Shakira
Encyclopedia
Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll (born February 2, 1977), known professionally as Shakira , is a Colombian singer who emerged in the music scene of Colombia
and Latin America in the early 1990s. Born and raised in Barranquilla
, Colombia, Shakira began performing in school, demonstrating her vocal ability with rock and roll
, Latin and Arabic influences with her own original twist on belly dancing. Shakira is a native Spanish speaker and also speaks fluent English and Portuguese as well as some Italian, French, Catalan and Arabic.
After commercial flops with local producers on her first two albums, and being little-known outside Colombia, Shakira decided to produce her own brand of music. In 1995 she released Pies Descalzos
, which brought her great fame in Latin America and Spain, and her 1998 album ¿Dónde Están los Ladrones?
was a critical success selling over 10 million copies worldwide.
In 2001, aided by the worldwide success of her first English single "Whenever, Wherever
" that became the best selling single of 2002, she broke through into the English-speaking world with the release of Laundry Service
, which sold over 23 million copies worldwide. Four years later, Shakira released two album projects called Fijación Oral Vol. 1
and Oral Fixation Vol. 2
. Both reinforced her success, particularly with the best selling song of the 2000s, "Hips Don't Lie
". In 1995, Shakira founded the Pies Descalzos Foundation
. It is a Colombian charity with special schools for poor children all around Colombia. During her career, Shakira has performed at a large number of benefit concert
s. Among the most famous are the Live 8 benefit concert
in July 2005, the Live Earth concert, Hamburg
where she headlined the show, as well as the "Clinton Global Initiative" created by former US President Bill Clinton
. She was also invited to the Oval Office by President Barack Obama
in February 2010 to discuss early childhood development.
She has won two Grammy Award
s, eight Latin Grammy Awards
, twelve Billboard Latin Music Awards
and has been Golden Globe-nominated. She is also the highest-selling Colombian artist of all time, and the second most successful female Latin singer after Gloria Estefan
, having sold over 60 million albums worldwide according to Sony Music Entertainment
. Her U.S. album sales stand at 9.9 million. In the fall of 2009, Shakira released her sixth studio album She Wolf
worldwide gaining a lot of critical praise for her eccentricity and writing skills. The album sold roughly 2 million copies around the world.
Shakira's "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)
", was chosen as the official song for the 2010 FIFA World Cup
. The song has received generally positive critical reception, and has become a worldwide smash hit and the biggest selling World Cup song of all time. On YouTube, the English version of the music video is the 4th most watched video of all time with over 415 million views. When she released her seventh studio album, the bilingual Sale el Sol
in October 2010, she gained back her Latin following, which Shakira described as being the main goal for the album. The album has sold over 2 million copies worldwide.
Since 2009, Shakira's musical career suffered from a strained relationship with her label Epic Records
, which resulted in lack of promotion and investment from Epic Records towards her two latter studio albums; She Wolf
(2009) and Sale el Sol
(2010). However, Shakira is to enter a bidding war from labels such as Interscope Records
and Def Jam Records after the release of her 2011 World Tour DVD, titled Shakira: Live from Paris
.
, Colombia. She is the only child of Nidia Ripoll and William Mebarak Chadid and is of Italian
, Lebanese
, Macedonian
, and Spanish
(Catalan
) descent. She has eight older half-siblings from her father's previous marriage. Shakira's father is originally from the United States, born in New York City, at the age of 5 his family moved to Sincelejo
from New York City then relocated to Barranquilla
.
Shakira spent much of her youth in Barranquilla
, a city located in northern Colombia. Shakira wrote her first poem, entitled "La Rosa De Cristal" ("The Crystal Rose") when she was only four years old. As she was growing up, she was fascinated watching her father writing stories on a typewriter
, and asked for one as a Christmas gift. She got her wish at age seven and continued writing poetry. These poems eventually evolved into songs. At the age of two, an older half-brother was killed in a motorcycle accident and at the age of eight, Shakira wrote her first song entitled "Tus gafas oscuras" ("Your dark glasses") which was inspired by her father, who for years wore dark glasses, to hide his grief. When Shakira was four, her father took her to a local Middle Eastern restaurant, where Shakira first heard the doumbek, a traditional drum used in Arabic music and which typically accompanied belly dancing. Before she knew it, Shakira was dancing on the table, she then knew she wanted to be a performer. She enjoyed singing for schoolmates and teachers (and even the nuns) at her Catholic school, but in the second grade was rejected for the school choir because her vibrato
was too strong. The music teacher told her that she sounded "like a goat". At school, she says she had been known as "the belly dancer girl", as she would demonstrate every Friday at school a number she had learned. "That's how I discovered my passion for live performance," she says.
When she was eight, Shakira's father declared bankruptcy. While the details were sorted out, she stayed with relatives in Los Angeles. On returning to Barranquilla, she was shocked to find that much of what her parents owned had been sold; as she later said "In my childish head, this was the end of the world." To show her that things could be worse, her father took her to a local park to 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." Between the ages of ten and thirteen Shakira was invited to various events in Barranquilla and gained some recognition in the area. It was at about this time that she met local theater producer Monica Ariza, who was impressed with her and as a result tried to help her career. During a flight from Barranquilla to Bogotá
, Ariza convinced Sony
Colombia executive Ciro Vargas to hold an audition for Shakira in a hotel lobby. Vargas held Shakira in high regard and, returning to the Sony office, gave the cassette to a song and artist director. However, the director was not overly excited and thought Shakira was something of "a lost cause". Vargas, not daunted, was still convinced that Shakira had talent, and set up an audition in Bogotá. He arranged for Sony Colombia executives to arrive at the audition, with the idea of surprising them with Shakira's performance. She performed three songs for the executives and impressed them enough for her to be signed to record three albums.
, was recorded with Sony Music Columbia
in 1990 when she was only thirteen years old. The songs are a collection made by her since she was 8, mixed pop-rock ballad
s and disco
uptempo songs with electronic accompaniment, however it was hampered by a lack of recording and production cohesion. The album was released in June 1991 and featured "Magia" and three other singles. Though it fared well on Colombian radio and gave the young Shakira much exposure, the album did not fare well commercially as only 1,200 copies were sold worldwide. After the poor performance of Magia, Shakira's label urged her to return to the studio to release a follow-up record. Although little known outside of her native Colombia, 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 perform their songs, and the winner was then chosen by a panel of judges. Shakira performed the ballad "Eres" ("You Are") and won the trophy for third place. One of the judges who voted for her to win was then 20-year-old Ricky Martin
.
Shakira's second studio album Peligro
was released in March, but Shakira was not pleased with the final result, mainly taking issue with the production. The album was better received than Magia, though it was also considered a commercial failure due to Shakira's refusal to advertise it. Shakira then decided to take a hiatus from recording so that she could graduate from high. In the same year, Shakira starred in the Colombian TV Series "The Oasis", loosely based on the Armero tragedy in 1985. Since then, the albums have been pulled from release and are not considered official Shakira albums but rather promotional albums.
Shakira returned to recording music under Sony Music along with Columbia
in 1995 with Luis F. Ochoa, using musical influences from a number of countries and an Alanis Morissette
-oriented persona which affected two of her next albums. These recordings spawned her third studio album but first official, Pies Descalzos
. Recording for the album began in February 1995, after the success of her single "¿Dónde Estás Corazón?". Sony gave Shakira $100,000 to produce the album since they predicted that the album would not sell past 100,000 copies. Starting with this album, Shakira began producing her own music, perfecting her vocals and most of all, practicing creative control over her music. Highly influenced by the American alternative market and British groups such as The Pretenders
, the album's songs are melodic, musically surprising and gritty, with intellectual lyrics and an electronic/acoustic blend that effectively broke the formulaic mold of Latin pop with an authentic sound that had not been heard before.
The album Pies Descalzos
, was released in October 1995 in South America and in February 1996 internationally. It debuted at number one in eight different countries. However, it only managed to reach number one-hundred-eighty on the U.S. Billboard 200
but reached number five on the U.S. Billboard Top Latin Albums
chart. The album spawned six hit singles, "Estoy Aquí
" which reached number two on the U.S. Latin chart, "¿Dónde Estás Corazón?" which reached number five on the U.S. Latin chart, "Pies Descalzos, Sueños Blancos
" which reached number eleven on the U.S. Latin chart, "Un Poco De Amor
" which reached number six on the U.S. Latin chart, "Antología
" which reached number fifteen on the U.S. Latin Pop Songs chart and "Se Quiere, Se Mata
" which reached number eight on the U.S. Latin chart. In August 1996, RIAA certified the album platinum status.
In March 1996, Shakira went on to her first international tour named simply the Tour Pies Descalzos
. The tour consisted of 20 shows and ended in 1997. Also in that year, 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. Pies Descalzos later sold over 5 million copies, prompting the release of a remix album, simply titled The Remixes. The Remixes also included Portuguese
versions of some of her well known songs, which were recorded as a result of her success in the Brazilian market, where Pies Descalzos sold nearly one million copies.
both gave the album a four out of five stars rating. The album has reached a peak position of number one-hundred-thirty-one on the U.S. Billboard 200 and held the top spot on the U.S. Latin Albums chart for eleven weeks. It has since sold over 1.5 million copies in the U.S. alone, making it one of the best selling Spanish albums in the U.S. Eight of the album's eleven tracks became singles, including "Ciega, Sordomuda
", "Moscas En La Casa
", "No Creo
" which became her first single to chart on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, "Inevitable
", "Tú
", "Si Te Vas", "Octavo Día
", and the world-famous, Arabic tinged "Ojos Así
". The latter two songs won Shakira one Latin Grammy each with six of the eight singles reaching the top 40 on the U.S. Latin chart.
Dónde Están Los Ladrones? has sold seven million copies worldwide. Shakira also received her first Grammy Award
nomination in 1999 for Best Latin Rock/Alternative Album
. Shakira's first live album, MTV Unplugged
was recorded in New York City on August 12, 1999. Highly acclaimed by American critics, it is rated as one of her best-ever live performances. The live album earned the Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Album
in 2001 and gained sales of five million worldwide. In March 2000, Shakira embarked on her Tour Anfibio
, a two-month tour of Latin America and the United States. In August 2000, she won an MTV Video Music Award in the now-defunct category of People's Choice — Favorite International Artist for "Ojos Asi". On September 9, 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 Dia", Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best Short Form Music Video
for the video for "Ojos Asi", but she won only two of the awards. Shakira's performance of "Ojos Asi" at the awards show was voted as the Greatest Latin Grammy performance of all time.
, Selena
and Enrique Iglesias
, the crossover of Spanish artists to the English market had a great surge of popularity in mainstream
music and it was the next logical step to Shakira and her label for her career. Shakira worked for over a year on new material for the album. "Whenever, Wherever
" ("Suerte" in Spanish countries) was released as the first and lead single from Shakira's first English album and third studio album throughout the period of August 2001 and February 2002. The song took heavy influence from Andean music
, including the charango
and panpipes in its instrumentation. The track was produced by Shakira, and it was an international success by reaching number one in most countries. It was also her first success in the U.S., by reaching number six on the Hot 100.
Shakira's third studio album and first English language album Laundry Service
(Servicio De Lavanderia in Latin America and Spain) was released on November 13, 2001. The album debuted at number three on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart selling over 200,000 records in its first week. Laundry Service was later certified triple platinum by the RIAA in June 2004 as well. and thus helped to establish Shakira's musical presence in the mainstream North American market. Seven songs from the album became international singles: "Whenever, Wherever" / "Suerte", "Underneath Your Clothes
", "Objection (Tango)
" / "Te Aviso, Te Anuncio (Tango)", "The One
", "Te Dejo Madrid
", "Que Me Quedes Tú
" and "Poem To A Horse
", with four of the singles becoming largely successful.
Because the album was created for the English language market, the rock and Spanish dance-influenced album gained mild critical success with some critics claimed that her English skills were too weak for her to write songs for it with Rolling Stone stating "she sounds downright silly" or "Shakira's magic is lost in translation." Shakira also was criticized by her Latin fans for seemingly abandoning her folk and rock roots in favor of contemporary American pop
music. Despite this fact, the album became the best selling album of 2002, selling more than 13 million copies worldwide. and became the most successful album of her career to date. Around this time, Shakira also released four songs for Pepsi
for her promotion in the English markets: "Ask for More", "Pide Mas", "Knock on My Door" and "Pideme El Sol", included in the extended play
, Pepsi CD
.
In November 2002, Shakira embarked on the Tour of the Mongoose
with 61 shows occurring by May 2003. The tour was also her first worldwide tour, as legs were played in North and South America as well as Europe and Asia. At Aerosmith
's MTV Icon
in April 2002, Shakira performed "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)
". Also in 2002, Shakira joined the likes of Cher
, Whitney Houston
, Celine Dion
, Mary J. Blige
, Anastacia
, and the Dixie Chicks
for VH1 Divas Live Las Vegas. In September 2002, Shakira won the now-defunct International Viewer's Choice Award at the MTV Video Music Awards with "Whenever, Wherever". Shakira also won the Latin Grammy Award for the category of Best Short Form Music Video for the Spanish version of the video. In October of that year, she won five MTV Video Music Awards Latin America
for Best Female Artist, Best Pop Artist, Best Artist – North (Region), Video of the Year (for "Suerte"), and Artist of the Year. In November 2002, Shakira’s label Sony BMG released her Spanish greatest hits compilation Grandes Éxitos
. A DVD and ten-track live album, called Live & Off the Record, was also released in 2004, reaching sales of 3 million worldwide, and commemorating the Tour of the Mongoose.
would be the executive producer of the album. It was later announced that the album would instead be two albums. Shakira's fourth studio album, Fijación Oral Vol. 1
, was released in June 2005. The lead single from the album, "La Tortura
" reached the top 40 of on the Hot 100 after being released in April 2005 and receiving large scale success on radio. The song also featured the Spanish balladeer Alejandro Sanz
. It also spent a record of twenty-five weeks at number one on the U.S. Latin chart. Shakira became the first artist to perform a Spanish language song at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2005 as well.
Contrary to low expectations, Fijación Oral Vol. 1 was extremely well received. It debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 157,000 copies in its first week. It has since sold over two million copies in the U.S., earning a 2x Platinum certification from the RIAA. Due to its first week sales, the album became the highest debut ever for a Spanish language album. After only a day of release in Latin America, the album earned certifications. In Venezuela, it earned a Platinum certification, in Colombia, a triple Platinum certification while in Mexico, the album exceeded shipments and was unavailable after only one day of release. The album sold over one million copies in three days worldwide. Four other singles were also released from the album. "No
", "Dia De Enero
", "La Pared" and "Las De La Intuición
", with each single reaching number one in countries worldwide.
On February 8, 2006, Shakira won her second Grammy Award with the win of Best Latin Rock/Alternative Album for Fijación Oral Vol. 1. Shakira received four Latin Grammy Awards in November 2006, winning the awards for Record of the Year
, Song of the Year
for "La Tortura", Album of the Year
and Best Pop Vocal Album
for Fijación Oral Vol. 1. Fijación Oral Vol. 1 has since sold over 4 million copies worldwide.
Before the release of Oral Fixation Vol. 2
, Shakira's second bilingual studio album, Shakira appeared at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2005 in Lisbon, Portugal, where she performed "Don't Bother
", the lead single from the album, minutes before winning an award in the category of Best Female Artist. "Don't Bother", however, failed to achieve chart success in the U.S. by missing the top 40 on the Hot 100. It did, however, reach the top 20 in most countries worldwide. Shakira's second English studio album and fifth studio album, Oral Fixation Vol. 2 was released on November 29, 2005. The album debuted at number five on the Billboard 200, selling 128,000 copies in its first week. The album has gone on to sell 1.8 million records in the U.S., earning a Platinum certification from the RIAA. Oddly enough, the album did not fare as well as its Spanish counterpart in the U.S., selling a few hundred thousand less records overall. Oral Fixation Vol. 2 has also gone on to sell over 8 million copies worldwide. The cover of the album featured Shakira as Eve with forbidden fruit was also considered controversial, and had to be altered in several countries which would not sell the album with that cover.
Despite the commercial failure of the album's lead single in the U.S., it went on to spawn two more singles. "Hips Don't Lie
", featuring Wyclef Jean
, was released as the album's second single in February 2006. The song went on to become the highest selling single of the 21st century and became Shakira's first number one single on the Billboard Hot 100, in addition to reaching number one in over fifty-five countries. Shakira and Wyclef Jean also recorded a Bamboo version of the song to serve as the official theme of the FIFA World Cup 2006. Shakira, along with the Red Hot Chili Peppers
, received the most nominations for the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards
with "Hips Don't Lie", but she won only the award for Best Choreography. Shakira later released the third and final single from the album, "Illegal" featuring Carlos Santana
, in November 2006. The single reached number one in some European countries and on the U.S. dance chart, though it failed to reach the Hot 100.Shakira embarked on the Oral Fixation Tour
, in June 2006. The tour consisted of 125 shows between June 2006 and July 2007. The concert also visited all six continents. One show in Mexico City
was performed for free, and earned an audience of over 200,000. This concert sets the record for the highest attendance of any concert in Mexican history. Shakira also performed on July 9, 2006 at the FIFA World Cup
final in Germany. In November 2007, the Oral Fixation Tour DVD was released and is also available in High Definition Blu-Ray format. The two versions of the DVD have sold over 16 million copies worldwide. In February 2007, Shakira performed for the first time at the 49th Grammy Awards and earned the nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for "Hips Don’t Lie" with Wyclef Jean, though she did not win the award.
