By the early 2000s, Colombian recording artist Shakira—real name Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll—had achieved popularity in both Spanish- and English-speaking nations. On February 2, 1977, she was born in Barranquilla, Colombia. Shakira started belly dance at a young age. Her parents are natives of Lebanon and Colombia. She began writing songs and participating in talent competitions by the time she was 10 years old. A local theatre producer gave Shakira the opportunity to perform for a Sony Corp. executive in 1990, and she later signed a record deal as a result. Her first two albums, Magia (1991) and Peligro (1993), had disappointing sales, though. Shakira took a break from recording to appear in the Latino soap series El oasis, but she returned to music in a big way with Pies Descalzos (1995). The album included the singles “Estoy here,” “Pienso en ti,” and “Un poco de amor,” among others.
Where Are the Ladrones? Shakira’s 1998 album had several well-remembered singles. Notably, she was the recipient of Latin Grammy Awards for both best rock vocal performance (‘Octavo d’s) and best female pop vocal performance (‘Ojos as’). She subsequently concentrated on making a name for herself in the American market. Her album MTV Unplugged (2000) won the Grammy Award in 2001 for best Latin pop album, and the same year, she also released Laundry Service, her first English-language album. Although some questioned Shakira’s ability to write songs in English (she wrote all the lyrics herself), Laundry Service was a worldwide success, selling more than 13 million copies. With the June release of the Spanish-language Fijación oral, vol. 1 and the November release of the English-language Oral Fixation, vol. 2, Shakira maintained her crossover success in 2005. Her single “Hips Don’t Lie,” which featured Wyclef Jean, peaked at the top of charts all over the world in 2006. Both of her albums debuted in the top five in the United States. She earned song-of-the-year and record-of-the-year honours for the song “La tortura” at the Latin Grammy Awards that year, while Fijación oral, vol. 1 won best female pop vocal album and best Latin rock/alternative album Grammy Awards. Oral Fixation Tour, a live recording, was released in 2007. Shakira performed in Hamburg as part of the Live Earth concert series that year, which was held all around the world to raise awareness of environmental sustainability and climate change.
She Wolf, Shakira’s subsequent English-language album, featured an electro-pop style. After “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa),” written in partnership with a South African band, was selected as the official song of the 2010 World Cup, she achieved another international success with it the following year.
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