Name : Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll
Birthday : February 2, 1977
Birthplace : Barranquilla, Colombia
Home Biography Pictures Wallpapers Videos NewsBorn in Barranquilla, Colombia, on February 2, 1977, Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll is the youngest sibling of her parents' eight children. Her father William Mebarak, who is American of Lebanese descent, and Colombian mother, Nidia Ripoll, both supported their daughter's ambition of becoming a singer.
Shakira knew early on that she wanted to be a professional musician and by the time she was 8, she was already writing her own songs. This undeniable prodigy even began playing the guitar by 11 years of age.
While in school, Shakira was making her musical talent known by winning talent shows playing the guitar, and she was even kicked out of her school choir because her voice drowned out the other choir singers. Elsewhere, Shakira impressed judges at local and national competitions, who declared her winner of these contests.
she's magic
At the age of 13, Shakira had become Sony Colombia's newest artist, and her first album, entitled Magia (Magic) was released. The album was a compilation of songs that she had written between the ages of 8 and 13.
The album was well received and Colombian listeners were beginning to realize who this feisty musician was. The 16-year-old Shakira was chosen to represent her native Colombia at the Festival OTI in Spain, but since she was under the minimum age, she could not participate.
Shakira's second album, Peligro (Danger) was released, and was met with considerable success. Not neglecting her education, she returned to school to receive her high school diploma.
Shakira knew early on in her career that she wanted to sing in the rock genre, despite Sony's original attempts to make her a pop singer, adhering to the commercial standards of the time. Following her heart, Shakira's third album, Pies Descalzos went on to become a huge hit, and featured her own rock, pop and Latin inspired tunes.
shak attack!
Released in 1995, Pies Descalzos's success is largely due to the Latin American radio airplay it received. It spawned number one singles such as "Estoy Aqui" and "Donde Estas Corazon" and many more consecutive hit singles. The album soared up to number one in eight countries and sold over four million copies.
Following the worldwide success of her album, Shakira went on a 2-year international tour, selling out in every venue. Her popularity pushed her to release Portuguese remixes of her songs for her fans in Brazil.
Shakira entered the realm of acting with a role on the Colombian soap opera El Oasis from 1994 to 1997, but her true passion remained music.
In 1998, Shakira released her fourth album, Donde Estan Los Ladrones?, which has received much critical acclaim and was considered Shakira's breakthrough album -- at least in the Latin genre. The album went multi-platinum in U.S., Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Central America, Mexico, and went platinum in Spain.
Produced by über-producer Emilio Estefan -- who also became her manager -- the album is the perfect blend of gritty, thought-provoking lyrics and rock-laden tracks, while still preserving the Shakira that her original fans knew and loved.
Often referred to as the Latin equivalent of Alanis Morissette thanks to her long dark hair (at the time) and rock-infused style, Shakira, whose name means "woman full of grace" in Arabic, succeeds to captivate her audience without the bitterness that Morissette is usually associated with.
latin with an edge
Shakira was chosen as the cover girl for Time Magazine's issue featuring the article "Era of the Rockera," and has also graced the cover of Cosmopolitan. In addition, Shakira was named an official goodwill ambassador by the Colombian government and Latin Female Artist of the Year at the World Music Awards.
While she released an MTV Unplugged album in 2000 -- which MTV didn't air at first, but later aired on MTV Latin America -- she had yet to breakthrough in mainstream English pop.
But a performance on the CBS-aired Latin Grammys in September 2000 (and several awards), and a catchy song "Whenever, Wherever," made American audiences sit up and take notice. Shakira's English recording debut, Laundry Service was released in 2001, and with the help of "Whenever, Wherever," its accompanying video (which features Shakira walking very seductively amid a desert and wildlife) and the follow-up single, "Underneath Your Clothes," has been certified double platinum. The now platinum-haired beauty is curving her way to superstardom.
Shakira stayed out of the spotlight for 2 and a half years, notably changing her hair style. She later announced Oral Fixation 1 and 2 due in 2005. Fijación Oral Vol. 1 was released on June 6, 2005 in Europe and on June 7, 2005 in North America and Australia. The lead single "La Tortura" (English: The Torture, featuring Alejandro Sanz) eventually reached number one in Spain and number twenty-three on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. In Canada, "La Tortura" also became the highest-charting Spanish song when it debuted and peaked at number twenty-one. Its success across the rest of the world was widespread and it managed to peak within the top ten of the majority of the charts it entered. In the U.S., "La Tortura" spent a record twenty-five weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart.