, Shakira's father William Mebarak stated that Shakira was currently at work writing and producing new songs for her upcoming album. This was being done in "her own studio", which many fans thought to mean the studio at her home in the Bahamas. Shakira recorded 2005's Fijación Oral Vol. 1
and 2006's Oral Fixation Vol. 2
there as well.
After spending two weeks in London, Shakira flew to Colombia for a peace-promoting concert in Leticia (at the three way border of Colombia
, Peru and Brazil
) with Carlos Vives
. Followed by hundreds of thousands of fellow Colombians, Shakira was calling for the release of hostages being held by rebels in Colombia and an end to similar kidnappings in the region. Afterward, it was reported by Noticias Caracol in Colombia that Shakira returned to her home studio in the Bahamas and continued recording "a little something" with members of Vives' band. It was later confirmed that Shakira was working with the likes of RedOne
, Wyclef Jean
and Luis F. Ochoa on her sixth studio album. RedOne later stated that Shakira was in "an experimental phase" and that she had been working on the album in Los Angeles, Miami, Vancouver, London, Uruguay and the Bahamas.
In early 2008, Forbes
named Shakira the fourth top-earning female artist in music industry. Then, in July 2008, Shakira signed a 10-year contract with Live Nation
, an international touring giant. The touring group also doubles as a record label which promotes but does control the music their artists release. Regarding Shakira's contract, Jason Garner, the global music chief of Live Nation stated that: "Shakira is one of the few truly global artists. She can sell music and tickets in nearly every corner of the globe." Neither Shakira's representatives nor Live Nation would confirm the value of the deal, but people close to the negotiations said that depending on Shakira's performance over the 10 years, it is likely to be worth between $70 million and $100 million. Shakira's contract with Epic Records
calls for three more albums as well – one in English, one in Spanish, and a compilation, but the touring and other rights of the Live Nation deal were confirmed to begin immediately.
"She Wolf
", the lead single from Shakira's sixth studio album, premiered on July 13, 2009. Shakira wrote and produced the song with John Hill, and Sam Endicott
(lead singer and songwriter of The Bravery
). The Spanish version, titled "Loba", premiered on the same day as well. "She Wolf" and "Loba" then became available for digital download the following day. The video for "She Wolf" premiered on MTV on July 30, 2009. The single was successful worldwide, reaching number one in Latin America, number two in Germany, Ireland, Italy, Estonia and Spain, number three in Switzerland and Austria, number four in the UK, France and Greece, number five in Canada and Belgium, number six in Finland, number nine in Japan, and number eleven in the US.
Also in July 2009, Shakira's official website announced that "The full album is She Wolf
due out in October 2009 from Epic" and it "features a predominantly English track list". The site also announced that a Spanish album will be released in 2010. She Wolf
was released in October 2009 internationally and on November 23, 2009 in the U.S. The album received mainly positive reviews from critics, but only managed to sell 89,000 copies in its first week in the U.S., earning the number fifteen spot on the Billboard 200. It has gone on to sell only 300,000 records in the U.S., becoming her least successful album there. However, the album has been moderately successful worldwide, having been certified Gold in Russia, Ireland, Switzerland, Poland, France, Argentina, Greece, and Hungary, Platinum in Spain, the United Kingdom, and the Middle East, 2x Platinum in Colombia and Mexico, and 3x Platinum in Taiwan. To date the album has sold 1.5 million copies worldwide, becoming Shakira's least successful studio album to date in terms of sales.
The album's second single, "Did It Again
", was released in October 2009 and was originally due for a U.S. release, though this was later canceled. The single reached the top 40 in most countries worldwide. "Give It Up To Me
", featuring Lil Wayne
was released as the album's second U.S. single in November 2009 and reached the top 40 in Canada and on the Hot 100. The album's U.S. release was delayed in order for Shakira to record the song, which was originally due to be featured on its producer Timbaland
's album, Timbaland Presents Shock Value II and would have featured Shakira. However, she chose to record it for her album with Timbaland's rap verse being scrapped in favor of a verse from Flo Rida
. Plans for the single changed again when Lil Wayne
requested to be featured on the song, with this later happening. The album's third and final single, "Gypsy
", was released in February 2010 and reached the top 40 in Europe but failed to reach the top 40 in the U.S. or in South America, becoming a mildly successful single. In May 2010, it was confirmed through Shakira's official website that she will embark on a global tour. The site announced that the tour will begin in North America in September 2010. The post also announced the first three confirmed dates and stated that additional dates will be announced soon, adding that "The tour will bring Shakira's spectacular show to top arenas and a host of additional cities throughout the summer and fall".
It was initially announced that Shakira would release a Spanish album in 2010 after the release of She Wolf, similar to what she did with Oral Fixation, but Shakira later stated that the album would instead be a bilingual project, which will contain Spanish and English songs. She also stated that it was due for a September 2010 release. Shakira collaborated with the South African group Freshlyground
to create the official song of the 2010 FIFA World Cup
in South Africa. "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)
", which is based on a traditional Cameroonian soldiers' Fang
song named "Zangalewa
" by the group Zangalewa or Golden Sounds
. The song was made popular in her native Colombia in 1987 through west African DJs in Colombia. The single later reached the top 20 in Europe, South America and Africa and the top 40 in the U.S. and was performed by Shakira at the World Cup kick-off and closing.
Sale el Sol
has been released as Shakira's seventh studio album on October 19, 2010. In June 2010, during an interview with Billboard magazine, Shakira announced that her new album would be released in September. She stated in the magazine that "I see it [the new album] as having two currents," she stated. "One is a lot about love and love experiences and emotions. And the other side of it is very joyful, and upbeat." Shakira also revealed that the music on the album would reflect influences from both the Dominican Republic and Colombia. "It’s a little more Latin on one side and a little more rock ‘n roll on the other side," she stated. She later compared her new material to the Oral Fixation era's music, stating that she was "going back to basics" for the record. The lead single "Loca
", her version of the song "Loca con su tiguere" from El Cata
, was number one in many countries. She shot the video for "Loca" in Barcelona in August,. Shakira unveiled the official album cover on September 1. The album debuted at 7 on Billboard 200
in its first week, and at the top spot on the Billboard Top Latin Albums
. On December 6, 2010 Sony Music announced that the album had sold over 1 million copies worldwide in 6 weeks, and over 2 million since its release.
Shakira embarked on The Sun Comes Out World Tour
, from September 2010 to October 2011, in support of her two most recent albums. The tour visited countries in North America, Europe, South America, Asia, and Africa with 107 shows in total. The tour was met with positive reactions from critics, who praised Shakira's stage presence and energy during her performances. The tour has been broadcasted numerous times around the world, with her June 13 and June 14, 2011 concerts at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy
being recorded for the live album Shakira: Live from Paris
, set to be released worldwide on December 6, 2011. On November 9, 2011, Shakira was honored as Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year
and performed a salsa song "En Barranquilla Me Quedo" at the Mandalay Bay Events Center
.
In 2003, Shakira wrote a song called "Come Down Love" with Tim Mitchell
for the Hollywood movie The Italian Job
starring South African actress Charlize Theron
and Mark Wahlberg
, but the song was not included on the soundtrack of the same name. In late 2006, Shakira and Alejandro Sanz
collaborated for the duet Te lo Agradezco, Pero No
, which is featured on Sanz' album El Tren de los Momentos
. The song was a top ten hit in Latin America, and topped "Billboard" Hot Latin Tracks chart. Shakira also collaborated with Miguel Bosé
on the duet "Si Tú No Vuelves
", which was released in Bosé's album Papito
, which celebrates his thirty-year career. In early 2007, Shakira worked with American R&B singer Beyoncé for the track "Beautiful Liar
", which was released as the second single from the deluxe edition of Knowles' B'Day
. In April 2007, the single jumped ninety-one positions, from ninety-four to three, on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, setting the record for the largest upward movement in the history of the chart at the time. It was also number one on the official UK Singles Chart
. The song earned them a Grammy Award
nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. The song was one of Knowles' and Shakira's most successful worldwide, as it was particularly popular in Spanish-speaking countries such as Argentina
and Spain, where it topped charts.
According to Billboard, Shakira, along with Lil Wayne
would collaborate on a new track for Carlos Santana
's greatest hits CD titled Ultimate Santana
. However, this collaboration was cancelled, and Shakira and Lil Wayne were replaced by Jennifer Lopez
and Baby Bash. Shakira is featured on Annie Lennox
's song "Sing
", from the album Songs of Mass Destruction
, which also features other twenty-three other female singers. In late 2007, Shakira and Wyclef Jean
recorded their second duet "King and Queen". The song was featured on Wyclef Jean’s 2007 album Carnival Vol. II: Memoirs of an Immigrant
.
Shakira performed on January 18, 2009 at the Lincoln Memorial
"We Are One
" festivities in honor of the inauguration of President
Barack Obama
. She performed "Higher Ground" with Stevie Wonder
and Usher
. She also performed during the evening of January 20, 2009 at the Neighborhood Ball for the President's inauguration. The song she performed was Van Morrison
's "Bright Side of the Road
". It featured Shakira on harmonica. In March 2009, Shakira appeared on the album Cantora 1
by the Argentinian folk singer Mercedes Sosa
on the song "La Maza", which both singers sang at the ALAS concert in Buenos Aires in May 2008. Shakira wrote the lyrics and co-wrote the music for two new songs that are featured in the movie Love in the Time of Cholera
, based on the acclaimed novel by Colombian author Gabriel García Marquez
. García Marquez himself asked Shakira to write the songs. The songs that Shakira lent to the soundtrack were "Pienso en ti", a song from Shakira's breakthrough album Pies Descalzos, "Hay Amores" and "Despedida". "Despedida" was nominated for Best Original Song at the 65th Golden Globe Awards
but did not win. It was rumored that the song would also be nominated for an Academy Award, but it was not, with a source calling the fact that it was left off the nominees the Academy's "worst snub.
Shakira collaborated with the South African group Freshlyground
to create the official song of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)
". She headlined the closing ceremony on July 11, 2010 as well.
In August of 2010, Shakira recorded a song with Dora the Explorer
called "Todos Juntos." The song is featured on the soundtrack We Did It! Dora's Greatest Hits, which was released on August 17, 2010. The song was also featured on a Dora television special
titled "Dora's Explorer Girls" which aired on November 7, 2010 on Nickelodeon
.
El Oasis in 1994, playing the character of Luisa Maria. In December 2009, Shakira appeared as herself in the Ugly Betty
episode "The Bahamas Triangle
". In 2010, Shakira appeared as a fictional version herself in an episode of Wizards of Waverly Place
. She was also mentioned several times on The George Lopez Show
. She was invited personally by Gabriel Garcia Marquez to play a role in Love in the Time of Cholera
, but declined due to the nudity involved.
Shakira is well known for her dancing in various music videos and in concert. Her moves are based on the art of belly dancing, a part of her Lebanese
heritage. She often performs barefoot
. Shakira says she learned this form of dance as a young teen to overcome her shyness. She also mentioned in a MTV interview that she learned how to belly dance by trying to flip a coin with her belly. The intense training has afforded her a fluidity in her body movement most seen in the videos to her hits "Ojos Así
", "La Tortura
", "Hips Don't Lie
", "Whenever, Wherever / Suerte", "Beautiful Liar
" "and "She Wolf / Loba".
She has had several belly dance choreographers, including award-winning Bellydance Superstar
Boženka. As the MTV Making the Video
for "La Tortura" reveals, she worked with Jamie King
on the choreography, but ended up creating most of it herself.
Shakira became the 2010 celebrity spokesperson for the Freixenet
traditional Christmas TV commercial. Each year, this Cava company taps into a world-famous celebrity to be the face of its much-awaited holiday TV spot. For her latest venture, Shakira dressed up as a golden sparkling wine bubble, "This year, let's toast so that the sun shines more than ever. The best is yet to come. Merry Christmas." Shakira says in the ad. In a press conference in Barcelona
, Shakira presented the Christmas commercial, which will start airing in Spain on December 9. The singer also took the opportunity to announce that she used the $500,000 EUR ($662,085 USD) honorarium given to her by the Spanish bubbly to finance two schools run by her foundation, Pies Descalzos
. The partnership between Shakira and Freixenet also includes a Pies Descalzos Foundation promotional video, directed by longtime Shakira collaborator and fellow Catalan Jaume Delaiguana.
Shakira began her own beauty line, "S by Shakira," with parent company Puig, in 2010. The brand has released two perfumes, "S by Shakira" and "S by Shakira Eau Florale," along with lotions and body sprays. At a release event for the first fragrance, Shakira stated: "The type of women who feel a connection with this fragrance would be independent and strong, but also a woman with a great capacity to love and a strong sense of who they are. It's for a woman who believes in herself."
. It is a Colombian charity with special schools for poor children all around Colombia. It was funded by Shakira and other international groups and individuals. The name of the foundation is taken from Shakira's third studio album called Pies Descalzos
, released in 1995. During her career, Shakira has performed at a large number of benefit concert
s. In 2002 she sang at a Party in the Park
concert fundraising for the Prince's Trust
. That same year she performed at Divas Live
which supports VH1
's Save the Music Foundation. On July 2, 2005, she performed her hits "Whenever, Wherever" and "La Tortura" on the Live 8
benefit concert
at the Palace of Versailles
, near Paris. On July 7, 2007, the singer opened the German leg
of Live Earth
in Hamburg. Her set included "Don't Bother
", "Inevitable", "Día Especial" (with Gustavo Cerati
) and "Hips Don't Lie
". Shakira also performed at the "Clinton Global Initiative", where she performed her hits "Underneath Your Clothes", "Inevitable" and "Hips Don't Lie". On May 17, 2008 Shakira and twenty other Latin American and Spanish artists performed in Buenos Aires
and Mexico City
to raise money for Shakira's Latin America in Solidarity Action "America Latina en Accion Solidaria" (ALAS Foundation
) charity. This concert attracted 150,000 people in Buenos Aires. Although tickets were free, the demand exceeded the supply; some fans who were fortunate enough to secure free tickets resold them.
She has agitated against the implementation of the Arizona statute SB1070 against illegal immigration, saying that it goes against civil rights.
Shakira is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and is one of their global representatives. "Shakira, like all our Goodwill Ambassadors, was chosen based on her compassion, her involvement in global issues, her deep commitment to helping children, and her appeal to young people around the world. We're very pleased to have Shakira join the UNICEF family. I know she'll help bring UNICEF's mission to the audience who will have the most impact on our future – young people themselves", said UNICEF's Executive Director Carol Bellamy
.
On April 3, 2006, Shakira was honored at a UN ceremony for creating the Pies Descalzos Foundation. At the event, the singer said, "Let's not forget that at the end of this day when we all go home, 960 children will have died in Latin America." On September 28, 2007 at the Clinton Global Initiative, it was revealed that Shakira received a commitment of $40 million from the Spanish government to help the victims of natural disasters. An additional $5 million was to be donated to four Latin American countries, to be spent on education and health. As part of the May 2007 concerts, her ALAS Foundation
was able to solicit commitments of US$ 200 million from philanthropists Carlos Slim, Mexico’s richest man, and Howard Buffett
, son of U.S. investment guru Warren Buffett
, the singer announced on April 15, 2008. In December 2007, Shakira visited Bangladesh
to appeal for the victims of Cyclone Sidr
. She spent 3 days with the victims and visited children affected by the disaster in schools built by UNICEF and participated in the distribution of family kits and warm clothes. She said that little was left of the school she visited in the village of Mirzapur
, but it still provided an "oasis" for the children. "I am more convinced than ever that education is the key to so many of the difficulties that our children face in countries like mine or in developing countries like this one. It's the key to a better and safer world," she said.
Shakira served as the Honorary Chairperson for "Action Week" 2008 (April 21–27). The event is sponsored by the Global Campaign for Education
(GCE), to generate awareness about the Education for All Act. She spoke with the U.S. Congress
, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown
, and World Bank
President Robert Zoellick
to promote a move towards Global Education. Angelina Jolie
served as last year's chair. People En Español
announced in their December 2008/January 2009 issue that Shakira is the "Humanitarian of the Year" as part of their "Las Estrellas del Año" (Stars of the Year) awards. Shakira was also ranked at number 48 on the list of Top 50 Most Charitable Celebrities by OK!
magazine. It reported that she donates approximately $55,000 to charity yearly. On her 32nd birthday, Shakira opened a new $6-Million school in her hometown Barranquilla
, which was sponsored by herself and her Pies Descalzos Foundation
.
On December 7, 2009 Shakira was honored as a guest at the University of Oxford to give a speech about her work with children and education. She was chosen by the Oxford Union
and joined the ranks of Albert Einstein
, several US Presidents, Mother Teresa
, and the Dalai Lama XIV, as a chosen speaker. During the speech, Shakira said, "That is how I want the youth of 2060 to see us: That our mission for global peace consisted of sending 30,000 educators to Afghanistan, not 30,000 soldiers. That in 2010, world education became more important than world domination."
In March 2010, she was awarded a medal by the UN' International Labor Organization in recognition of being, as UN Labor Chief Juan Somavia put it, a "true ambassador for children and young people, for quality education and social justice." In November 2010, after performing as the opening act of the MTV European Music Awards, the Colombian singer also received the MTV Free Your Mind
award for her continuing dedication to improve access to education for all children around the world.
