trademark" yodeling. Ted Kessler described her as having "the range of an operatic diva". "She's a rock girl through and through. Her singing is full-throated and urgent, her manner commanding onstage or on record" – wrote in 2002 Evan Wright of the Rolling Stone magazine. Alexandra Zacharella wrote for the UT Tyler's College of Music Society that "Shakira's vocal stylings have been compared to Spanish yodeling and it is her very Arabic roots that shape her vocal inflections and the use of double harmonic scales and the Major Locrian scale in her compositions".

Instruments

In her pre-Laundry Service rock performances, Shakira played harmonica extensively. Professional guitar technician Drew Foppe, who has worked with Shakira on several of her tours, spoke on her instrument playing and competence:She can play the guitar just fine. She plays both acoustic and electric guitars on stage. There really isn't anything that happens on stage that she isn't in complete control over, from the tones, arrangements, and the overall look of everything. It's her baby, so to speak. She isn't really a gear nerd. However, she knows exactly what she wants things to sound like from every single instrument on stage. ... The aesthetics of how a piece of gear looks is just as important as how it sounds with Shakira.

Legacy

Shakira is a prominent figure in Latin and world music. Steve Huey of AllMusic described her (22 November 2009) as a "wildly inventive diva who created a cross-cultural pop sound rooted in her native Colombia but encompassing nearly every territory in the world. ... Noted for her aggressive, rock-influenced approach, Shakira maintained an extraordinary degree of creative control over her music, especially for a female artist; she wrote or co-wrote nearly all of her own material, and in the process gained a reputation as one of Latin music's most ambitiously poetic lyricists. When she released her first English material in late 2001, she became an instant pop sensation, thanks to her quirky poetic sense and a sexy video image built on her hip-shaking belly dance moves."

Fiona Sturges of The Independent named Shakira an "international phenomenon". "At the MTV Europe Awards in November" (2005), she wrote, (Shakira) "was the winner of the Best Female award, seeing off rivals Gwen Stefani, Alicia Keys, Missy Elliott and Mariah Carey". "With her Lebanese ancestry and English-language songs — with her huge bilingual hit 'Hips Don't Lie', done with the Haitian-American singer Wyclef Jean, for example — Shakira showed how universal a Latin artist could be. At the same time, in a difficult balance, she has tried to stay Latin American", wrote in 2009 in The New York Times Magazine Scott Malcomson. In 2018, The New York Times called her "a titan of Latin Pop", adding that "even as a new generation of Spanish-speaking artists are crossing over into American music's mainstream, Shakira's output stands alone". As the newspaper noted, "the seemingly ageless singer-songwriter" had produced, over almost three decades, rock, pop, and reggaeton.

Shakira's global success differs from that achieved by other famous Latino singers such as Jennifer Lopez, Gloria Estefan or Enrique Iglesias, because it has been accomplished by a star who grew up in South America, the first one of this type to crossover globally. "It was difficult for Anglo critics to decipher the differences between Latin Americans and U.S.-born Latinos, who grew up speaking and writing in English." Shakira's unprecedented expansion has inspired other Latin American artists to attempt crossing over into the U.S. music market. One example is Mexican pop star Paulina Rubio, of whom MTV wrote "there's no question that Shakira opened doors in this country for artists like Rubio to succeed". According to Spin, Shakira has paved the way for such Latin artists as Maluma and J Balvin to crossover. Lucas Villa summarized in the Paper magazine (2020): "In her wake, Colombia has become a hotspot for talent with recent exports like J Balvin, Maluma and Karol G. As Latin music continues to become a global force, we can't forget to remember Shakira's impact in the movement."

Monuments

In 2006, a six-tonne (6.6-short-ton), 5-metre-tall (16 ft) sculpture of Shakira was installed in her hometown Barranquilla in a park near Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez.

In July 2018, Shakira visited Tannourine in Lebanon, the village of her paternal great-grandmother and father. Accompanied by officials, she went to the Tannourine Cedar Reserve, where two trees were dedicated to her and a square in the forest was named after her.

In December 2023, Shakira's hometown of Barranquilla honored her with a 21-foot bronze statue. Creating the statue took five months of work by a team of over thirty people.