Fijación Oral Vol. 1 was simultaneously released in Latin America. It debuted at number one in Spain and at number four on the U.S. Billboard 200. It was also well-received in non-Spanish speaking countries such as Italy, Greece and Germany, where it reached number one, Austria, where it reached number three, and Canada and Hungary, where it reached number seven. The second single from Fijación Oral Vol. 1, "No" (English: No), was released in September 2005, and peaked at number one in Spain and Colombia, for fourteen non-consecutive weeks. So far, Fijación Oral Vol. 1 has sold five million copies worldwide. Her third single from "Fijación Oral vol. 1", Día de Enero, is dedicated to her fiance, Antonio de la Rúa.[citation needed] This single was number one in some countries in Latin America, but it hadn't got success like "La Tortura" and "No". She also performed "La Tortura" at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards in Miami with Alejandro Sanz. It was the first ever Spanish performance at the VMA's. (There was also a reggaeton medley during the show, including Daddy Yankee's "Gasolina", but it came after Shakira's performance.)
Before the release of Shakira's second English album, Oral Fixation Vol. 2, she appeared at the 2005 MTV Europe Music Awards in Lisbon, Portugal and she was nominated in the category of "Best Female", which she won. Shakira performed Oral Fixation Vol. 2's lead single "Don't Bother" with a car on stage following her win.
Shakira's second English album Oral Fixation Vol. 2 was released on November 29, 2005 in North America and Australia, and also at this time in Continental Europe. While "Don't Bother" was warmly received by music critics as the album's lead single,[citation needed] it failed to peak within the U.S. top 40. The second single "Hips Don't Lie" (featuring Wyclef Jean) became her first single to reach number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and UK Singles Chart. On March 28, 2006, she re-released Oral Fixation Vol. 2 in the U.S. and released it June 19, 2006. Shakira also had the collaboration of Argentinian Rock en Español legend Gustavo Cerati on 2 tracks of both Oral Fixation albums.
On April 3, 2006, Shakira was honored at an United Nations ceremony because for creating the Pies Descalzos Foundation, a charity that helps to protect children from violence in Colombia. At the event she 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 April 27, 2006 she received 6 Latin Billboard Awards. The awards included Female Latin Pop Album of the Year for Fijacion Oral Vol. 1 and Hot Latin Song of the Year for "La Tortura". She was also honored with the Spirit of Hope Award for her foundation Pies Descalzos.
In June, Shakira started her biggest tour ever, called the Oral Fixation Tour, which will last until the spring of 2007. The Oral Fixation tour has 99 dates, while her previous world tour, The Tour of the Mongoose, had only 61 tour dates.
As of July 30, 2006 "Hips Don't Lie" was her most recent number one, and consequently, the last ever song played on the legendary British programme Top of the Pops, seeing the track jump back from number three to the number one spot again, after spending seven weeks on the chart.
Shakira was the most nominated artist of the year for the MTV Video Music Awards '06. Her seven nominations were for "Hips Don't Lie", including Video of the Year and Best Female Video. She won only one award for Choreography. Shakira also performed "Hips Don't Lie" to the dance moves of popular Indian Choreographer Farah Khan. The award show was held on August 31, 2006 in Radio City Music Hall.
In 2006, Shakira and Alejandro Sanz worked together again; this time the duet is called "Te lo Agradezco, Pero No" and it is featured on Alejandro Sanz' album El Tren de los Momentos. Also, Shakira announced her two new singles, "Illegal" featuring Carlos Santana and "La Pared", which became a great hit in Spain. She has also worked with R&B singer-songwriter Beyoncé, who will release the single "Beautiful Liar" with Beyoncé singing in English and Shakira singing in Spanish, for Beyoncé's rerelease of her B'Day album.
Shakira is rumored to be releasing Las de la Intuición and its English counterpart Pure Intuition after her duet with Beyonce, Beautiful Liar. It is also reported that Shakira will be collaborating with many artists over the next year, many being Eve, Taboo and Calle 13.
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