In February 2011, the FC Barcelona
Foundation and Pies descalzos reached an agreement for children's education through sport. On October 5, 2011, it was announced that Shakira joined members of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics. Shakira was honored as the Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year
on November 9, 2011 for her philanthropy and contributions to Latin Music.
. In a 2009 interview, Shakira stated their relationship already worked as a married couple, and that "they don't need papers for that." On January 10, 2011, Shakira announced on her website that after 11 years together, she and de la Rúa had separated in August 2010 after making "a mutual decision to take time apart from our romantic relationship." She wrote that the couple "view this period of separation as temporary and as a time of individual growth as we continue to be partners in our business and professional lives", with de la Rúa overseeing Shakira's "business and career interests as he has always done."
Shakira has recently been dating Gerard Piqué
(10 years younger centre back for FC Barcelona
). Shakira officially confirmed their relationship on March 29, 2011 via Twitter and Facebook posting a picture of the two with a caption reading, "I present to you my sunshine." It was the first time she'd ever spoken of the relationship.
, Valerie Domínguez. Shakira is a great descendant of the royal Macedonian Kingdom centered in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula. According to that, she is also a direct descendant of Alexander III of Macedon through her father's bloodline of Macedonian
ancestry.
and ¿Dónde Están Los Ladrones?
were a mix of folk music and Latin rock, while her cross-over English album, Laundry Service
and her later albums were influenced by pop rock
and pop Latino. Her 2009 album, She Wolf
is more like electropop and dance music
.
Her 2010 album, Sale el Sol
, is a return to her beginnings containing ballads such as "Lo Que Más" and "Antes de las Seis", rock songs like "Tu Boca" and "Devoción", and Latin dance songs like "Loca
".
n theme for her performance of "Hips Don’t Lie" at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards
in New York City. She has also been influenced by her Arab heritage, which was a major inspiration for her breakthrough world hit "Ojos Así
". She told Portuguese TV "Many of my movements belong to Arab culture." She also cites her parents as major contributors to her musical style.
In childhood, Shakira preferred rock and roll
music, listening heavily to her favorite rock bands like Led Zeppelin
, The Beatles
, Nirvana
, The Police
and U2
. She lists John Lennon
as her No.1 musical influence. She was also deeply influenced by The Rolling Stones
, AC/DC
, The Who
, The Pretenders
, Red Hot Chili Peppers
, The Cure
, Tom Petty
, Depeche Mode
, The Clash
, Ramones
, whose influence can be heard on her many prominent songs. In a recent interview to Elenco magazine, she noted that in her opinion the perfect songs are "Imagine
" by John Lennon and "No Woman, No Cry
" by Bob Marley
.
Shakira made several covers of prominent artists such AC/DC
and Aerosmith
, using them to sing in her tours, resulting in performances of "Back in Black
" and "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)
" during her Tour of the Mongoose. She also sang the classic Elvis Presley
song "Always On My Mind
" at the VH1 Divas Live. In her 2010–2011 tour called The Sun Comes Out World Tour
, she sings "Nothing Else Matters
" by the heavy metal band Metallica
in an oriental style. She is also strongly influenced by Andean music
and South American folk music
, using her native instrumentation for the Latin dance-pop "Whenever, Wherever" and "Despedida". Shakira recently performed two songs for two separate Haiti benefit events: "I'll Stand By You", by The Pretenders
, and "Sólo le pido a Dios" by León Gieco
.
In terms of Spanish language rock
Shakira is indebited to the Argentine rock
power trio
Soda Stereo
and to the Mexican American band Santana
.
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
and Latin America in the early 1990s. Born and raised in Barranquilla
Barranquilla
Barranquilla is an industrial port city and municipality located in northern Colombia, near the Caribbean Sea. The capital of the Atlántico Department, it is the largest industrial city and port in the Colombian Caribbean region with a population of 1,148,506 as of 2005, which makes it Colombia's...
, Colombia, Shakira began performing in school, demonstrating her vocal ability with rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
, Latin and Arabic influences with her own original twist on belly dancing. Shakira is a native Spanish speaker and also speaks fluent English and Portuguese as well as some Italian, French, Catalan and Arabic.
After commercial flops with local producers on her first two albums, and being little-known outside Colombia, Shakira decided to produce her own brand of music. In 1995 she released Pies Descalzos
Pies descalzos
-Personnel:* Shakira – producer, songwriter, vocals* Luis Fernando Ochoa – producer, mixer, songwriter, background vocals, guitar, keyboards, harmonica, percussion* Alvaro Farfan – director* Victor DiPersia – engineer, mixer* Camillo Montilla – engineer, piano...
, which brought her great fame in Latin America and Spain, and her 1998 album ¿Dónde Están los Ladrones?
¿Dónde están los ladrones?
-Personnel:* Shakira - Producer, Songwriter, vocals, harmonica* Emilio Estefan Jr. - Executive producer* Javier Garza - Producer, engineer, mixer, programmer* Luis Fernando Ochoa - Producer, songwriter, guitar, bass guitar...
was a critical success selling over 10 million copies worldwide.
In 2001, aided by the worldwide success of her first English single "Whenever, Wherever
Whenever, Wherever
"Whenever, Wherever" is a Latin pop song written by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira, Gloria Estefan, and Tim Mitchell for Shakira's first English language album, Laundry Service. The track was produced by Shakira, and recorded at Criteria Studios in Miami as well as Compass Point Studios in...
" that became the best selling single of 2002, she broke through into the English-speaking world with the release of Laundry Service
Laundry Service
Some critics criticized the effectiveness of Shakira's lyrics, claiming that her English skills were too weak for her to write in that language, but nearly all agreed on her unique poetic imagery...
, which sold over 23 million copies worldwide. Four years later, Shakira released two album projects called Fijación Oral Vol. 1
Fijación Oral Vol. 1
Fijación Oral Vol. 1 is the fourth studio album by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira. It is also the first Spanish language album released by the multilingual songwriter since 1998. The album has won numerous awards worldwide, including five Latin Grammy Awards and a Grammy Award. This album...
and Oral Fixation Vol. 2
Oral Fixation Vol. 2
Oral Fixation Vol. 2 is the fifth studio album by Colombian pop singer-songwriter Shakira, released on November 28, 2005 by Epic Records. According to her biography on her website and Epic Records, the album has sold 8 million copies worldwide....
. Both reinforced her success, particularly with the best selling song of the 2000s, "Hips Don't Lie
Hips Don't Lie
"Hips Don't Lie" is a Latin pop song based in a salsa and cumbia performed by Colombian singer Shakira and Haitian rapper Wyclef Jean, released in 2006 as the second single from Shakira's second English album Oral Fixation Vol. 2...
". In 1995, Shakira founded the Pies Descalzos Foundation
Pies Descalzos Foundation
Pies Descalzos Foundation is a Colombian charity founded by pop artist Shakira in 1997. with the aim of helping poor and impoverished children....
. It is a Colombian charity with special schools for poor children all around Colombia. During her career, Shakira has performed at a large number of benefit concert
Benefit concert
A benefit concert or charity concert is a concert, show or gala featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate humanitarian crisis. Such events raise both funds and public awareness to address the cause at...
s. Among the most famous are the Live 8 benefit concert
Live 8 concert, Paris
On 2 July 2005, a Live 8 concert was held at the Palais de Versailles, Paris, France.The event is also referred to as "Live 8 Paris" or "Live 8 France"...
in July 2005, the Live Earth concert, Hamburg
Live Earth concert, Hamburg
The Live Earth concert in Germany was held at HSH Nordbank Arena, Hamburg on 7 July 2007.-Running order:In order of appearance:*Shakira - "Don't Bother", "Inevitable", "Dia Especial" with Gustavo Cerati, "Hips Don't Lie"...
where she headlined the show, as well as the "Clinton Global Initiative" created by former US President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
. She was also invited to the Oval Office by President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
in February 2010 to discuss early childhood development.
She has won two Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
s, eight Latin Grammy Awards
Latin Grammy Awards
A Latin Grammy Award is an accolade by the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry. Unlike the regular Grammy Award which primarily honors music produced in the United States, the Latin Grammy honors works produced anywhere around the...
, twelve Billboard Latin Music Awards
Billboard Latin Music Awards
The Billboard Latin Music Awards grew out of the Billboard Music Awards program from Billboard Magazine, an industry publication charting the sales and radio airplay success of musical recordings. The awards began in 1990...
and has been Golden Globe-nominated. She is also the highest-selling Colombian artist of all time, and the second most successful female Latin singer after Gloria Estefan
Gloria Estefan
Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García de Estefan; known professionally as Gloria Estefan is a Cuban-born American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known as the "Queen Of Latin Pop", she is in the top 100 best selling music artists with over 100 million albums sold worldwide, 31.5 million of those...
, having sold over 60 million albums worldwide according to Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
. Her U.S. album sales stand at 9.9 million. In the fall of 2009, Shakira released her sixth studio album She Wolf
She Wolf (album)
She Wolf is the sixth studio album by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira, first released on October 9, 2009 through Epic Records and Sony Music Latin. The album sees Shakira shift from Latin pop and pop rock to electropop while also exploring dancehall...
worldwide gaining a lot of critical praise for her eccentricity and writing skills. The album sold roughly 2 million copies around the world.
Shakira's "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)
Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)
"Waka Waka " is a song by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira, featuring South African band Freshlyground. It was the official song for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, along with its Spanish language version, entitled "Waka Waka "...
", was chosen as the official song for the 2010 FIFA World Cup
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
. The song has received generally positive critical reception, and has become a worldwide smash hit and the biggest selling World Cup song of all time. On YouTube, the English version of the music video is the 4th most watched video of all time with over 415 million views. When she released her seventh studio album, the bilingual Sale el Sol
Sale el Sol
Sale el sol is the seventh studio album by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira, released on October 19, 2010. The album cover was released on August 31, 2010...
in October 2010, she gained back her Latin following, which Shakira described as being the main goal for the album. The album has sold over 2 million copies worldwide.
Since 2009, Shakira's musical career suffered from a strained relationship with her label Epic Records
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
, which resulted in lack of promotion and investment from Epic Records towards her two latter studio albums; She Wolf
She Wolf (album)
She Wolf is the sixth studio album by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira, first released on October 9, 2009 through Epic Records and Sony Music Latin. The album sees Shakira shift from Latin pop and pop rock to electropop while also exploring dancehall...
(2009) and Sale el Sol
Sale el Sol
Sale el sol is the seventh studio album by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira, released on October 19, 2010. The album cover was released on August 31, 2010...
(2010). However, Shakira is to enter a bidding war from labels such as Interscope Records
Interscope Records
Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that currently operates as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-History:...
and Def Jam Records after the release of her 2011 World Tour DVD, titled Shakira: Live from Paris
Shakira: Live from Paris
Shakira: Live from Paris titled Shakira, En Vivo Desde Paris in Spain, Latin America, and North America. is the upcoming fourth live album by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira. The album will be released on December 6, 2011 on three different formats including a live CD/DVD standard DVD, and...
.
Early life
Shakira was born on February 2, 1977 in BarranquillaBarranquilla
Barranquilla is an industrial port city and municipality located in northern Colombia, near the Caribbean Sea. The capital of the Atlántico Department, it is the largest industrial city and port in the Colombian Caribbean region with a population of 1,148,506 as of 2005, which makes it Colombia's...
, Colombia. She is the only child of Nidia Ripoll and William Mebarak Chadid and is of Italian
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
, Lebanese
Lebanese people
The Lebanese people are a nation and ethnic group of Levantine people originating in what is today the country of Lebanon, including those who had inhabited Mount Lebanon prior to the creation of the modern Lebanese state....
, Macedonian
Macedonians (ethnic group)
The Macedonians also referred to as Macedonian Slavs: "... the term Slavomacedonian was introduced and was accepted by the community itself, which at the time had a much more widespread non-Greek Macedonian ethnic consciousness...
, and Spanish
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....
(Catalan
Catalan people
The Catalans or Catalonians are the people from, or with origins in, Catalonia that form a historical nationality in Spain. The inhabitants of the adjacent portion of southern France are sometimes included in this definition...
) descent. She has eight older half-siblings from her father's previous marriage. Shakira's father is originally from the United States, born in New York City, at the age of 5 his family moved to Sincelejo
Sincelejo
Sincelejo is the capital and the largest city in the Colombian department of Sucre. It is also the main city in the denominated Región Sabanas , a subdivision of the Caribbean Region of Colombia, and the 23rd biggest city by population in Colombia...
from New York City then relocated to Barranquilla
Barranquilla
Barranquilla is an industrial port city and municipality located in northern Colombia, near the Caribbean Sea. The capital of the Atlántico Department, it is the largest industrial city and port in the Colombian Caribbean region with a population of 1,148,506 as of 2005, which makes it Colombia's...
.
Shakira spent much of her youth in Barranquilla
Barranquilla
Barranquilla is an industrial port city and municipality located in northern Colombia, near the Caribbean Sea. The capital of the Atlántico Department, it is the largest industrial city and port in the Colombian Caribbean region with a population of 1,148,506 as of 2005, which makes it Colombia's...
, a city located in northern Colombia. Shakira wrote her first poem, entitled "La Rosa De Cristal" ("The Crystal Rose") when she was only four years old. As she was growing up, she was fascinated watching her father writing stories on a typewriter
Typewriter
A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical device with keys that, when pressed, cause characters to be printed on a medium, usually paper. Typically one character is printed per keypress, and the machine prints the characters by making ink impressions of type elements similar to the pieces...
, and asked for one as a Christmas gift. She got her wish at age seven and continued writing poetry. These poems eventually evolved into songs. At the age of two, an older half-brother was killed in a motorcycle accident and at the age of eight, Shakira wrote her first song entitled "Tus gafas oscuras" ("Your dark glasses") which was inspired by her father, who for years wore dark glasses, to hide his grief. When Shakira was four, her father took her to a local Middle Eastern restaurant, where Shakira first heard the doumbek, a traditional drum used in Arabic music and which typically accompanied belly dancing. Before she knew it, Shakira was dancing on the table, she then knew she wanted to be a performer. She enjoyed singing for schoolmates and teachers (and even the nuns) at her Catholic school, but in the second grade was rejected for the school choir because her vibrato
Vibrato
Vibrato is a musical effect consisting of a regular, pulsating change of pitch. It is used to add expression to vocal and instrumental music. Vibrato is typically characterised in terms of two factors: the amount of pitch variation and the speed with which the pitch is varied .-Vibrato and...
was too strong. The music teacher told her that she sounded "like a goat". At school, she says she had been known as "the belly dancer girl", as she would demonstrate every Friday at school a number she had learned. "That's how I discovered my passion for live performance," she says.
When she was eight, Shakira's father declared bankruptcy. While the details were sorted out, she stayed with relatives in Los Angeles. On returning to Barranquilla, she was shocked to find that much of what her parents owned had been sold; as she later said "In my childish head, this was the end of the world." To show her that things could be worse, her father took her to a local park to 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." Between the ages of ten and thirteen Shakira was invited to various events in Barranquilla and gained some recognition in the area. It was at about this time that she met local theater producer Monica Ariza, who was impressed with her and as a result tried to help her career. During a flight from Barranquilla to Bogotá
Bogotá
Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
, Ariza convinced Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
Colombia executive Ciro Vargas to hold an audition for Shakira in a hotel lobby. Vargas held Shakira in high regard and, returning to the Sony office, gave the cassette to a song and artist director. However, the director was not overly excited and thought Shakira was something of "a lost cause". Vargas, not daunted, was still convinced that Shakira had talent, and set up an audition in Bogotá. He arranged for Sony Colombia executives to arrive at the audition, with the idea of surprising them with Shakira's performance. She performed three songs for the executives and impressed them enough for her to be signed to record three albums.
1990–94: Career beginnings
Shakira's debut album, MagiaMagia (Shakira album)
Magia is the official debut album by Colombian musician Shakira. The songs are a collection of material written by Shakira from the age of eight onwards. However, the release was hampered by a lack of recording and production cohesion, and therefore did not do well commercially. The album was...
, was recorded with Sony Music Columbia
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
in 1990 when she was only thirteen years old. The songs are a collection made by her since she was 8, mixed pop-rock ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
s and disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
uptempo songs with electronic accompaniment, however it was hampered by a lack of recording and production cohesion. The album was released in June 1991 and featured "Magia" and three other singles. Though it fared well on Colombian radio and gave the young Shakira much exposure, the album did not fare well commercially as only 1,200 copies were sold worldwide. After the poor performance of Magia, Shakira's label urged her to return to the studio to release a follow-up record. Although little known outside of her native Colombia, Shakira was invited to perform at Chile's Viña del Mar International Song Festival
Viña del Mar International Song Festival
The Viña del Mar International Song Festival is a music festival held annually during February since 1960 in Viña del Mar, Chile. It is considered the most important musical event in Latin America....
in February 1993. The festival gave aspiring Latin American singers a chance to perform their songs, and the winner was then chosen by a panel of judges. Shakira performed the ballad "Eres" ("You Are") and won the trophy for third place. One of the judges who voted for her to win was then 20-year-old Ricky Martin
Ricky Martin
Enrique "Ricky" Martín Morales , better known as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican and Spanish pop singer and actor who achieved prominence, first as a member of the Latin boy band Menudo, then as a solo artist since 1991.During his career he has sold more than 60 million album copies worldwide...
.
