Biography of Shakira | Colombian singer.

(Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll; Barranquilla, 1977) Colombian Latin pop-rock singer. There are very few Latin American pop-rock music stars that have achieved international success as fulminant as Shakira, singer and songwriter in Spanish and English that has attained an outstanding position in the fields of both languages.

Shakira

Born in a middle class family, Shakira was the daughter of William Mebarak, of Lebanese descent, and Nidia Ripoll, Colombian with Catalan ancestors. From age five showed signs of his artistic vocation, showing remarkable talent in the interpretation of Arab songs and dances. Not in vain the name, Shakira, means in Arabic "full of grace".

At age eight he composed his first song, your sunglasses, which he dedicated to his father. This, like his mother, soon realized what was the vocation of his daughter, who began a career child appearing on radio and television programs. At age ten he wrote songs in a systematic way; He participated for the first time in the television contest looking for child artist in 1988, where he was victorious, and repeated the triumph in 1989 and 1990.

As a teenager, Shakira signed its first record deal with Sony Music Colombia, seal for which recorded its first album, magic (1991), with songs that had been composed between eight and thirteen, followed two years later by a second album, danger (1993). His personality immediately shocked the public and music journalists; She was elected to represent Colombia at the Festival OTI, but it missed by being under sixteen years.

The big break came when she was invited to participate in the Festival of the song of Viña del Mar in 1993. It was then when only sixteen years old, his interpretation of the ballad Are opened the doors of the Latin American market. As he finished high school, Shakira prepared what would be their third album, Pies descalzos (1995). The album, which included in addition to the theme that gives title other hits like I am here, sueños blancos and Dónde estás Corazón?, was a success in Latin America, with over four million copies sold; their songs were erected in extraordinary successes and earned him millions of fans.

His next album,where are the thieves? (1998), produced by Emilio Estefan, became the undisputed star of the pop-rock latino, with more than eight million copies sold. Some of the topics contained in this album (nominated for Grammy Award and that remained for more than one year in the top ten of the Soundscand in the United States), as that gives title or Inevitable, you eyes as well and blind, deaf and dumb, they redoubled the popularity of Shakira and projected his figure in the international markets.

Shakira in concert

To settle their growing popularity in the United States, the singer recorded in New York Shakira MTV Unplugged (1999), a live concert with a special Latin flavor that constituted the first acoustic presentation broadcast in Spanish on MTV in that country. For this work Shakira won his first Grammy (for best Latin pop album) and the Latin Grammy best pop singer (for eyes as well) and the best singer in rock (for eighth day).

Aware of the potential of the Anglo-Saxon market, Shakira decided then to go one step further in his career and wrote a new album: service of laundry/Laundry Service (2001), with nine songs in English, among them Underneath Your Clothes and Whenever, Wherever, and four in Spanish. The album was number one in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland, and meant his world consecration, with more than 13 million copies sold. The tour of the album, the "Tour of the Mongoose", lasted six months (from November 2002 to May 2003) and left to remember the DVD Live and Off the Record (2004).

Four years after service of laundry, the Colombian, who did not stop all this time to continue composing, surprised with the publication, with a few months of difference, of two new albums: oral fixation Vol. 1, in Spanish (June 2005), and Oral Fixation Vol. 2, in English (November 2005). The first included topics such as torture, played a Duet with Alejandro Sanz, wall or Las de la Intuición. In just three days worldwide sales reached one million copies. Torture video was also the first to Spanish programmed regularly on MTV and VH1.

To the success of this album he not walked him behind Oral Fixation Vol. 2, which, like the previous one, the singer broke his own records. One of their singles, Hips Don't Lie, in which he was assisted by the rapper and producer Wyclef Jean, was the best selling of 2006; It reached number 1 in the United States Billboard Hot 100 list and Shakira became the only Colombian artist to do so. It was also a digital phenomenon: in one week there were 266.500 downloads of the song. The awards were swift: oral fixation Vol. 1 in 2006, among others, won the Grammy for best Latin album of rock / alternative, Latin Grammy for best album of the year and six Billboard awards to the best of Latin music. With both English and Spanish versions, the Colombian superstar undertook in June 2006 an ambitious tour that took her to 140 cities in North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa and Southeast Asia. The tour lasted until July 2007 and was followed by more than four million people live.

After this tour, Shakira is locked in the preparation of their next Studio album, She Wolf, which would see the light in October 2009. In the meantime he collaborated with artists like Alejandro Sanz (thank you, but not), Beyonce (Beautiful Liar) or Miguel Bosé (If you don't) and he co-wrote and recorded two songs for the film love in the time of cholera (2007), based on the novel by his compatriot Gabriel García Márquez. She Wolf included topics such as she-Wolf and Gypsy (whose promotional video was accompanied by the Spanish tennis player Rafa Nadal), who returned to place it at the forefront of the news.

In the summer of 2010, after presenting her own perfume, S by Shakira, the Colombian singer was responsible for firing the cup of the world of football in South Africa, to the rhythm of the Waka, waka, a new version of the Cameroonian song Zangalewo and official World Cup anthem. A few days later moved to Barcelona (city of which stated in love), where he recorded the video presentation of his new album, the sun comes out, this time in Spanish. The Sun, which featured a collaboration with Calle 13, appeared in October and presented in a new tour, "Tour de la Delicias", which recalaría in Spain in November.

Despite living in the firmament of popularity, Shakira not have you been uploaded fumes at the head. For years, he combines his artistic career with humanitarian causes. In the mid-1990s he created the Pies Descalzos Foundation, dedicated to helping children victims of violence in Colombia, giving them educational, nutritional, psychological and medical services. He founded also wings (Latin America in solidarity action), an institution of non-profit that aims to boost child development early in Latin America. In 2003 she was appointed Unicef Goodwill Ambassador, and in 2006 received the spirit of hope Award for his humanitarian work.

Since the year 2000, Shakira shared his life with Antonio de la Rúa, son of the late Argentine President Fernando de la Rúa; wedding rumors intensified towards 2007, without ever materialized, which fueled rumors of rupture; in 2010 the own singer confirmed that they had separated amicably. From 2011 it is sentimentally attached to the footballer of FC Barcelona Gerard Pique, romance that, like the previous one, has flooded the gossip pages. Beautiful, breathtaking sensuality (especially with its unmistakable belly and hip movements) and with an absolute mastery of the scenarios, the Colombian artist, which, in 2012, had sold more than 125 million albums in Spanish and English, does more than renew its success year after year.

Extracted from the website: Biografías y Vidas