Achievements

Shakira has received numerous awards and recognition for her work. She is the recipient of four Grammy Awards and fifteen Latin Grammy Awards—the second most for a female artist. With over 95 million records sold by 2023, Shakira is one of the world's best-selling musicians. By the time she released Laundry Service in 2001, she had already sold 10 million albums in Latin America, according to Billboard. Three of her albums are among the best-selling Latin albums in the U.S.: Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 (8th), Dónde Están los Ladrones? (9th) and Pies Descalzos (23rd); she is the female artist with the highest number of best-selling Latin albums in the country. Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 had become the best-selling Latin pop album and the second best-selling Latin album overall of the 2000s decade in the U.S. Dónde Están los Ladrones? has also been one of the best-selling albums in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Mexico. Pies Descalzos has been among the best-selling albums in Brazil and Colombia.

According to Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems, "Hips Don't Lie" was the most-played pop song in a single week in American radio history, being played 9,657 times in one week. The song made Shakira the first artist in the history of Billboard charts to reach number-one spots on both the Mainstream Top 40 and the Hot Latin Songs chart in the same week (27 June 2006). She became the only artist from South America with number-one spots on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, the Australian ARIA Charts, and the UK singles chart. Shakira is the female artist with most top-ten hits on the Billboard's Hot Latin Songs chart (37). Her song "La Tortura" at one time held the chart's record for most weeks at number one, with the total of 25 non-consecutive weeks. She has also had most number-one songs on the Latin Digital Song Sales chart (18) and is the female artist with most number-one hits on the Latin Airplay chart (25). Nokia stated in 2010 that there were more Shakira music downloads in the prior year than of any other Latin artist; "She Wolf" was the top download. In December 2010, she was ranked number five on Billboard's "Online Video's Most Viral Artists of 2010" list, with 404,118,932 views.

In 2008, Shakira was named honorary chairperson of the Global Campaign for Education. In February 2011, at its Cultural Rhythms festival, the Harvard Foundation named Shakira Artist of the Year, awarding her its most prestigious medal. The foundation's director praised the nominee: "Her contributions to music and distinguished history of creativity have been applauded by people throughout the world, and she is greatly admired worldwide for her humanitarian efforts". The Harvard Gazette wrote of "Shakira's commitment to education and to the needs of those suffering around the world ... advanced through her humanitarian work".

Philanthropy, humanitarian work and politics

In October 1997, Shakira founded Fundación Pies Descalzos (the Barefoot Foundation), a Colombian charity. Funded by her and other international groups and individuals, the foundation builds and maintains special schools for underprivileged children in Colombia. The name of the foundation was taken from her third studio album, Pies Descalzos, released in 1995. The foundation is focused on aid through education; its schools across Colombia provide teaching and meals for children. On 3 April 2006, Shakira was honored at a United Nations ceremony for establishing the Pies Descalzos Foundation. Accepting the award, the singer said: "Let's not forget at the end of this day when we all go home, 960 children will have died in Latin America". Besides serving many thousand children, the foundation provides support and training for their parents and communities. Shakira personally supervises the operation, visits the schools, interacts with the children and other people involved. As of 2026, the foundation reported that its education programs had benefited more than 282,000 young people and supported more than 300 public schools across Colombia.

In 2003, Shakira became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and one of the global representatives of the UN children's agency. In December 2006, she became a founding member of Latin America in Solidarity Action (ALAS) Foundation, a coalition of artists and business leaders seeking to promote integrated early childhood public policies in Latin America and the Caribbean. She spoke of "a grand alliance, between the public sector and civil society, to protect the most fragile people in our population, the children". ALAS has organized huge concert events and worked with top politicians. At the 2007 Clinton Global Initiative, Shakira secured a commitment of $40 million from the government of Spain for victims of natural disasters. In 2008, she served as honorary chair of the Global Campaign for Education. In the December 2008 / January 2009 issue, People en Español declared Shakira the Humanitarian of the Year (a part of its Las Estrellas del Año awards). In 2010, she collaborated with the World Bank and the Barefoot Foundation to establish an initiative to distribute educational and developmental programs for children across Latin America.

In March 2010, Shakira was awarded a medal by the UN International Labour Organization in recognition of being, as UN Labour Chief Juan Somavía put it, a "true ambassador for children and young people, for quality education and social justice ... we are pleased to honor what you are doing". "We must act now. Together, we can make education and decent work for all a reality", Shakira told the hundreds of guests gathered at the ceremony in Geneva. In November 2010, after performing as the opening act of the MTV European Music Awards, the Colombian singer received the MTV Free Your Mind award for her continuing efforts to facilitate access to education for all children around the world. In the Spanish edition of the magazine GQ (October 2010), Shakira directed the words "we are all gypsies" to French President Nicolas Sarkozy. In the interview, she declared: "What is happening now to them (the gypsies) will happen to our children and our children's children. We must turn to our citizens to act for the fundamental rights of human beings and condemn all that seems to us indictable".