Shakira's second studio album Peligro
Peligro (Shakira album)
Peligro is the second album by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira. It was released in 1993, through Sony Colombia, when Shakira was sixteen years old. This album fared a little better than her 1991 debut effort Magia, but Shakira decided to take a break from recording and graduate from high school...
was released in March, but Shakira was not pleased with the final result, mainly taking issue with the production. The album was better received than Magia, though it was also considered a commercial failure due to Shakira's refusal to advertise it. Shakira then decided to take a hiatus from recording so that she could graduate from high. In the same year, Shakira starred in the Colombian TV Series "The Oasis", loosely based on the Armero tragedy in 1985. Since then, the albums have been pulled from release and are not considered official Shakira albums but rather promotional albums.
1995–97: Pies Descalzos and The Remixes
Shakira originally recorded the song "¿Dónde Estás Corazón?" (later released on her album Pies Descalzos) for the compilation album Nuestro Rock in 1995, released exclusively in Colombia. “Pies Descalzos” album brought her great popularity in Latin America by the hit singles "Estoy Aquí," "Pies Descalzos, Sueños Blancos" and "Dónde Estás Corazón." Shakira also recorded three tracks in Portuguese titled “Estou Aqui”, “Um Pouco de Amor”, and “Pés Descalços”.Shakira returned to recording music under Sony Music along with Columbia
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
in 1995 with Luis F. Ochoa, using musical influences from a number of countries and an Alanis Morissette
Alanis Morissette
Alanis Nadine Morissette is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and actress. She has won 16 Juno Awards and seven Grammy Awards, was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and also shortlisted for an Academy Award nomination...
-oriented persona which affected two of her next albums. These recordings spawned her third studio album but first official, Pies Descalzos
Pies descalzos
-Personnel:* Shakira – producer, songwriter, vocals* Luis Fernando Ochoa – producer, mixer, songwriter, background vocals, guitar, keyboards, harmonica, percussion* Alvaro Farfan – director* Victor DiPersia – engineer, mixer* Camillo Montilla – engineer, piano...
. Recording for the album began in February 1995, after the success of her single "¿Dónde Estás Corazón?". Sony gave Shakira $100,000 to produce the album since they predicted that the album would not sell past 100,000 copies. Starting with this album, Shakira began producing her own music, perfecting her vocals and most of all, practicing creative control over her music. Highly influenced by the American alternative market and British groups such as The Pretenders
The Pretenders
The Pretenders are an English rock band formed in Hereford, England in March 1978. The original band consisted of initiator and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde , James Honeyman-Scott , Pete Farndon , and Martin Chambers...
, the album's songs are melodic, musically surprising and gritty, with intellectual lyrics and an electronic/acoustic blend that effectively broke the formulaic mold of Latin pop with an authentic sound that had not been heard before.
The album Pies Descalzos
Pies descalzos
-Personnel:* Shakira – producer, songwriter, vocals* Luis Fernando Ochoa – producer, mixer, songwriter, background vocals, guitar, keyboards, harmonica, percussion* Alvaro Farfan – director* Victor DiPersia – engineer, mixer* Camillo Montilla – engineer, piano...
, was released in October 1995 in South America and in February 1996 internationally. It debuted at number one in eight different countries. However, it only managed to reach number one-hundred-eighty on the U.S. Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
but reached number five on the U.S. Billboard Top Latin Albums
Billboard Top Latin Albums
Latin Albums is a record chart published by Billboard magazine and is labeled as the most important music chart for Spanish language, full-length albums in the American music market. Like all Billboard album charts, the chart is based on sales...
chart. The album spawned six hit singles, "Estoy Aquí
Estoy Aquí
"Estoy Aquí" is a song written by Shakira and Luis F. Ochoa, released as the second single from her 1996 breakthrough album Pies Descalzos. It was her first successful worldwide single...
" which reached number two on the U.S. Latin chart, "¿Dónde Estás Corazón?" which reached number five on the U.S. Latin chart, "Pies Descalzos, Sueños Blancos
Pies Descalzos, Sueños Blancos
"Pies Descalzos, Sueños Blancos" is the third single of Shakira's third album, Pies Descalzos . Written and composed by her, "Pies Descalzos, Sueños Blancos" talks about all the rules that the human race has invented since Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit...
" which reached number eleven on the U.S. Latin chart, "Un Poco De Amor
Un Poco de Amor (song)
"Un Poco de Amor" is a song written and sung by Colombian singer Shakira, included in her international breakthrough album Pies Descalzos from 1995.-About the song:...
" which reached number six on the U.S. Latin chart, "Antología
Antología (Shakira song)
"Antología" is a Latin pop ballad written and performed by Colombian singer Shakira, released as single from her 1996 album Pies Descalzos. She wrote the song when she was 17, which can be heard on her Oral Fixation Tour DVD....
" which reached number fifteen on the U.S. Latin Pop Songs chart and "Se Quiere, Se Mata
Se Quiere, Se Mata
"Se Quiere, Se Mata" is the fifth single released from Shakira's third album, Pies Descalzos . Written and composed by herself, "Se Quiere, Se Mata" was a Top Ten Hit in Mexico and on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks in the United States. The song laments the story of a young couple, Braulio and...
" which reached number eight on the U.S. Latin chart. In August 1996, RIAA certified the album platinum status.
In March 1996, Shakira went on to her first international tour named simply the Tour Pies Descalzos
Tour Pies Descalzos
The Tour Pies Descalzos was the debut concert tour by Colombian singer/songwriter Shakira that took place in 1996 and 1997. There's no much information about this tour, but this is the most complete information throughout the internet....
. The tour consisted of 20 shows and ended in 1997. Also in that year, Shakira received three Billboard Latin Music Awards
Billboard Latin Music Awards
The Billboard Latin Music Awards grew out of the Billboard Music Awards program from Billboard Magazine, an industry publication charting the sales and radio airplay success of musical recordings. The awards began in 1990...
for Album of the Year for Pies Descalzos, Video of the Year for "Estoy Aqui" and Best New Artist. Pies Descalzos later sold over 5 million copies, prompting the release of a remix album, simply titled The Remixes. The Remixes also included Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
versions of some of her well known songs, which were recorded as a result of her success in the Brazilian market, where Pies Descalzos sold nearly one million copies.
1998–2000: Dónde Están Los Ladrones? and MTV Unplugged
Her second official studio album, Dónde Están Los Ladrones?, produced entirely by Shakira herself and Emilio Estefan, Jr. as the executive producer, was released in September 1998. The album, inspired by an incident in an airport in which a suitcase full of her written lyrics was stolen, became a bigger hit than Pies Descalzos. Allmusic and Rolling StoneRolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
both gave the album a four out of five stars rating. The album has reached a peak position of number one-hundred-thirty-one on the U.S. Billboard 200 and held the top spot on the U.S. Latin Albums chart for eleven weeks. It has since sold over 1.5 million copies in the U.S. alone, making it one of the best selling Spanish albums in the U.S. Eight of the album's eleven tracks became singles, including "Ciega, Sordomuda
Ciega, Sordomuda
"Ciega, Sordomuda" is a Latin pop song written and performed by Colombian-born singer Shakira, released as the first single from her 1998 multi-platinum album Dónde Están los Ladrones?....
", "Moscas En La Casa
Moscas en la Casa
"Moscas en la Casa" is a Latin pop ballad written and performed by Colombian singer Shakira, released as the fifth single from her 1998 multi-platinum album Dónde están los ladrones?....
", "No Creo
No Creo
"No Creo" is a song written and performed by the Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira. The song was released as a single from her multi-platinum album Dónde Están los Ladrones? and later from her acoustic performance of the song on the MTV show Unplugged . On the song, the singer express how she...
" which became her first single to chart on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, "Inevitable
Inevitable (Shakira song)
"Inevitable" is a Latin rock song written and performed by Colombian-born singer Shakira, released as the third single from her 1998 multi-platinum album Dónde Están los Ladrones?....
", "Tú
Tú (song)
"Tú" is a song written and performed by the Colombian-born musician Shakira. It is found on her fourth studio album, ¿Dónde están los ladrones? . "Tú" was released as the second single of the album, and just like its predecessor, "Ciega, Sordomuda", it reached #1 at the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks...
", "Si Te Vas", "Octavo Día
Octavo Día
"Octavo Día" is a song written and performed by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira. The song was released only as a radio single in some countries from her multi-platinum album Dónde Están los Ladrones? , but received more attention when it created controversy while performed live in her...
", and the world-famous, Arabic tinged "Ojos Así
Ojos Así
"Ojos Así" is a song in Spanish by Colombian singer Shakira, and was released as the fourth single from her album ¿Dónde Están los Ladrones? on July 23, 1999. Today, "Ojos Así" is one of Shakira's most successful songs of her career...
". The latter two songs won Shakira one Latin Grammy each with six of the eight singles reaching the top 40 on the U.S. Latin chart.
Dónde Están Los Ladrones? has sold seven million copies worldwide. Shakira also received her first Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nomination in 1999 for Best Latin Rock/Alternative Album
Grammy Award for Best Latin Rock/Alternative Album
The Grammy Award for Best Latin Rock/Alternative Album was an honor presented to recording artists for quality albums in the Latin rock and alternative music genres at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards...
. Shakira's first live album, MTV Unplugged
MTV Unplugged (Shakira album)
Bonus Features# Timeline# Albums# Photo Gallery# Making Of - Chart Performance :- Sales and certifications :- Awards :- Credits :* Shakira - Producer, songwriter, arranger, lead vocals, harmonica, guitar....
was recorded in New York City on August 12, 1999. Highly acclaimed by American critics, it is rated as one of her best-ever live performances. The live album earned the Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Album
Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Album
The Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Album was awarded from 1984 to 2011. The award has had several minor name changes:*From 1984 to 1991 the award was known as Best Latin Pop Performance*From 1992 to 1994 it was awarded as Best Latin Pop Album...
in 2001 and gained sales of five million worldwide. In March 2000, Shakira embarked on her Tour Anfibio
Tour Anfibio
Tour Anfibio is the name of the two-month long concert tour by Colombian singer Shakira that started on March 21, 2000 in Lima , and ended on May 12 in Buenos Aires .-Background information:...
, a two-month tour of Latin America and the United States. In August 2000, she won an MTV Video Music Award in the now-defunct category of People's Choice — Favorite International Artist for "Ojos Asi". On September 9, 2000, Shakira performed "Ojos Así" at the inaugural ceremony of the Latin Grammy Awards
Latin Grammy Awards
A Latin Grammy Award is an accolade by the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry. Unlike the regular Grammy Award which primarily honors music produced in the United States, the Latin Grammy honors works produced anywhere around the...
, where she was nominated in five categories: Album of the Year
Latin Grammy Award for Album of the Year
The Latin Grammy Award for Album of the Year is an honor presented annually at the Latin Grammy Awards, a ceremony that recognizes excellence and creates a wider awareness of cultural diversity and contributions of Latin recording artists in the United States and internationally...
and Best Pop Vocal Album
Latin Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album, Female
The Latin Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Album is an honor presented annually at the Latin Grammy Awards, a ceremony that recognizes excellence and creates a wider awareness of cultural diversity and contributions of Latin recording artists, in the United States and internationally...
for MTV Unplugged, Best Female Rock Vocal Performance for "Octavo Dia", Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best Short Form Music Video
Latin Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video
The Latin Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video is given every year since the 1st Latin Grammy Awards ceremony. The award is given to the performer, director and producer of the video.-2010s:-2000s:...
for the video for "Ojos Asi", but she won only two of the awards. Shakira's performance of "Ojos Asi" at the awards show was voted as the Greatest Latin Grammy performance of all time.
2001–04: Laundry Service and international success
Upon the success of Dónde Están Los Ladrones? and MTV Unplugged, Shakira began working on an English crossover album. Thanks to other successful crossover acts, most notably that of Ricky MartinRicky Martin
Enrique "Ricky" Martín Morales , better known as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican and Spanish pop singer and actor who achieved prominence, first as a member of the Latin boy band Menudo, then as a solo artist since 1991.During his career he has sold more than 60 million album copies worldwide...
, Selena
Selena
Selena Quintanilla-Pérez , known simply as Selena, was a Mexican American singer-songwriter. She was named the "top Latin artist of the '90s" and "Best selling Latin artist of the decade" by Billboard for her fourteen top-ten singles in the Top Latin Songs chart, including seven number-one hits...
and Enrique Iglesias
Enrique Iglesias
Enrique Iglesias is a Spanish pop music singer, a son of singer Julio Iglesias.Enrique started his musical career on Mexican label Fonovisa...
, the crossover of Spanish artists to the English market had a great surge of popularity in mainstream
Mainstream
Mainstream is, generally, the common current thought of the majority. However, the mainstream is far from cohesive; rather the concept is often considered a cultural construct....
music and it was the next logical step to Shakira and her label for her career. Shakira worked for over a year on new material for the album. "Whenever, Wherever
Whenever, Wherever
"Whenever, Wherever" is a Latin pop song written by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira, Gloria Estefan, and Tim Mitchell for Shakira's first English language album, Laundry Service. The track was produced by Shakira, and recorded at Criteria Studios in Miami as well as Compass Point Studios in...
" ("Suerte" in Spanish countries) was released as the first and lead single from Shakira's first English album and third studio album throughout the period of August 2001 and February 2002. The song took heavy influence from Andean music
Andean music
Andean music comes from the general area inhabited by Quechuas, Aymaras and other peoples that lived roughly in the area of the Inca Empire prior to European contact. It includes folklore music of parts of Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela...
, including the charango
Charango
The charango is a small Andean stringed instrument of the lute family, 66 cm long, traditionally made with the shell of the back of an armadillo. Primarily played in traditional Andean music, and is sometimes used by other Latin American musicians. Many contemporary charangos are now made with...
and panpipes in its instrumentation. The track was produced by Shakira, and it was an international success by reaching number one in most countries. It was also her first success in the U.S., by reaching number six on the Hot 100.
Shakira's third studio album and first English language album Laundry Service
Laundry Service
Some critics criticized the effectiveness of Shakira's lyrics, claiming that her English skills were too weak for her to write in that language, but nearly all agreed on her unique poetic imagery...
(Servicio De Lavanderia in Latin America and Spain) was released on November 13, 2001. The album debuted at number three on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart selling over 200,000 records in its first week. Laundry Service was later certified triple platinum by the RIAA in June 2004 as well. and thus helped to establish Shakira's musical presence in the mainstream North American market. Seven songs from the album became international singles: "Whenever, Wherever" / "Suerte", "Underneath Your Clothes
Underneath Your Clothes
"Underneath Your Clothes" is a power ballad by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira - the second English language single released from Laundry Service . It is a love song with lyrics by Shakira and music by her and Lester Mendez and tells the story of the unconditional love that a woman has for her...
", "Objection (Tango)
Objection (Tango)
"Objection " and "Te Aviso, Te Anuncio " are Latin pop-rock/tango songs written and composed by the Colombian pop star Shakira for her 2001 breakthrough English language album, Laundry Service.-Background and structure:...
" / "Te Aviso, Te Anuncio (Tango)", "The One
The One (Shakira song)
"The One" is a song recorded, written, and produced by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira for her first English-language studio album, Laundry Service. The track was released as the album's fourth single in 2003 in many European countries, but not in the United States...
", "Te Dejo Madrid
Te Dejo Madrid
"Te Dejo Madrid" is a song written by Colombian singer Shakira about the city of Madrid, the capital of Spain. The music video for it featured the singer as a bullfighter. It was featured on her English breakthrough album Laundry Service. Although it was released as the fifth single in a lot of...
", "Que Me Quedes Tú
Que Me Quedes Tú
"Que Me Quedes Tú" is a soft-rock song written and performed by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira for her 2001 breakthrough English album Laundry Service. She released it as the only promotional single from the album...
" and "Poem To A Horse
Poem to a Horse
"Poem to a Horse" is a rock song written and performed by Colombian-born singer Shakira, released as the main single from her 2004 tour album Live & Off the Record.-Versions:...
", with four of the singles becoming largely successful.
Because the album was created for the English language market, the rock and Spanish dance-influenced album gained mild critical success with some critics claimed that her English skills were too weak for her to write songs for it with Rolling Stone stating "she sounds downright silly" or "Shakira's magic is lost in translation." Shakira also was criticized by her Latin fans for seemingly abandoning her folk and rock roots in favor of contemporary American pop
American pop
American pop is a vague and nebulous term, applied generally to whatever form of music is most popular among mainstream American teenage audiences. Adolescents are an especially important audience, both because of their relatively large amount of discretionary spending, and their fervent devotion...
music. Despite this fact, the album became the best selling album of 2002, selling more than 13 million copies worldwide. and became the most successful album of her career to date. Around this time, Shakira also released four songs for Pepsi
Pepsi
Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink that is produced and manufactured by PepsiCo...
for her promotion in the English markets: "Ask for More", "Pide Mas", "Knock on My Door" and "Pideme El Sol", included in the extended play
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, Pepsi CD
Pepsi CD
The Pepsi E.P. is the debut extended play released by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira. The EP was released on October 4, 2003. It contains five songs featured in Pepsi commercials containing Shakira, as she was the Pepsi spokesperson in the United Kingdom and Latin America during 2003...
.
In November 2002, Shakira embarked on the Tour of the Mongoose
Tour of the Mongoose
-Tour Dates:-Broadcast and recordings:The tour was shot in Rotterdam, The Netherlands on April 22, 2003.The tour was chronicled on Live & off the Record. The disc included the concert along with a documentary showing the performer preparing for the show, her song writing process and her ideas about...
with 61 shows occurring by May 2003. The tour was also her first worldwide tour, as legs were played in North and South America as well as Europe and Asia. At Aerosmith
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...
's MTV Icon
MTV Icon
MTV Icon was a series of annual television specials produced by MTV between 2001 and 2004, each paying homage to a musical artist or band selected as a cultural icon, in a format similar to the network's annual Video Music Awards and Movie Awards events...
in April 2002, Shakira performed "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)
Dude (Looks Like a Lady)
"Dude " is a song by United States hard rock band Aerosmith. It was released as the first of three singles from the Permanent Vacation album in 1987. It reached #14 on the Billboard Hot 100, #41 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart, #4 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, and peaked at #45 on the UK...
". Also in 2002, Shakira joined the likes of Cher
Cher
Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
, Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...
, Celine Dion
Celine Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record...
, Mary J. Blige
Mary J. Blige
Mary Jane Blige is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and occasional actress. She is a recipient of nine Grammy Awards and four American Music Awards, and has recorded eight multi-platinum albums. She is the only artist with Grammy Award wins in Pop, Rap, Gospel, and R&B. Blige has...
, Anastacia
Anastacia
Anastacia is an American singer-songwriter. Anastacia has been highly successful in Europe, Asia, South Africa and South America, but has had only minor success in her native United States...
, and the Dixie Chicks
Dixie Chicks
The Dixie Chicks are an American country band which has also successfully crossed over into other genres. The band is composed of founding members Martie Erwin Maguire and Emily Erwin Robison, and lead singer Natalie Maines...
for VH1 Divas Live Las Vegas. In September 2002, Shakira won the now-defunct International Viewer's Choice Award at the MTV Video Music Awards with "Whenever, Wherever". Shakira also won the Latin Grammy Award for the category of Best Short Form Music Video for the Spanish version of the video. In October of that year, she won five MTV Video Music Awards Latin America
MTV Video Music Awards Latin America
Premios MTV Latinoamérica was the Latin American version of the Video Music Awards. They were established in 2002 to celebrate the top music videos of the year in Latin America and the world. They are presented annually and broadcast live on MTV Networks Latin America...
for Best Female Artist, Best Pop Artist, Best Artist – North (Region), Video of the Year (for "Suerte"), and Artist of the Year. In November 2002, Shakira’s label Sony BMG released her Spanish greatest hits compilation Grandes Éxitos
Grandes Éxitos (Shakira album)
-Personnel:* Shakira - Producer, vocals, guitar* Emilio Estefan Jr. - Executive producer* Tim Mitchell — Compilation producer* Luis Fernando Ochoa — Producer, songwriter* Lester Mendez — Producer* Pablo Florez — Producer, songwriter* Javier Garza — Producer...
. A DVD and ten-track live album, called Live & Off the Record, was also released in 2004, reaching sales of 3 million worldwide, and commemorating the Tour of the Mongoose.
2005–08: Fijación Oral Vol. 1 and Oral Fixation Vol. 2
After promotion for Shakira's third studio album ended in 2003, Shakira chose to step out of the spotlight to record new music. Many possible release dates for her fourth studio album were announced but later delayed until early 2005 when Shakira announced the title of her fourth record and that Rick RubinRick Rubin
Frederick Jay "Rick" Rubin is an American record producer and the co-president of Columbia Records. Along with Russell Simmons, Rubin was the co-founder of Def Jam Records and also established American Recordings...
would be the executive producer of the album. It was later announced that the album would instead be two albums. Shakira's fourth studio album, Fijación Oral Vol. 1
Fijación Oral Vol. 1
Fijación Oral Vol. 1 is the fourth studio album by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira. It is also the first Spanish language album released by the multilingual songwriter since 1998. The album has won numerous awards worldwide, including five Latin Grammy Awards and a Grammy Award. This album...
, was released in June 2005. The lead single from the album, "La Tortura
La Tortura
"" is a Latin pop-reggaeton song performed by singers Shakira and Alejandro Sanz. It was recorded for Shakira's sixth studio album , released on June 7, 2005...
" reached the top 40 of on the Hot 100 after being released in April 2005 and receiving large scale success on radio. The song also featured the Spanish balladeer Alejandro Sanz
Alejandro Sanz
Alejandro Sanz , is a Spanish singer-songwriter and musician. For his work, Sanz has won a total of fifteen Latin Grammy Awards and three Grammy Awards. He has won the Latin Grammy for Album of the Year three times, more than any other artist...
. It also spent a record of twenty-five weeks at number one on the U.S. Latin chart. Shakira became the first artist to perform a Spanish language song at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2005 as well.
Contrary to low expectations, Fijación Oral Vol. 1 was extremely well received. It debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 157,000 copies in its first week. It has since sold over two million copies in the U.S., earning a 2x Platinum certification from the RIAA. Due to its first week sales, the album became the highest debut ever for a Spanish language album. After only a day of release in Latin America, the album earned certifications. In Venezuela, it earned a Platinum certification, in Colombia, a triple Platinum certification while in Mexico, the album exceeded shipments and was unavailable after only one day of release. The album sold over one million copies in three days worldwide. Four other singles were also released from the album. "No
No (song)
"No" is a song by Shakira, released as the second single from her sixth studio album, Fijación Oral Vol. 1, in late 2005. The song features Gustavo Cerati in guitar and backing vocals.-Background and chart performance:...
", "Dia De Enero
Día de Enero
"" is the third single released from Shakira's 2005 album , following "" and "".-Song information:Written and composed by Shakira herself, "" is a love song that tells about how she met her boyfriend, Antonio de la Rúa on a January day...
", "La Pared" and "Las De La Intuición
Las de la Intuición
"Las de la Intuición" is a pop song written by Shakira and Luis Fernando Ochoa for Shakira's 2005 album Fijación Oral Vol. 1. An English version titled "Pure Intuition" did not appear on the album, but it became famous because it was the main theme of the SEAT's campaign "Catch The Fever"...
", with each single reaching number one in countries worldwide.
On February 8, 2006, Shakira won her second Grammy Award with the win of Best Latin Rock/Alternative Album for Fijación Oral Vol. 1. Shakira received four Latin Grammy Awards in November 2006, winning the awards for Record of the Year
Latin Grammy Award for Record of the Year
The Latin Grammy Award for Record of the Year is an honor presented annually at the Latin Grammy Awards, a ceremony that recognizes excellence and creates a wider awareness of cultural diversity and contributions of Latin recording artists in the United States and internationally...
, Song of the Year
Latin Grammy Award for Song of the Year
The Latin Grammy Award for Song of the Year is an honor presented annually at the Latin Grammy Awards, a ceremony that recognizes excellence, creates a wider awareness of cultural diversity and contributions of Latin recording artists in the United States and internationally...
for "La Tortura", Album of the Year
Latin Grammy Award for Album of the Year
The Latin Grammy Award for Album of the Year is an honor presented annually at the Latin Grammy Awards, a ceremony that recognizes excellence and creates a wider awareness of cultural diversity and contributions of Latin recording artists in the United States and internationally...
and Best Pop Vocal Album
Latin Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album, Female
The Latin Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Album is an honor presented annually at the Latin Grammy Awards, a ceremony that recognizes excellence and creates a wider awareness of cultural diversity and contributions of Latin recording artists, in the United States and internationally...
for Fijación Oral Vol. 1. Fijación Oral Vol. 1 has since sold over 4 million copies worldwide.
Before the release of Oral Fixation Vol. 2
Oral Fixation Vol. 2
Oral Fixation Vol. 2 is the fifth studio album by Colombian pop singer-songwriter Shakira, released on November 28, 2005 by Epic Records. According to her biography on her website and Epic Records, the album has sold 8 million copies worldwide....
, Shakira's second bilingual studio album, Shakira appeared at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2005 in Lisbon, Portugal, where she performed "Don't Bother
Don't Bother
"Don't Bother" is the first single released from Shakira's second English language studio album, Oral Fixation Vol. 2 .-Song information:...
", the lead single from the album, minutes before winning an award in the category of Best Female Artist. "Don't Bother", however, failed to achieve chart success in the U.S. by missing the top 40 on the Hot 100. It did, however, reach the top 20 in most countries worldwide. Shakira's second English studio album and fifth studio album, Oral Fixation Vol. 2 was released on November 29, 2005. The album debuted at number five on the Billboard 200, selling 128,000 copies in its first week. The album has gone on to sell 1.8 million records in the U.S., earning a Platinum certification from the RIAA. Oddly enough, the album did not fare as well as its Spanish counterpart in the U.S., selling a few hundred thousand less records overall. Oral Fixation Vol. 2 has also gone on to sell over 8 million copies worldwide. The cover of the album featured Shakira as Eve with forbidden fruit was also considered controversial, and had to be altered in several countries which would not sell the album with that cover.
Despite the commercial failure of the album's lead single in the U.S., it went on to spawn two more singles. "Hips Don't Lie
Hips Don't Lie
"Hips Don't Lie" is a Latin pop song based in a salsa and cumbia performed by Colombian singer Shakira and Haitian rapper Wyclef Jean, released in 2006 as the second single from Shakira's second English album Oral Fixation Vol. 2...
", featuring Wyclef Jean
Wyclef Jean
Wyclef Jean is a Haitian musician, record producer, and politician. At age nine, Jean moved to the United States with his family and has spent much of his life in the country...
, was released as the album's second single in February 2006. The song went on to become the highest selling single of the 21st century and became Shakira's first number one single on the Billboard Hot 100, in addition to reaching number one in over fifty-five countries. Shakira and Wyclef Jean also recorded a Bamboo version of the song to serve as the official theme of the FIFA World Cup 2006. Shakira, along with the Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...
, received the most nominations for the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards
2006 MTV Video Music Awards
The 2006 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on August 31, 2006, honoring the best music videos from the previous year. The show was hosted by Jack Black at Radio City Music Hall in New York City....
with "Hips Don't Lie", but she won only the award for Best Choreography. Shakira later released the third and final single from the album, "Illegal" featuring Carlos Santana
Carlos Santana
Carlos Augusto Alves Santana is a Mexican rock guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered rock, salsa and jazz fusion...
, in November 2006. The single reached number one in some European countries and on the U.S. dance chart, though it failed to reach the Hot 100.Shakira embarked on the Oral Fixation Tour
Oral Fixation Tour
Oral Fixation Tour is the concert tour by Colombian singer-songwriter, Shakira, in support of her fourth and fifth studio albums, Fijación Oral Vol. 1 and Oral Fixation Vol. 2...
, in June 2006. The tour consisted of 125 shows between June 2006 and July 2007. The concert also visited all six continents. One show in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
was performed for free, and earned an audience of over 200,000. This concert sets the record for the highest attendance of any concert in Mexican history. Shakira also performed on July 9, 2006 at the FIFA World Cup
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
final in Germany. In November 2007, the Oral Fixation Tour DVD was released and is also available in High Definition Blu-Ray format. The two versions of the DVD have sold over 16 million copies worldwide. In February 2007, Shakira performed for the first time at the 49th Grammy Awards and earned the nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for "Hips Don’t Lie" with Wyclef Jean, though she did not win the award.
2009–present: She Wolf and Sale el Sol
During an online chat with her fans in El Heraldo in February 2008, Shakira revealed that work on her sixth studio album was about to begin. Furthermore, at Shakira's cousin Isa Mebarak's album release party in ColombiaColombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, Shakira's father William Mebarak stated that Shakira was currently at work writing and producing new songs for her upcoming album. This was being done in "her own studio", which many fans thought to mean the studio at her home in the Bahamas. Shakira recorded 2005's Fijación Oral Vol. 1
Fijación Oral Vol. 1
Fijación Oral Vol. 1 is the fourth studio album by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira. It is also the first Spanish language album released by the multilingual songwriter since 1998. The album has won numerous awards worldwide, including five Latin Grammy Awards and a Grammy Award. This album...
and 2006's Oral Fixation Vol. 2
Oral Fixation Vol. 2
Oral Fixation Vol. 2 is the fifth studio album by Colombian pop singer-songwriter Shakira, released on November 28, 2005 by Epic Records. According to her biography on her website and Epic Records, the album has sold 8 million copies worldwide....
there as well.
After spending two weeks in London, Shakira flew to Colombia for a peace-promoting concert in Leticia (at the three way border of Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, Peru and Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
) with Carlos Vives
Carlos Vives
Carlos Alberto Vives Restrepo is a Grammy Award and three-time Latin Grammy Award winning-Colombian singer, composer and actor.-Biography:...
. Followed by hundreds of thousands of fellow Colombians, Shakira was calling for the release of hostages being held by rebels in Colombia and an end to similar kidnappings in the region. Afterward, it was reported by Noticias Caracol in Colombia that Shakira returned to her home studio in the Bahamas and continued recording "a little something" with members of Vives' band. It was later confirmed that Shakira was working with the likes of RedOne
RedOne
Nadir Khayat , known by the stage name RedOne, is a Moroccan producer and songwriter. Renowned for co-producing hit singles such as "Just Dance", "Poker Face", "LoveGame", "Bad Romance", "Alejandro" and "Judas", he is attributed by some as the key to Lady Gaga's success...
, Wyclef Jean
Wyclef Jean
Wyclef Jean is a Haitian musician, record producer, and politician. At age nine, Jean moved to the United States with his family and has spent much of his life in the country...
and Luis F. Ochoa on her sixth studio album. RedOne later stated that Shakira was in "an experimental phase" and that she had been working on the album in Los Angeles, Miami, Vancouver, London, Uruguay and the Bahamas.
In early 2008, Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
named Shakira the fourth top-earning female artist in music industry. Then, in July 2008, Shakira signed a 10-year contract with Live Nation
Live Nation
Live Nation is a live-events company based in Beverly Hills, California, focused on concert promotions. Live Nation formed in 2005 as a spin-off from Clear Channel Communications, which then merged with Ticketmaster in 2010 to become Live Nation Entertainment....
, an international touring giant. The touring group also doubles as a record label which promotes but does control the music their artists release. Regarding Shakira's contract, Jason Garner, the global music chief of Live Nation stated that: "Shakira is one of the few truly global artists. She can sell music and tickets in nearly every corner of the globe." Neither Shakira's representatives nor Live Nation would confirm the value of the deal, but people close to the negotiations said that depending on Shakira's performance over the 10 years, it is likely to be worth between $70 million and $100 million. Shakira's contract with Epic Records
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
calls for three more albums as well – one in English, one in Spanish, and a compilation, but the touring and other rights of the Live Nation deal were confirmed to begin immediately.
"She Wolf
She Wolf (song)
She Wolf is a song by Colombian singer–songwriter Shakira taken from her third English-language studio album of the same name. Shakira wrote and produced the track with John Hill, and Sam Endicott...
", the lead single from Shakira's sixth studio album, premiered on July 13, 2009. Shakira wrote and produced the song with John Hill, and Sam Endicott
Sam Endicott
Sam Endicott is the lead singer of the The Bravery.- History :Endicott grew up in Brookmont a Washington, DC, suburb of Bethesda, Maryland...
(lead singer and songwriter of The Bravery
The Bravery
The Bravery is an American rock band from New York City that consists of Sam Endicott , Michael Zakarin , John Conway , Mike Hindert , and Anthony Burulcich...
). The Spanish version, titled "Loba", premiered on the same day as well. "She Wolf" and "Loba" then became available for digital download the following day. The video for "She Wolf" premiered on MTV on July 30, 2009. The single was successful worldwide, reaching number one in Latin America, number two in Germany, Ireland, Italy, Estonia and Spain, number three in Switzerland and Austria, number four in the UK, France and Greece, number five in Canada and Belgium, number six in Finland, number nine in Japan, and number eleven in the US.
Also in July 2009, Shakira's official website announced that "The full album is She Wolf
She Wolf (album)
She Wolf is the sixth studio album by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira, first released on October 9, 2009 through Epic Records and Sony Music Latin. The album sees Shakira shift from Latin pop and pop rock to electropop while also exploring dancehall...
due out in October 2009 from Epic" and it "features a predominantly English track list". The site also announced that a Spanish album will be released in 2010. She Wolf
She Wolf (album)
She Wolf is the sixth studio album by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira, first released on October 9, 2009 through Epic Records and Sony Music Latin. The album sees Shakira shift from Latin pop and pop rock to electropop while also exploring dancehall...
was released in October 2009 internationally and on November 23, 2009 in the U.S. The album received mainly positive reviews from critics, but only managed to sell 89,000 copies in its first week in the U.S., earning the number fifteen spot on the Billboard 200. It has gone on to sell only 300,000 records in the U.S., becoming her least successful album there. However, the album has been moderately successful worldwide, having been certified Gold in Russia, Ireland, Switzerland, Poland, France, Argentina, Greece, and Hungary, Platinum in Spain, the United Kingdom, and the Middle East, 2x Platinum in Colombia and Mexico, and 3x Platinum in Taiwan. To date the album has sold 1.5 million copies worldwide, becoming Shakira's least successful studio album to date in terms of sales.
The album's second single, "Did It Again
Did It Again (Shakira song)
"Did It Again" is a song by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira from her sixth studio album She Wolf . The song was also released with a Spanish version, released mainly to Latin America and Spain, named "Lo Hecho Está Hecho" , as was done with "She Wolf" with Spanish version "Loba".The song's...