Other ventures

Shakira has engaged in different businesses and pursuits. She and the fragrance company Puig launched S by Shakira, her first beauty product and the first of Shakira Perfumes line, in 2010. Among the first perfumes released were S by Shakira and S by Shakira Eau Florale, along with lotions and body sprays. As of 2019, 30 fragrances had been released, not counting deluxe editions. On 17 September 2015, Shakira was featured as a playable bird in the game Angry Birds POP! for a limited time, and then in a special tournament in the game Angry Birds Friends. On 15 October 2015, Love Rocks Starring Shakira, a video game that featured her, was launched.

On 14 August 2015, at Disney's D23 Expo, it was announced that Shakira would play a character in the Disney animated movie Zootopia. She would give voice to Gazelle, the biggest pop star in Zootopia. Shakira also recorded a song for the film, titled "Try Everything", written and composed by Sia and Stargate and released in January 2016. The movie, premiered in February 2016, brought a record-breaking box office success in several countries and earned a worldwide gross of over $1 billion, making it the fourth highest-grossing film of 2016 and the 43rd highest-grossing film of all time. On 8 November 2024, Shakira announced that she would return as Gazelle for Zootopia 2; she was going to reprise her voice role and compose a new song for the film. The song, titled "Zoo", written by Shakira, Ed Sheeran and Blake Slatkin, became available on 10 October 2025 and the film premiered in November. Her sons provided voices for little bunnies in Zootopia 2. Zootopia 2 became Disney's highest-grossing animated movie ever, earning over $1.7 billion worldwide by early 2026; the "Zoo" track had over 500 million streams on all platforms.

On 21 September 2021, Shakira released the La Caldera NFT collection, which features four audiovisual pieces. The proceeds from the collection supported Shakira's Pies Descalzos Foundation. In December 2021, she was announced to be an executive producer for Dancing with Myself, an NBC dance competition series. The program aired in 2022. In October 2023, Epson announced a partnership with the "global icon Shakira ... a cultural influencer and change trailblazer". She became the company's brand ambassador for Epson Latin America. According to Keith Kratzberg, president and CEO at Epson America, "Shakira is an icon of creativity with unsurpassed passion for the people of Latin America". Epson stressed "the Colombian singer and songwriter's commitment to improving access to education for children in underprivileged communities". The partnership was envisaged to be a multi-year effort "across several communication channels and social media".

Personal life

In 2009, Scott Malcomson wrote in The New York Times Magazine article that Shakira's life was "relentless and unlikely". Her "normal manner is intense and preoccupied, with interruptions of bright enthusiasm". Her work ethics he called "somewhat extreme". (As Shakira told her Boston Herald interviewer in 2026, she keeps herself disciplined with rehearsals, "doesn't sleep much", but catches some sleep "whenever she can get it".) With fans, "she is all attentive patience". Malcomson commented on the subject of Shakira's "feminine allure", the factor that was "at once limiting and critical to her power". He mentioned the economist Jeffrey Sachs bringing the matter up in a speech at Columbia University. Malcomson listed some of the ways in which Shakira had dealt with and reacted to the issue of her attractiveness, in real life and in artistic creations: pleasant carelessness, rage and hunger, sheer athletic joy, easygoing self-confident lust, physical insecurity (the weight control pressure), and "an acute sense of the physical and mental pain of attraction".

Shakira expressed her thoughts on the reasons why she had worked so hard and for so many years on her professional development and career, what had been her "motivation to continue". In 2009 she told the interviewer about wanting, in her early years, to bring her parents joy, "to fill the void in their own lives" (because of the hard times the family had gone through). "Then, later, I wanted to make my own people proud, my home town, my country, this country that has gone through so many difficulties." She wanted to "make a difference". Eventually, she came to realize that she herself also mattered and her motivations did not have to be all external. "And now it's all for me", she said, "I guess that's why I'm still working, because this time I get to do it for me!"

Between 2007 and 2009, Shakira studied the history of Western Civilization at UCLA. In 2020, she announced her completion of an ancient philosophy course through the University of Pennsylvania, describing it as an impractical hobby of hers.