", was released in October 2009 and was originally due for a U.S. release, though this was later canceled. The single reached the top 40 in most countries worldwide. "Give It Up To Me
Give It Up to Me
"Give It Up to Me" is a song by Colombian Latin pop singer-songwriter Shakira, taken from her sixth studio album She Wolf . The song features American rapper Lil Wayne and was produced by hip-hop producer Timbaland. It only appears on the US standard version and Brazilian deluxe edition of the album...
", featuring Lil Wayne
Lil Wayne
Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. , better known by his stage name Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. At the age of nine, Lil Wayne joined Cash Money Records as the youngest member of the label, and half of the duo, The B.G.'z, with B.G.. In 1997, Lil Wayne joined the group Hot Boys, which also included...
was released as the album's second U.S. single in November 2009 and reached the top 40 in Canada and on the Hot 100. The album's U.S. release was delayed in order for Shakira to record the song, which was originally due to be featured on its producer Timbaland
Timbaland
Timothy Zachery Mosley , better known by his stage name Timbaland, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper....
's album, Timbaland Presents Shock Value II and would have featured Shakira. However, she chose to record it for her album with Timbaland's rap verse being scrapped in favor of a verse from Flo Rida
Flo Rida
Tramar Dillard , better known by his stage name Flo Rida , is an American rapper and singer-songwriter. He released his debut album, Mail on Sunday, in March 2008. His debut single "Low", featuring T-Pain, was a #1 hit for ten weeks in United States in early 2008. Two other singles resulted from...
. Plans for the single changed again when Lil Wayne
Lil Wayne
Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. , better known by his stage name Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. At the age of nine, Lil Wayne joined Cash Money Records as the youngest member of the label, and half of the duo, The B.G.'z, with B.G.. In 1997, Lil Wayne joined the group Hot Boys, which also included...
requested to be featured on the song, with this later happening. The album's third and final single, "Gypsy
Gypsy (Shakira song)
-Versions:There are currently three versions released. The Original Album Version which runs 3:18 seconds. The Spanish version, 3:29, which follows the same instrumental arrangement as the "original album version" but is slightly extended, and the "Radio Edit", 3:29, which was produced by...
", was released in February 2010 and reached the top 40 in Europe but failed to reach the top 40 in the U.S. or in South America, becoming a mildly successful single. In May 2010, it was confirmed through Shakira's official website that she will embark on a global tour. The site announced that the tour will begin in North America in September 2010. The post also announced the first three confirmed dates and stated that additional dates will be announced soon, adding that "The tour will bring Shakira's spectacular show to top arenas and a host of additional cities throughout the summer and fall".
It was initially announced that Shakira would release a Spanish album in 2010 after the release of She Wolf, similar to what she did with Oral Fixation, but Shakira later stated that the album would instead be a bilingual project, which will contain Spanish and English songs. She also stated that it was due for a September 2010 release. Shakira collaborated with the South African group Freshlyground
Freshlyground
Freshlyground is a South African Afro-fusion band that formed in Cape Town in 2002. The band members variously hail from South Africa, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe...
to create the official song of the 2010 FIFA World Cup
2010 FIFA World Cup
The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...
in South Africa. "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)
Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)
"Waka Waka " is a song by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira, featuring South African band Freshlyground. It was the official song for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, along with its Spanish language version, entitled "Waka Waka "...
", which is based on a traditional Cameroonian soldiers' Fang
Fang language
Fang is the dominant Bantu language of Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. It is related to the Bulu and Ewondo languages of southern Cameroon. Fang is spoken in northern Gabon, southern Cameroon, and throughout Equatorial Guinea. Shakira used this language in her song, "Waka Waka .".There are many...
song named "Zangalewa
Zamina mina (Zangalewa)
Tsamina or Zangaléwa is a 1986 hit song, originally sung by a makossa group from Cameroon called Golden Sounds who were beloved throughout the continent for the dances and costumes. The song was such a hit for Golden Sounds that they eventually changed their name to Zangaléwa, too. The song pays...
" by the group Zangalewa or Golden Sounds
Golden Sounds
Golden Sounds or Zangalewa is a makossa group from Cameroon. It was led by a career member of Cameroon's presidential guard, Jean Paul Zé Bella. The men in the group provided comical musical entertainment, often dressing in military uniforms, wearing pith helmets and stuffing their clothes with...
. The song was made popular in her native Colombia in 1987 through west African DJs in Colombia. The single later reached the top 20 in Europe, South America and Africa and the top 40 in the U.S. and was performed by Shakira at the World Cup kick-off and closing.
Sale el Sol
Sale el Sol
Sale el sol is the seventh studio album by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira, released on October 19, 2010. The album cover was released on August 31, 2010...
has been released as Shakira's seventh studio album on October 19, 2010. In June 2010, during an interview with Billboard magazine, Shakira announced that her new album would be released in September. She stated in the magazine that "I see it [the new album] as having two currents," she stated. "One is a lot about love and love experiences and emotions. And the other side of it is very joyful, and upbeat." Shakira also revealed that the music on the album would reflect influences from both the Dominican Republic and Colombia. "It’s a little more Latin on one side and a little more rock ‘n roll on the other side," she stated. She later compared her new material to the Oral Fixation era's music, stating that she was "going back to basics" for the record. The lead single "Loca
Loca (Shakira song)
"Loca" is a song by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira. It was released as the lead single from her third bilingual and seventh studio album Sale el Sol. Two versions of the song were recorded, one in English, that features vocals from British rapper Dizzee Rascal, and one in Spanish that...
", her version of the song "Loca con su tiguere" from El Cata
El Cata
Edward Bello Pou, better known by his stage name El Cata, is a Dominican rapper, songwriter, record producer, who emerged in the music scene in 1999, born and raised in Barahona, Dominican Republic.-Early life:...
, was number one in many countries. She shot the video for "Loca" in Barcelona in August,. Shakira unveiled the official album cover on September 1. The album debuted at 7 on Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
in its first week, and at the top spot on the Billboard Top Latin Albums
Billboard Top Latin Albums
Latin Albums is a record chart published by Billboard magazine and is labeled as the most important music chart for Spanish language, full-length albums in the American music market. Like all Billboard album charts, the chart is based on sales...
. On December 6, 2010 Sony Music announced that the album had sold over 1 million copies worldwide in 6 weeks, and over 2 million since its release.
Shakira embarked on The Sun Comes Out World Tour
The Sun Comes Out World Tour
The Sun Comes Out World Tour is the fifth concert tour by Colombian singer-songwriter, Shakira. The tour is in support of her sixth and seventh studio albums, She Wolf and Sale El Sol. The tour will reach the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa...
, from September 2010 to October 2011, in support of her two most recent albums. The tour visited countries in North America, Europe, South America, Asia, and Africa with 107 shows in total. The tour was met with positive reactions from critics, who praised Shakira's stage presence and energy during her performances. The tour has been broadcasted numerous times around the world, with her June 13 and June 14, 2011 concerts at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy
Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy
Opened in 1984, Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, often abbreviated as POPB or Bercy, is an indoor sports arena on boulevard de Bercy located in the 12th arrondissement of Paris...
being recorded for the live album Shakira: Live from Paris
Shakira: Live from Paris
Shakira: Live from Paris titled Shakira, En Vivo Desde Paris in Spain, Latin America, and North America. is the upcoming fourth live album by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira. The album will be released on December 6, 2011 on three different formats including a live CD/DVD standard DVD, and...
, set to be released worldwide on December 6, 2011. On November 9, 2011, Shakira was honored as Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year
Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year
The Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year is an award presented annually by the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, the same organization that distributes the Latin Grammy Awards, to commend musicians for their artistic achievement in the Latin music industry and dedication to...
and performed a salsa song "En Barranquilla Me Quedo" at the Mandalay Bay Events Center
Mandalay Bay Events Center
Mandalay Bay Events Center is a 12,000 seat indoor arena, at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, on the Las Vegas Strip, in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned by MGM Resorts International.It has hosted many music, boxing and mixed martial arts events....
.
Collaborations and other work
Tim Mitchell
Tim Mitchell is a Grammy winning music record producer, songwriter, and guitarist from Detroit. He has helped create and produce multi platinum hits to a broad range of artists, musical styles...
for the Hollywood movie The Italian Job
The Italian Job
The Italian Job is a 1969 British caper film, written by Troy Kennedy Martin, produced by Michael Deeley and directed by Peter Collinson. Subsequent television showings and releases on video have established it as an institution in the United Kingdom....
starring South African actress Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron is a South African actress, film producer and former fashion model.She rose to fame in the late 1990s following her roles in 2 Days in the Valley, Mighty Joe Young, The Devil's Advocate and The Cider House Rules...
and Mark Wahlberg
Mark Wahlberg
Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg is an American actor, film and television producer, and former rapper. He was known as Marky Mark in his earlier years, and became famous for his 1991 debut as a musician with the band Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. He was named No. 1 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of...
, but the song was not included on the soundtrack of the same name. In late 2006, Shakira and Alejandro Sanz
Alejandro Sanz
Alejandro Sanz , is a Spanish singer-songwriter and musician. For his work, Sanz has won a total of fifteen Latin Grammy Awards and three Grammy Awards. He has won the Latin Grammy for Album of the Year three times, more than any other artist...
collaborated for the duet Te lo Agradezco, Pero No
Te Lo Agradezco, Pero No
"Te Lo Agradezco, Pero No" is a song recorded by Alejandro Sanz and Shakira, for Sanz's 2006 studio album El Tren De Los Momentos. It was released as the second single from the album in late 2006. "Te Lo Agradezco, Pero No" is the second duet recorded by the two singers, who previously recorded...
, which is featured on Sanz' album El Tren de los Momentos
El Tren de los Momentos
El Tren de los Momentos is the seventh studio album recorded by Spanish singer-songwriter Alejandro Sanz, which counts with the collaborations of Juanes, Antonio Carmona , Shakira and Calle 13...
. The song was a top ten hit in Latin America, and topped "Billboard" Hot Latin Tracks chart. Shakira also collaborated with Miguel Bosé
Miguel Bosé
Miguel Dominguín Bosé is a Latin Grammy-winning Spanish/Italian musician and actor.-Early life:Bosé was born in San Fernando Hospital in Panama City, Panama, the son of the famous Italian actress Lucia Bosé and the legendary bullfighter Luis Miguel Dominguín. He is also a cousin of Carmen...
on the duet "Si Tú No Vuelves
Si Tu No Vuelves
"Si Tú No Vuelves" was first released in 1992 as the lead single for Miguel Bosé's studio album "Bajo el Signo de Caín". The song was written by Bosé, Lanfranco Ferrario and Massimo Grilli. For the international edition of the album an Italian adaptation was recorded, entitled "Se Tu Non Torni"...
", which was released in Bosé's album Papito
Papito (album)
Papito is an album released by Spanish pop singer Miguel Bosé to celebrate his 30 years in the Music industry. The album includes 14 tracks of previously known hit songs by the artist, in reworked versions in collaboration with many artists including Juanes, Shakira, Amaia Montero, Ricky Martin,...
, which celebrates his thirty-year career. In early 2007, Shakira worked with American R&B singer Beyoncé for the track "Beautiful Liar
Beautiful Liar
"Beautiful Liar" is a song recorded by American R&B singer Beyoncé and Colombian Latin pop singer Shakira. The song was written by Knowles, Amanda Ghost, Ian Dench, and Stargate members Mikkel S. Eriksen and Tor Erik Hermansen, and produced by Stargate and Knowles for the re-release of Knowles'...
", which was released as the second single from the deluxe edition of Knowles' B'Day
B'Day
B'Day is the second studio album by American R&B recording artist Beyoncé Knowles, released on September 4, 2006 by Columbia Records in collaboration with Music World Music and Sony Urban Music. It was released to coincide with Knowles' twenty-fifth birthday. The album was originally planned for a...
. In April 2007, the single jumped ninety-one positions, from ninety-four to three, on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, setting the record for the largest upward movement in the history of the chart at the time. It was also number one on the official UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. The song earned them a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. The song was one of Knowles' and Shakira's most successful worldwide, as it was particularly popular in Spanish-speaking countries such as Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
and Spain, where it topped charts.
According to Billboard, Shakira, along with Lil Wayne
Lil Wayne
Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. , better known by his stage name Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. At the age of nine, Lil Wayne joined Cash Money Records as the youngest member of the label, and half of the duo, The B.G.'z, with B.G.. In 1997, Lil Wayne joined the group Hot Boys, which also included...
would collaborate on a new track for Carlos Santana
Carlos Santana
Carlos Augusto Alves Santana is a Mexican rock guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered rock, salsa and jazz fusion...
's greatest hits CD titled Ultimate Santana
Ultimate Santana
Ultimate Santana is a collection by rock band Santana, combining hits from recent albums Supernatural, Shaman and All That I Am with early classics. Amongst the 18 tracks there are three new recordings...
. However, this collaboration was cancelled, and Shakira and Lil Wayne were replaced by Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller...
and Baby Bash. Shakira is featured on Annie Lennox
Annie Lennox
Annie Lennox, OBE , born Ann Lennox, is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving minor success in the late 1970s with The Tourists, with fellow musician David A...
's song "Sing
Sing (Annie Lennox song)
"Sing" is a song by Annie Lennox, released as the second single from her fourth solo studio album, Songs of Mass Destruction . The single was originally released as a digital download only single in late 2007. A limited 3 track edition was made available exclusively from The Body Shop from 10...
", from the album Songs of Mass Destruction
Songs of Mass Destruction
Songs of Mass Destruction is the title of the fourth studio album by Annie Lennox, released on October 1, 2007 in the UK and October 2, 2007, in the U.S.. The album debuted at number 7 in the UK, and number 9 in the U.S. where it sold 78,000 copies its first week...
, which also features other twenty-three other female singers. In late 2007, Shakira and Wyclef Jean
Wyclef Jean
Wyclef Jean is a Haitian musician, record producer, and politician. At age nine, Jean moved to the United States with his family and has spent much of his life in the country...
recorded their second duet "King and Queen". The song was featured on Wyclef Jean’s 2007 album Carnival Vol. II: Memoirs of an Immigrant
Carnival Vol. II: Memoirs of an Immigrant
-References:...
.
Shakira performed on January 18, 2009 at the Lincoln Memorial
Lincoln Memorial
The Lincoln Memorial is an American memorial built to honor the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The architect was Henry Bacon, the sculptor of the main statue was Daniel Chester French, and the painter of the interior...
"We Are One
We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial
We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial was a public celebration of the then forthcoming inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States at the Lincoln Memorial and the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on January 18, 2009. By some estimates the...
" festivities in honor of the inauguration of President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
. She performed "Higher Ground" with Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
and Usher
Usher (entertainer)
Usher Terry Raymond IV , who performs under the mononym Usher, is an American singer-songwriter, and actor. He is considered around the world to be the reigning King of R&B. Usher rose to fame in the late 1990s with the release of his second album My Way, which spawned his first Billboard Hot 100...
. She also performed during the evening of January 20, 2009 at the Neighborhood Ball for the President's inauguration. The song she performed was Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
's "Bright Side of the Road
Bright Side of the Road
"Bright Side of the Road" is a song written by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison and included on his 1979 album Into the Music. It was also one of the outtakes that made up the 1998 compilation album, The Philosopher's Stone...
". It featured Shakira on harmonica. In March 2009, Shakira appeared on the album Cantora 1
Cantora 1
Cantora 1 is a studio album by the late Argentine singer Mercedes Sosa. It was released in 2009 and features duets with prominent Latin American recording artists. It was certified platinum by the CAPIF. This means that the album sold 40,000 copies in Argentina.Cantora, un Viaje Íntimo features...
by the Argentinian folk singer Mercedes Sosa
Mercedes Sosa
Haydée Mercedes Sosa, known as La Negra, was an Argentine singer who was popular throughout South America and some countries outside the continent. With her roots in Argentine folk music, Sosa became one of the preeminent exponents of nueva canción. She gave voice to songs written by both...
on the song "La Maza", which both singers sang at the ALAS concert in Buenos Aires in May 2008. Shakira wrote the lyrics and co-wrote the music for two new songs that are featured in the movie Love in the Time of Cholera
Love in the Time of Cholera (film)
Love in the Time of Cholera is a 2007 film directed by Mike Newell. Based on the novel of the same name by Gabriel García Márquez, it tells the story of a love triangle between Fermina Daza and her two suitors, Florentino Ariza and Doctor Juvenal Urbino which spans 50 years, from 1880 to...
, based on the acclaimed novel by Colombian author Gabriel García Marquez
Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez is a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo throughout Latin America. He is considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in...
. García Marquez himself asked Shakira to write the songs. The songs that Shakira lent to the soundtrack were "Pienso en ti", a song from Shakira's breakthrough album Pies Descalzos, "Hay Amores" and "Despedida". "Despedida" was nominated for Best Original Song at the 65th Golden Globe Awards
65th Golden Globe Awards
The 65th Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film and television of 2007, were scheduled to be presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association on January 13, 2008...
but did not win. It was rumored that the song would also be nominated for an Academy Award, but it was not, with a source calling the fact that it was left off the nominees the Academy's "worst snub.
Shakira collaborated with the South African group Freshlyground
Freshlyground
Freshlyground is a South African Afro-fusion band that formed in Cape Town in 2002. The band members variously hail from South Africa, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe...
to create the official song of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)
Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)
"Waka Waka " is a song by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira, featuring South African band Freshlyground. It was the official song for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, along with its Spanish language version, entitled "Waka Waka "...
". She headlined the closing ceremony on July 11, 2010 as well.
In August of 2010, Shakira recorded a song with Dora the Explorer
Dora the Explorer
Dora the Explorer is an American animated television series created by Chris Gifford, Valerie Walsh, and Eric Weiner. Dora the Explorer became a regular series in 2000. The show is carried on the Nickelodeon cable television network, including the associated Nick Jr. channel. It aired on CBS until...
called "Todos Juntos." The song is featured on the soundtrack We Did It! Dora's Greatest Hits, which was released on August 17, 2010. The song was also featured on a Dora television special
Television special
A television special is a television program which interrupts or temporarily replaces programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Sometimes, however, the term is given to a telecast of a theatrical film, such as The Wizard of Oz or The Ten Commandments, which is not part of a regular...
titled "Dora's Explorer Girls" which aired on November 7, 2010 on Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (TV channel)
Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
.
Other work
Shakira appeared in the Colombian telenovelaTelenovela
A telenovela is a limited-run serial dramatic programming popular in Latin American, Portuguese, and Spanish television programming. The word combines tele, short for televisión or televisão , and novela, a Spanish or Portuguese word for "novel"...
El Oasis in 1994, playing the character of Luisa Maria. In December 2009, Shakira appeared as herself in the Ugly Betty
Ugly Betty
Ugly Betty is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which premiered on ABC on September 28, 2006, and ended on April 14, 2010. The series revolves around the character Betty Suarez and is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombian telenovela soap opera Yo soy Betty, la fea...
episode "The Bahamas Triangle
The Bahamas Triangle
Not to be confused with Bermuda Triangle."The Bahamas Triangle" is an episode from the ABC comedy-drama series Ugly Betty, which aired on December 4, 2009...
". In 2010, Shakira appeared as a fictional version herself in an episode of Wizards of Waverly Place
Wizards of Waverly Place
Wizards of Waverly Place is a Disney Channel Original Series that premiered on October 12, 2007. It won "Outstanding Children's Program" at the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards in 2009...
. She was also mentioned several times on The George Lopez Show
George Lopez (TV series)
"The George Lopez Show" redirects here. For the late-night program hosted by the same comedian, see Lopez Tonight.George Lopez is an American sitcom starring comedian George Lopez...
. She was invited personally by Gabriel Garcia Marquez to play a role in Love in the Time of Cholera
Love in the Time of Cholera (film)
Love in the Time of Cholera is a 2007 film directed by Mike Newell. Based on the novel of the same name by Gabriel García Márquez, it tells the story of a love triangle between Fermina Daza and her two suitors, Florentino Ariza and Doctor Juvenal Urbino which spans 50 years, from 1880 to...
, but declined due to the nudity involved.
Shakira is well known for her dancing in various music videos and in concert. Her moves are based on the art of belly dancing, a part of her Lebanese
Lebanese people
The Lebanese people are a nation and ethnic group of Levantine people originating in what is today the country of Lebanon, including those who had inhabited Mount Lebanon prior to the creation of the modern Lebanese state....
heritage. She often performs barefoot
Barefoot
Barefoot is the state of not wearing any footwear. Being barefoot is regarded as a human's natural state, though for functional, fashion and social reasons footwear is worn, at least on some occasions...
. Shakira says she learned this form of dance as a young teen to overcome her shyness. She also mentioned in a MTV interview that she learned how to belly dance by trying to flip a coin with her belly. The intense training has afforded her a fluidity in her body movement most seen in the videos to her hits "Ojos Así
Ojos Así
"Ojos Así" is a song in Spanish by Colombian singer Shakira, and was released as the fourth single from her album ¿Dónde Están los Ladrones? on July 23, 1999. Today, "Ojos Así" is one of Shakira's most successful songs of her career...
", "La Tortura
La Tortura
"" is a Latin pop-reggaeton song performed by singers Shakira and Alejandro Sanz. It was recorded for Shakira's sixth studio album , released on June 7, 2005...
", "Hips Don't Lie
Hips Don't Lie
"Hips Don't Lie" is a Latin pop song based in a salsa and cumbia performed by Colombian singer Shakira and Haitian rapper Wyclef Jean, released in 2006 as the second single from Shakira's second English album Oral Fixation Vol. 2...
", "Whenever, Wherever / Suerte", "Beautiful Liar
Beautiful Liar
"Beautiful Liar" is a song recorded by American R&B singer Beyoncé and Colombian Latin pop singer Shakira. The song was written by Knowles, Amanda Ghost, Ian Dench, and Stargate members Mikkel S. Eriksen and Tor Erik Hermansen, and produced by Stargate and Knowles for the re-release of Knowles'...
" "and "She Wolf / Loba".
She has had several belly dance choreographers, including award-winning Bellydance Superstar
Bellydance Superstars
Bellydance Superstars is a professional American bellydance troupe formed in 2002 by producer and manager Miles Copeland. In its first six years of touring, it presented 700 shows in 22 countries....
Boženka. As the MTV Making the Video
Making the Video
Making the Video is an MTV show, consisting of half-hour episodes, which chronicles the process of filming various music videos. Usually the director outlines the concept of the video and the show often includes light-hearted and humorous moments. It always concludes with a premiere of the...
for "La Tortura" reveals, she worked with Jamie King
Jamie King
Jamie King is a creative director and choreographer whose work directing concert tours for pop stars has grossed over two billion dollars...
on the choreography, but ended up creating most of it herself.
Shakira became the 2010 celebrity spokesperson for the Freixenet
Freixenet
Freixenet is a Cava producer in Spain, located west of Barcelona in Catalonia. Cava is a sparkling wine produced in Spain.Freixenet was started after the union of two Spanish families with a lengthy history in winemaking: the Ferrers, owners of La Freixeneda, a 12th-century farming estate in Sant...
traditional Christmas TV commercial. Each year, this Cava company taps into a world-famous celebrity to be the face of its much-awaited holiday TV spot. For her latest venture, Shakira dressed up as a golden sparkling wine bubble, "This year, let's toast so that the sun shines more than ever. The best is yet to come. Merry Christmas." Shakira says in the ad. In a press conference in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, Shakira presented the Christmas commercial, which will start airing in Spain on December 9. The singer also took the opportunity to announce that she used the $500,000 EUR ($662,085 USD) honorarium given to her by the Spanish bubbly to finance two schools run by her foundation, Pies Descalzos
Pies Descalzos Foundation
Pies Descalzos Foundation is a Colombian charity founded by pop artist Shakira in 1997. with the aim of helping poor and impoverished children....
. The partnership between Shakira and Freixenet also includes a Pies Descalzos Foundation promotional video, directed by longtime Shakira collaborator and fellow Catalan Jaume Delaiguana.
Shakira began her own beauty line, "S by Shakira," with parent company Puig, in 2010. The brand has released two perfumes, "S by Shakira" and "S by Shakira Eau Florale," along with lotions and body sprays. At a release event for the first fragrance, Shakira stated: "The type of women who feel a connection with this fragrance would be independent and strong, but also a woman with a great capacity to love and a strong sense of who they are. It's for a woman who believes in herself."
Philanthropy
In 1995, Shakira founded the Pies Descalzos FoundationPies Descalzos Foundation
Pies Descalzos Foundation is a Colombian charity founded by pop artist Shakira in 1997. with the aim of helping poor and impoverished children....
. It is a Colombian charity with special schools for poor children all around Colombia. It was funded by Shakira and other international groups and individuals. The name of the foundation is taken from Shakira's third studio album called Pies Descalzos
Pies descalzos
-Personnel:* Shakira – producer, songwriter, vocals* Luis Fernando Ochoa – producer, mixer, songwriter, background vocals, guitar, keyboards, harmonica, percussion* Alvaro Farfan – director* Victor DiPersia – engineer, mixer* Camillo Montilla – engineer, piano...
, released in 1995. During her career, Shakira has performed at a large number of benefit concert
Benefit concert
A benefit concert or charity concert is a concert, show or gala featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate humanitarian crisis. Such events raise both funds and public awareness to address the cause at...
s. In 2002 she sang at a Party in the Park
Party in the Park
Party in the Park is the generic name given to music concerts organised by various radio stations and local authorities in England and Wales, typically in large parks during the summer.-Leeds' Party in the Park:...
concert fundraising for the Prince's Trust
The Prince's Trust
The Prince's Trust is a charity in the United Kingdom founded in 1976 by Charles, Prince of Wales to help young people. They run a range of training programmes, provide mentoring support and offer financial grants to build the confidence and motivation of disadvantaged young people...
. That same year she performed at Divas Live
VH1 Divas
In 1998, VH1 debuted the first annual VH1 Divas concert. VH1 Divas Live was created to support the channel's Save The Music Foundation and subsequent concerts in the series have also benefited that foundation. The VH1 Divas concerts aired annually from 1998 to 2004. After a five year hiatus, the...
which supports VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
's Save the Music Foundation. On July 2, 2005, she performed her hits "Whenever, Wherever" and "La Tortura" on the Live 8
Live 8
Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 Conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland from 6–8 July 2005; they also coincided with the 20th anniversary of Live Aid...
benefit concert
Live 8 concert, Paris
On 2 July 2005, a Live 8 concert was held at the Palais de Versailles, Paris, France.The event is also referred to as "Live 8 Paris" or "Live 8 France"...
at the Palace of Versailles
Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles , or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. In French it is the Château de Versailles....
, near Paris. On July 7, 2007, the singer opened the German leg
Live Earth concert, Hamburg
The Live Earth concert in Germany was held at HSH Nordbank Arena, Hamburg on 7 July 2007.-Running order:In order of appearance:*Shakira - "Don't Bother", "Inevitable", "Dia Especial" with Gustavo Cerati, "Hips Don't Lie"...
of Live Earth
Live Earth
-Background:Founded by Emmy-winning producer Kevin Wall, in partnership with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, Live Earth was built upon the belief that entertainment has the power to transcend social and cultural barriers to move the world community to action...
in Hamburg. Her set included "Don't Bother
Don't Bother
"Don't Bother" is the first single released from Shakira's second English language studio album, Oral Fixation Vol. 2 .-Song information:...
", "Inevitable", "Día Especial" (with Gustavo Cerati
Gustavo Cerati
Gustavo Adrián Cerati Clark is an Argentine rock musician, singer-songwriter, composer and record producer. He was the frontman, lead vocalist, lead guitarist and lead songwriter of the Argentine rock band Soda Stereo, one of the most influential bands of latin rock music. In the early 90s, with...
) and "Hips Don't Lie
Hips Don't Lie
"Hips Don't Lie" is a Latin pop song based in a salsa and cumbia performed by Colombian singer Shakira and Haitian rapper Wyclef Jean, released in 2006 as the second single from Shakira's second English album Oral Fixation Vol. 2...
". Shakira also performed at the "Clinton Global Initiative", where she performed her hits "Underneath Your Clothes", "Inevitable" and "Hips Don't Lie". On May 17, 2008 Shakira and twenty other Latin American and Spanish artists performed in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
and Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
to raise money for Shakira's Latin America in Solidarity Action "America Latina en Accion Solidaria" (ALAS Foundation
ALAS Foundation
ALAS is a movement dedicated to the children in Latin America. The non-profit organisation is founded by Latin America's most influential artists, intellectuals and business leaders, and strives to launch a new social movement that will generate a collective commitment to comprehensive Early...
) charity. This concert attracted 150,000 people in Buenos Aires. Although tickets were free, the demand exceeded the supply; some fans who were fortunate enough to secure free tickets resold them.
She has agitated against the implementation of the Arizona statute SB1070 against illegal immigration, saying that it goes against civil rights.
Shakira is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and is one of their global representatives. "Shakira, like all our Goodwill Ambassadors, was chosen based on her compassion, her involvement in global issues, her deep commitment to helping children, and her appeal to young people around the world. We're very pleased to have Shakira join the UNICEF family. I know she'll help bring UNICEF's mission to the audience who will have the most impact on our future – young people themselves", said UNICEF's Executive Director Carol Bellamy
Carol Bellamy
Carol Bellamy has been Director of the Peace Corps, Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund , and President and CEO of World Learning. In April, 2009, Bellamy was appointed as Chair of the International Baccalaureate Board of Governors...
.
On April 3, 2006, Shakira was honored at a UN ceremony for creating the Pies Descalzos Foundation. At the event, the singer said, "Let's not forget that at the end of this day when we all go home, 960 children will have died in Latin America." On September 28, 2007 at the Clinton Global Initiative, it was revealed that Shakira received a commitment of $40 million from the Spanish government to help the victims of natural disasters. An additional $5 million was to be donated to four Latin American countries, to be spent on education and health. As part of the May 2007 concerts, her ALAS Foundation
ALAS Foundation
ALAS is a movement dedicated to the children in Latin America. The non-profit organisation is founded by Latin America's most influential artists, intellectuals and business leaders, and strives to launch a new social movement that will generate a collective commitment to comprehensive Early...
was able to solicit commitments of US$ 200 million from philanthropists Carlos Slim, Mexico’s richest man, and Howard Buffett
Howard Graham Buffett
Howard Graham Buffett is an American philanthropist, photographer, and farmer. He is the eldest son of billionaire investor Warren Buffett. He is named after Howard Buffett, his grandfather, and Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffett's teacher.-Personal life:Howard G...
, son of U.S. investment guru Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett
Warren Edward Buffett is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is widely regarded as one of the most successful investors in the world. Often introduced as "legendary investor, Warren Buffett", he is the primary shareholder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is...
, the singer announced on April 15, 2008. In December 2007, Shakira visited Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
to appeal for the victims of Cyclone Sidr
Cyclone Sidr
Cyclone Sidr was the strongest named cyclone in the Bay of Bengal...
. She spent 3 days with the victims and visited children affected by the disaster in schools built by UNICEF and participated in the distribution of family kits and warm clothes. She said that little was left of the school she visited in the village of Mirzapur
Mirzapur
Mirzapur is a city in the heart of North India, nearly 650 km between Delhi and Kolkata and also equidistant from Allahabad and Varanasi. Located in the state of Uttar Pradesh, Mirzapur has a population of a little over 205,264 and is renowned for its famous carpet and brassware industry...
, but it still provided an "oasis" for the children. "I am more convinced than ever that education is the key to so many of the difficulties that our children face in countries like mine or in developing countries like this one. It's the key to a better and safer world," she said.
Shakira served as the Honorary Chairperson for "Action Week" 2008 (April 21–27). The event is sponsored by the Global Campaign for Education
Universal Primary Education
The second United Nations Millennium Development Goal is to achieve Universal Primary Education, more specifically, to “ensure that by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling." Currently, there are more than 75 million children...
(GCE), to generate awareness about the Education for All Act. She spoke with the U.S. Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
, and World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
President Robert Zoellick
Robert Zoellick
Robert Bruce Zoellick is the eleventh president of the World Bank, a position he has held since July 1, 2007. He was previously a managing director of Goldman Sachs, United States Deputy Secretary of State and U.S. Trade Representative, from February 7, 2001 until February 22, 2005.President...
to promote a move towards Global Education. Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie is an American actress. She has received an Academy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards, and was named Hollywood's highest-paid actress by Forbes in 2009 and 2011. Jolie is noted for promoting humanitarian causes as a Goodwill Ambassador for the...
served as last year's chair. People En Español
People en Español
People en Español is a Spanish-language American magazine published by Time Inc. that debuted in 1996, originally as the Spanish-language edition of its publication People...
announced in their December 2008/January 2009 issue that Shakira is the "Humanitarian of the Year" as part of their "Las Estrellas del Año" (Stars of the Year) awards. Shakira was also ranked at number 48 on the list of Top 50 Most Charitable Celebrities by OK!
OK!
OK! is a British weekly magazine specializing in celebrity news. Originally launched as a monthly, its first issue was published in April 1993. In September 2004, OK! publishers Northern and Shell launched in Australia as a monthly title – the magazine went weekly in October 2006...
magazine. It reported that she donates approximately $55,000 to charity yearly. On her 32nd birthday, Shakira opened a new $6-Million school in her hometown Barranquilla
Barranquilla
Barranquilla is an industrial port city and municipality located in northern Colombia, near the Caribbean Sea. The capital of the Atlántico Department, it is the largest industrial city and port in the Colombian Caribbean region with a population of 1,148,506 as of 2005, which makes it Colombia's...
, which was sponsored by herself and her Pies Descalzos Foundation
Pies Descalzos Foundation
Pies Descalzos Foundation is a Colombian charity founded by pop artist Shakira in 1997. with the aim of helping poor and impoverished children....
.
On December 7, 2009 Shakira was honored as a guest at the University of Oxford to give a speech about her work with children and education. She was chosen by the Oxford Union
Oxford Union
The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford, Britain, whose membership is drawn primarily but not exclusively from the University of Oxford...
and joined the ranks of Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
, several US Presidents, Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa , born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu , was a Roman Catholic nun of Albanian ethnicity and Indian citizenship, who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India, in 1950...
, and the Dalai Lama XIV, as a chosen speaker. During the speech, Shakira said, "That is how I want the youth of 2060 to see us: That our mission for global peace consisted of sending 30,000 educators to Afghanistan, not 30,000 soldiers. That in 2010, world education became more important than world domination."