Relationships

In December 2024, Puerto Rican actor Osvaldo Ríos spoke of his past relationship with Shakira, which started when she was 20 and he was 36 (1997) and lasted nearly a year. He told of an "emotional and spiritual connection" between them and said that Shakira was very devoted to the Virgin Mary. They traveled together, often accompanied, "due to her family's traditional Lebanese roots", by Shakira's brother Tonino. Among the places they visited were Paris, Brazil and Puerto Rico. Although they wanted to get married, their respective careers eventually pulled them apart, as Ríos realized that "this bird had to fly very high" and encouraged Shakira to pursue her professional path without limitations. He named "Moscas en la Casa", "No Creo" and "Tú" as songs inspired by their romantic bond and by their love letters in particular.

Shakira began a relationship with Argentine lawyer Antonio de la Rúa in 2000. Antonio is a son of Fernando de la Rúa, who was president of Argentina from 1999 to 2001. In a 2009 interview, Shakira said, "The fact is, I'm not very traditionalist. We live together as husband and wife, we don't need anything to make it official. ... Why fix things that aren't broken?" They had been "engaged" from 2001, but the marriage had never materialized. Shakira kept saying, almost until the end, that she desired and expected a permanent union and family with de la Rúa. For a number of years, de la Rúa had managed Shakira's business and career.

On 10 January 2011, a statement bearing the names "Shakira and Antonio" in the signature field was published on shakira.com. "Since August 2010, we made a mutual decision to take time apart from our romantic relationship ... we view this period of separation as temporary ... as we continue to be partners in our business and professional lives ... Antonio continues to oversee and conduct my business and career interests as he has always done", she wrote. De la Rúa's civil litigation against Shakira was first reported in September 2012. He filed a suit against her in California in April 2013, asking for $100 million he claimed he was owed after she terminated her business partnership with him and his services in October 2011. His lawsuit was dismissed by a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge in August 2013. Two other lawsuits that de la Rúa filed against his former partner were also unsuccessful. Shakira also sued and a legal settlement of some sort may have been reached. Shakira's relationship with Antonio de la Rúa contributed to the existence of "Underneath Your Clothes", "Whenever, Wherever", "Día de Enero", and on its breakup, "Lo Que Más".

Tax controversy

In November 2017, Shakira was named in the Paradise Papers. It was disclosed that she was the sole shareholder of a Malta-based company used to transfer more than $30 million in music rights. Her legal representatives maintained that her use of the company was entirely lawful. Also in 2017, an investigation into Shakira's taxes was announced by the Spanish authorities. The prosecutors alleged that she failed to pay taxes in Spain between 2012 and 2014, a period during which she resided in Barcelona with Gerard Piqué. Shakira contended that her primary residence remained in the Bahamas during that time, that she was also engaged in international touring and was not legally a resident of Spain because of not having lived there for more than six months per year. In July 2021, a Spanish judge determined that there was "evidence of criminality" sufficient to bring her to trial on charges of tax fraud.

In 2021, the Pandora Papers revealed that Shakira submitted applications for three offshore companies in 2019. Her representatives told LaSexta that these applications were not intended to establish new companies but were part of the process of dissolving existing ones. They asserted that the companies had no income or activities and that Spanish authorities had been informed of their existence. Most of the artist's income had been generated outside of Spain.

Negotiations with the Spanish Prosecution Ministry took place, but in July 2022 Shakira refused the settlement offered (its terms were not disclosed), opting to go to trial to prove her innocence. Prosecutors requested an eight-year prison sentence and a €23.8 million fine for the alleged tax fraud offenses. The singer declared "a total violation of her rights". On 27 September 2022, a Spanish judge in Esplugues de Llobregat approved the tax fraud trial after prosecutors accused Shakira of failing to pay €14.5 million ($13.9 million) in taxes. She claimed she had already paid all owed amounts plus €3 million ($2.8 million) as interest. The Barcelona judge, Ana Duro, said the trial date would be set after she receives the necessary qualifying papers from both parties.

On 20 November 2023, at the commencement of the trial, a deal with prosecutors was finally reached and Shakira settled the case by paying a €7.5 million fine. In a statement, she cited her well-being and the interest of her children as factors influencing her decision. In May 2026, the Spanish National Court acquitted Shakira in a 2011 tax fraud case and ordered the government to return the over €60 million in fines and interest in relation to fines that were wrongly imposed in 2021.

Tours

Tour Pies Descalzos (1995–1997)

Tour Anfibio (2000)

Tour of the Mongoose (2002–2003)

Oral Fixation Tour (2006–2007)

The Sun Comes Out World Tour (2010–2011)

El Dorado World Tour (2018)

Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour (2025–2026)

Filmography