In March 2010, she was awarded a medal by the UN' International Labor Organization in recognition of being, as UN Labor Chief Juan Somavia put it, a "true ambassador for children and young people, for quality education and social justice." In November 2010, after performing as the opening act of the MTV European Music Awards, the Colombian singer also received the MTV Free Your Mind
Free Your Mind
"Free Your Mind" is the name of a Grammy Award-nominated hit single released by the American all-female R&B group En Vogue. Released on September 24, 1992 "Free Your Mind" is the third single released from En Vogue's critically acclaimed album Funky Divas...
award for her continuing dedication to improve access to education for all children around the world.
In February 2011, the FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
Foundation and Pies descalzos reached an agreement for children's education through sport. On October 5, 2011, it was announced that Shakira joined members of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics. Shakira was honored as the Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year
Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year
The Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year is an award presented annually by the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, the same organization that distributes the Latin Grammy Awards, to commend musicians for their artistic achievement in the Latin music industry and dedication to...
on November 9, 2011 for her philanthropy and contributions to Latin Music.
Relationships
In 2000, Shakira started dating Antonio de la RúaAntonio de la Rúa
Antonio de la Rúa , is the oldest son of former Argentine president, Fernando de la Rúa and Inés Pertiné...
. In a 2009 interview, Shakira stated their relationship already worked as a married couple, and that "they don't need papers for that." On January 10, 2011, Shakira announced on her website that after 11 years together, she and de la Rúa had separated in August 2010 after making "a mutual decision to take time apart from our romantic relationship." She wrote that the couple "view this period of separation as temporary and as a time of individual growth as we continue to be partners in our business and professional lives", with de la Rúa overseeing Shakira's "business and career interests as he has always done."
Shakira has recently been dating Gerard Piqué
Gerard Piqué
Gerard Piqué i Bernabeu is a Spanish footballer, currently playing as a central defender for FC Barcelona.A product of Barça's cantera, he initially left the club for Manchester United in 2004, where he remained for four years, before returning to Barça under Josep Guardiola's leadership, helping...
(10 years younger centre back for FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
). Shakira officially confirmed their relationship on March 29, 2011 via Twitter and Facebook posting a picture of the two with a caption reading, "I present to you my sunshine." It was the first time she'd ever spoken of the relationship.
Other
Shakira was raised as a Roman Catholic. She personally met pope John Paul II in 1998, who nominated her a Goodwill Ambassador. She is interested in world history and frequently studies the history and languages of the countries she visits. After her Oral Fixation tour ended in summer 2007, Shakira attended a summer school class in Los Angeles at UCLA Extension, on the History of Western Civilization. She used her middle and last names, Isabel Mebarak, and told the professor she was visiting from Colombia so as to avoid being recognized as a celebrity. Shakira is a cousin of model and 2005–2006 Miss ColombiaMiss Colombia
Señorita Colombia is an annual national beauty contest in Colombia that selects representatives to Miss Universe and Miss International...
, Valerie Domínguez. Shakira is a great descendant of the royal Macedonian Kingdom centered in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula. According to that, she is also a direct descendant of Alexander III of Macedon through her father's bloodline of Macedonian
Ancient Macedonians
The Macedonians originated from inhabitants of the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, in the alluvial plain around the rivers Haliacmon and lower Axios...
ancestry.
Music and voice
Shakira is known to have adopted many genres, including folk, mainstream pop and rock. In an interview with Rolling Stone she said: "My music, I think, is a fusion of many different elements. And I'm always experimenting. So I try not to limit myself, or put myself in a category, or... be the architect of my own jail". Her earlier Spanish albums, including Pies DescalzosPies descalzos
-Personnel:* Shakira – producer, songwriter, vocals* Luis Fernando Ochoa – producer, mixer, songwriter, background vocals, guitar, keyboards, harmonica, percussion* Alvaro Farfan – director* Victor DiPersia – engineer, mixer* Camillo Montilla – engineer, piano...
and ¿Dónde Están Los Ladrones?
¿Dónde están los ladrones?
-Personnel:* Shakira - Producer, Songwriter, vocals, harmonica* Emilio Estefan Jr. - Executive producer* Javier Garza - Producer, engineer, mixer, programmer* Luis Fernando Ochoa - Producer, songwriter, guitar, bass guitar...
were a mix of folk music and Latin rock, while her cross-over English album, Laundry Service
Laundry Service
Some critics criticized the effectiveness of Shakira's lyrics, claiming that her English skills were too weak for her to write in that language, but nearly all agreed on her unique poetic imagery...
and her later albums were influenced by pop rock
Pop rock
Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music...
and pop Latino. Her 2009 album, She Wolf
She Wolf (album)
She Wolf is the sixth studio album by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira, first released on October 9, 2009 through Epic Records and Sony Music Latin. The album sees Shakira shift from Latin pop and pop rock to electropop while also exploring dancehall...
is more like electropop and dance music
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
.
Her 2010 album, Sale el Sol
Sale el Sol
Sale el sol is the seventh studio album by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira, released on October 19, 2010. The album cover was released on August 31, 2010...
, is a return to her beginnings containing ballads such as "Lo Que Más" and "Antes de las Seis", rock songs like "Tu Boca" and "Devoción", and Latin dance songs like "Loca
Loca (Shakira song)
"Loca" is a song by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira. It was released as the lead single from her third bilingual and seventh studio album Sale el Sol. Two versions of the song were recorded, one in English, that features vocals from British rapper Dizzee Rascal, and one in Spanish that...
".
Influences
Shakira has told many interviewers that she has grown fond of listening to oriental music, which influenced many of her earlier works. For example, Shakira used the IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n theme for her performance of "Hips Don’t Lie" at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards
2006 MTV Video Music Awards
The 2006 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on August 31, 2006, honoring the best music videos from the previous year. The show was hosted by Jack Black at Radio City Music Hall in New York City....
in New York City. She has also been influenced by her Arab heritage, which was a major inspiration for her breakthrough world hit "Ojos Así
Ojos Así
"Ojos Así" is a song in Spanish by Colombian singer Shakira, and was released as the fourth single from her album ¿Dónde Están los Ladrones? on July 23, 1999. Today, "Ojos Así" is one of Shakira's most successful songs of her career...
". She told Portuguese TV "Many of my movements belong to Arab culture." She also cites her parents as major contributors to her musical style.
In childhood, Shakira preferred rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
music, listening heavily to her favorite rock bands like Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
, The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
, The Police
The Police
The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For the vast majority of their history, the band consisted of Sting , Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland...
and U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
. She lists John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
as her No.1 musical influence. She was also deeply influenced by The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
, AC/DC
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...
, The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
, The Pretenders
The Pretenders
The Pretenders are an English rock band formed in Hereford, England in March 1978. The original band consisted of initiator and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde , James Honeyman-Scott , Pete Farndon , and Martin Chambers...
, Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...
, The Cure
The Cure
The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member...
, Tom Petty
Tom Petty
Thomas Earl "Tom" Petty is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is the frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and was a founding member of the late 1980s supergroup Traveling Wilburys and Mudcrutch. He has also performed under the pseudonyms of Charlie T...
, Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke...
, The Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
, Ramones
Ramones
The Ramones were an American rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first punk rock group...
, whose influence can be heard on her many prominent songs. In a recent interview to Elenco magazine, she noted that in her opinion the perfect songs are "Imagine
Imagine (song)
"Imagine" is a song written and performed by the English musician John Lennon. It is the opening track on his album Imagine, released in 1971...
" by John Lennon and "No Woman, No Cry
No Woman, No Cry
"No Woman, No Cry" is a reggae song by Bob Marley & The Wailers. The song first became known in 1974 through the studio album Natty Dread. The live version from the 1975 album Live! is perhaps best known — it was this version which was released on the greatest hits compilation Legend. The original...
" by Bob Marley
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...
.
Shakira made several covers of prominent artists such AC/DC
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...
and Aerosmith
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...
, using them to sing in her tours, resulting in performances of "Back in Black
Back in Black (song)
"Back in Black" is a song by AC/DC, appearing as the first track on side two of their 1980 album, Back in Black. Known for its opening guitar riff, the song was AC/DC's tribute to their former singer Bon Scott...
" and "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)
Dude (Looks Like a Lady)
"Dude " is a song by United States hard rock band Aerosmith. It was released as the first of three singles from the Permanent Vacation album in 1987. It reached #14 on the Billboard Hot 100, #41 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart, #4 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, and peaked at #45 on the UK...
" during her Tour of the Mongoose. She also sang the classic Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
song "Always On My Mind
Always on My Mind
"Always on My Mind" is an American country music song by Johnny Christopher, Mark James and Wayne Carson, originally recorded by Brenda Lee in 1972.Allmusic lists over 300 recorded releases of the song in versions by dozens of performers...
" at the VH1 Divas Live. In her 2010–2011 tour called The Sun Comes Out World Tour
The Sun Comes Out World Tour
The Sun Comes Out World Tour is the fifth concert tour by Colombian singer-songwriter, Shakira. The tour is in support of her sixth and seventh studio albums, She Wolf and Sale El Sol. The tour will reach the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa...
, she sings "Nothing Else Matters
Nothing Else Matters
"Nothing Else Matters" is a song by the American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released as the third single from its self-titled fifth studio album, Metallica. The song peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart as well as top-ten positions on many European charts...
" by the heavy metal band Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
in an oriental style. She is also strongly influenced by Andean music
Andean music
Andean music comes from the general area inhabited by Quechuas, Aymaras and other peoples that lived roughly in the area of the Inca Empire prior to European contact. It includes folklore music of parts of Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela...
and South American folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, using her native instrumentation for the Latin dance-pop "Whenever, Wherever" and "Despedida". Shakira recently performed two songs for two separate Haiti benefit events: "I'll Stand By You", by The Pretenders
The Pretenders
The Pretenders are an English rock band formed in Hereford, England in March 1978. The original band consisted of initiator and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde , James Honeyman-Scott , Pete Farndon , and Martin Chambers...
, and "Sólo le pido a Dios" by León Gieco
León Gieco
Raúl Alberto Antonio Gieco, better known as León Gieco is a pop-folk music composer and interpreter. He is known for mixing popular folkloric genres with Argentine rock, and for lyrics with social and political connotations...
.
In terms of Spanish language rock
Rock en Español
Rock en español is the Spanish-language rock music. While the term is used widely in English, it is used in Spanish mainly to distinguish such music from "Anglo rock." It is a style of rock music that developed in Latin American countries and Latino communities, along with other genres like...
Shakira is indebited to the Argentine rock
Argentine rock
Argentine rock , is composed or made by Argentine bands or artists, in the Spanish language. For nearly half a century it has been a major popular genre, and it is considered part of the popular music tradition of Argentina alongside Argentine Tango, and Argentine folk music.The moment when...
power trio
Power trio
A power trio is a rock and roll band format where the traditional power trio has a lineup of guitar, bass and drums, leaving out the rhythm guitar or keyboard that are used in other rock music to fill out the sound with chords...
Soda Stereo
Soda Stereo
Soda Stereo were an Argentine rock band who are recognized as one of the most influential and important Latin American and Ibero-American bands of all time...
and to the Mexican American band Santana
Santana (band)
Santana is a rock band based around guitarist Carlos Santana and founded in the late 1960s. It first came to public attention after their performing the song "Soul Sacrifice" at the Woodstock Festival in 1969, when their Latin rock provided a contrast to other acts on the bill...
.
Records and achievements
- According to Sony, Shakira is the highest-selling Colombian artist of all time, having sold more than 60 million albums worldwide.
- According to Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems, "Hips Don't LieHips Don't Lie"Hips Don't Lie" is a Latin pop song based in a salsa and cumbia performed by Colombian singer Shakira and Haitian rapper Wyclef Jean, released in 2006 as the second single from Shakira's second English album Oral Fixation Vol. 2...
" was the most-played pop song in a single week in American radio history. It was played 9,637 times in one week. - Shakira became the first artist in the history of the Billboard charts to earn the coveted number one spots on both the Top 40 Mainstream and Latin Chart in the same week doing so with "Hips Don't Lie".
- "La TorturaLa Tortura"" is a Latin pop-reggaeton song performed by singers Shakira and Alejandro Sanz. It was recorded for Shakira's sixth studio album , released on June 7, 2005...
" broke the record on the Billboard's Hot Latin Tracks chart, appearing at No.1 more than any other single (a total of 25 non-consecutive weeks). - According to Yahoo!Yahoo!Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
, "Hips Don't LieHips Don't Lie"Hips Don't Lie" is a Latin pop song based in a salsa and cumbia performed by Colombian singer Shakira and Haitian rapper Wyclef Jean, released in 2006 as the second single from Shakira's second English album Oral Fixation Vol. 2...
" is the Best-Selling Single of the Last 10 Years. - According to Forbes Magazine, Shakira was the fourth highest-earning woman in music for 2008 behind MadonnaMadonna (entertainer)Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
, Barbra StreisandBarbra StreisandBarbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
and Celine DionCeline DionCéline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record...
. - According to NokiaNokiaNokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...
in 2010, there were more Shakira music downloads in the prior year than for any other Latino artist in the last five years, and She WolfShe Wolf (song)She Wolf is a song by Colombian singer–songwriter Shakira taken from her third English-language studio album of the same name. Shakira wrote and produced the track with John Hill, and Sam Endicott...
topped the Top 10 Latino downloads. - Additionally, she is the only artist from South America to reach the number-one spot on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100Billboard Hot 100The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
, the Australian ARIAARIA ChartsThe ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
chart, and the UK Singles ChartUK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. - Shakira was to be given a star on the Hollywood Walk of FameHollywood Walk of FameThe Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
in 2004, but turned the offer down citing that she did not want to be considered a star of Hollywood. In 2011, it was revealed that Shakira received a star on the Hollywood Walk of fame on November 8, 2011. - In 2010, Shakira was ranked number five on the 'Online Video's Most Viral Artists of 2010' with 404,118,932 views.
- Shakira has become a YouTube sensation having surpassed 1 billion views on the website with Waka WakaWaka Waka (This Time for Africa)"Waka Waka " is a song by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira, featuring South African band Freshlyground. It was the official song for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, along with its Spanish language version, entitled "Waka Waka "...
accounting for over 250,000,000 views this year alone. She is the third person ever to have done this, after Lady GagaLady GaGaStefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta , better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to...
and Justin BieberJustin BieberJustin Drew Bieber is a Canadian pop/R&B singer, songwriter and actor. Bieber was discovered in 2008 by Scooter Braun, who came across Bieber's videos on YouTube and later became his manager...
. - Shakira was honored at the Latin Grammys on November 9, 2011 as 2011's Latin Recording Person of the Year.
Discography
- Pies DescalzosPies descalzos-Personnel:* Shakira – producer, songwriter, vocals* Luis Fernando Ochoa – producer, mixer, songwriter, background vocals, guitar, keyboards, harmonica, percussion* Alvaro Farfan – director* Victor DiPersia – engineer, mixer* Camillo Montilla – engineer, piano...
(1996) - Dónde Están los Ladrones? (1998)
- Laundry ServiceLaundry ServiceSome critics criticized the effectiveness of Shakira's lyrics, claiming that her English skills were too weak for her to write in that language, but nearly all agreed on her unique poetic imagery...
(2001) - Fijación Oral Vol. 1Fijación Oral Vol. 1Fijación Oral Vol. 1 is the fourth studio album by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira. It is also the first Spanish language album released by the multilingual songwriter since 1998. The album has won numerous awards worldwide, including five Latin Grammy Awards and a Grammy Award. This album...
(2005) - Oral Fixation Vol. 2Oral Fixation Vol. 2Oral Fixation Vol. 2 is the fifth studio album by Colombian pop singer-songwriter Shakira, released on November 28, 2005 by Epic Records. According to her biography on her website and Epic Records, the album has sold 8 million copies worldwide....
(2005) - She WolfShe Wolf (album)She Wolf is the sixth studio album by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira, first released on October 9, 2009 through Epic Records and Sony Music Latin. The album sees Shakira shift from Latin pop and pop rock to electropop while also exploring dancehall...
(2009) - Sale el SolSale el SolSale el sol is the seventh studio album by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira, released on October 19, 2010. The album cover was released on August 31, 2010...
(2010)
Tours
- 1996–1997: Tour Pies DescalzosTour Pies DescalzosThe Tour Pies Descalzos was the debut concert tour by Colombian singer/songwriter Shakira that took place in 1996 and 1997. There's no much information about this tour, but this is the most complete information throughout the internet....
- 2000: Tour AnfibioTour AnfibioTour Anfibio is the name of the two-month long concert tour by Colombian singer Shakira that started on March 21, 2000 in Lima , and ended on May 12 in Buenos Aires .-Background information:...
- 2002–2003: Tour of the MongooseTour of the Mongoose-Tour Dates:-Broadcast and recordings:The tour was shot in Rotterdam, The Netherlands on April 22, 2003.The tour was chronicled on Live & off the Record. The disc included the concert along with a documentary showing the performer preparing for the show, her song writing process and her ideas about...
- 2006–2007: Oral Fixation TourOral Fixation TourOral Fixation Tour is the concert tour by Colombian singer-songwriter, Shakira, in support of her fourth and fifth studio albums, Fijación Oral Vol. 1 and Oral Fixation Vol. 2...
- 2010–2011: The Sun Comes Out World TourThe Sun Comes Out World TourThe Sun Comes Out World Tour is the fifth concert tour by Colombian singer-songwriter, Shakira. The tour is in support of her sixth and seventh studio albums, She Wolf and Sale El Sol. The tour will reach the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa...
See also
- List of awards and nominations received by Shakira
- List of best-selling music artists
- List of best-selling singles worldwide