Shakira

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll (Barranquilla, February 2, 1977), known simply as Shakira, is a Colombian singer-songwriter, dancer, actress and businesswoman.

Her high level of sales, vocal versatility and global success have led her to be qualified by important magazines and media with the nickname "Queen of Latin Pop". She is considered a world icon of Latin music, since her debut in the 90s to the present day has had a great impact on the music scene, being cited on numerous occasions for inspiring and influencing a whole generation of singers. With an artistic career of more than thirty years, she is a one of the artists with the highest record sales in history, with more than 80 million sales, being also the Latin artist with the highest sales in the United States.

She is one of the most awarded artists of all time and the most awarded Latin artist, she has several awards, including several, 41 Latin Billboard Music Awards, 7 Billboard Music Awards, 3 Grammy Awards, a nomination to the Golden Globe, 12 Latin Grammys and a Latin Grammy for person of the year, being the youngest artist to win it and the only South American to own one. She also holds several Guinness World Records and a star on the Walk of Fame of Hollywood.

He began his musical career in 1991, after signing a contract with Sony Music Colombia for three albums, after two failed attempts in 1991 and 1993 with "Magia" and "Peligro", Shakira achieved her first success in collaboration with Luis Fernando Ochoa in the Spanish-American record market in 1995 with the album Pies descalzos, selling more than 4 million albumss, is considered one of the most important albums of Latin pop. Years later, in 1998, he continued working with Ochoa on his album ¿Dónde están los ladrones?, that redefined Latin rock in the late 1990s and made her the most popular artist in Latin America, selling more than 6 million copies. In 1999, the broadcast of her first album live MTV Unplugged became the first international acoustic presentation broadcast in Spanish on MTV in the United States. International success came in 2001 with his album Laundry Service, which sold more than 13 million albums; he popularized the fusion and mixing of Arabic and Latin sounds and placed her at the top of the Anglo-Saxon market as the leading crossover artist, also n is considered the most successful crossover of all time and is listed at number 172 on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's Definitive 200.

Billboard magazine described her career as one of the most consolidated in the Latin American music scene, selecting her as the best female Latin artist of the decade on two occasions (2000-2010) and positioning three of their singles among the twenty most important in the history of Billboard, "Chantaje" "La tortura" and "Suerte" placing them in positions no. 6, no. 7 and no. 16. Similarly, she was the only female artist in Billboard's top 50 of the most successful Latin songs of the 2010s, placing "Chantaje" at number 18. In 2020, the magazine Rolling Stone ranked their album ¿Dónde están los ladrones? among the 500 best of all time, in the 496th position, being the only rock album in Spanish in the list also ranked "Hips Don't Lie" at number 41 of the 50 Most Hit Latin Songs of All Time. The singer also became the first and only South American artist in history to position a number one song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In 2005, Shakira set the record for the best-selling album in Spanish in one week in the United States, with Oral fixation vol. 1. At the end of 2017, Shakira became the first artist to enter four songs in Spanish from a single album on the Billboard Hot 100, the main music chart in the United States. In the same way, she is the only artist who has sung consecutively in three soccer World Cups. In 2017, she published her last album to date, El Dorado, which became the album of the most streamed Latina female artist in history and one of the most streamed albums of all time, with over 10 billion streams.

According to Forbes magazine, Shakira is the Latin artist who has sold the most albums in history. The British tabloid The Sun ranked Shakira in position n. 8 among the "50 singers who will never be forgotten" in music history, being the best-positioned Latin artist on the list, while the VH1 channel placed her in position 36 of the "100 Greatest Women in Music History." música", being the only Latin artist on the list.

In 2020, he headlined the Super Bowl LIV halftime show in Miami Gardens, Florida with Jennifer Lopez, which became one of the most-watched halftime shows of all time.

Early Years

She was born on February 2, 1977 in Barranquilla (Colombia). She is the only child of William Mebarak Chadid, an American (born in New York) of Lebanese origin who immigrated to Colombia at the age of five, and Nidia del Carmen Ripoll Torrado, a Colombian of Spanish descent. She has eight older half-siblings, all from her father's previous marriage.

Shakira (شاكرة šākira) means "grateful" in Arabic. It is the feminine form of the name Shakir (شاكر shakir). Her middle name, the Spanish Isabel, comes from her maternal family. Her first surname, Mebarak (مبارك məbārak), is of Arabic origin, and her second surname, Ripoll, is of Catalan origin.

Shakira wrote her first poem, titled "The Crystal Rose," when she was only four years old. In childhood she was fascinated to see her father write stories on a typewriter, and she asked for one of hers as a Christmas present. At the age of seven she had her wish fulfilled and she continued to write poetry, poems that eventually ended up in songs.

At the age of eight she wrote her first song, titled "Tus gafas oscuras", inspired by her father, who for years wore dark glasses to hide the pain of the death of one of his children, when Shakira was two years old.

When she was four years old, her father took her to a local Middle Eastern restaurant, where she first heard the derbake, a traditional drum used in Arabic music, a typical accompaniment to belly dancing. Before she knew it, she was already dancing on a table, and the restaurant patrons applauded enthusiastically. It was then that she knew that she wanted to be an artist.

She liked to sing for her classmates and teachers at her Catholic school, but in second grade she was not accepted into the school choir because her vibrato was too loud. The music teacher told her that she sounded “like a goat.” At school, she was known as “the belly-dancing girl,” and every Friday she would show off a new number that she had learned.

At the age of eight, his father filed for bankruptcy, and while the details of the process were finalized, he went to live with relatives in Los Angeles. Upon returning to Barranquilla, he was surprised to discover that much of his parents' possessions had been sold; later, he said: "In my childish head, that was the end of the world." To show her that things could be worse, her father took her to a nearby park so she could see the orphans who lived there. The image of her struck her and she said to herself "one day I will help these children, when I become a famous artist."

He participated for the first time in the television contest "Buscando artista infantil" in 1988 (of the regional channel of the Colombian coast Telecaribe), a contest that he won for three years followed.

Musical career

1990-1994: first albums

Between the ages of ten and thirteen, Shakira was invited to various events in Barranquilla and gained some recognition in the area. As a consequence, she met a theater producer, who helped her make herself known outside of Barranquilla. She also met an executive from Sony Colombia, who after a test decided to promote the singer in her production company. Listening to some tapes did not convince the leaders at first, but after listening to it live, Shakira was hired to record three albums.

Shakira moved to Bogotá and, at the age of fourteen, released her first album in 1991, entitled Magia, which includes songs written by herself, including "Magia", « Tonight I'm going with you" and "Your dark glasses". However, the album turned out to be a commercial failure, selling only a thousand units.

In 1993, days after he turned sixteen, he participated in the XXXIV Viña del Mar International Song Festival, where he won third place in the competition with the song "Eres". His second album, titled Danger, was released that same year and edited by the interpreter. This album, despite the fact that it was better received than the previous one, also turned out to be another failure for Shakira in terms of sales and for this reason she decided to take a musical break to finish her studies. Currently, the albums "Magia" and "Peligro" are out of print and are not part of her official discography, being considered practically a relic of Latin music. In 1994, she starred in the miniseries El Oasis , made by Cenpro TV, together with actor Pedro Rendón, in which a romance between the surviving families of the Armero tragedy was represented.

1995-1997: Barefoot

In 1995, the record label decided to release a hit record by Colombian artists. This is how they think of Shakira and tell her that they will include a song from one of her previous recordings, Magia and Peligro , to which Shakira refuses and offers to compose a song especially for said compilation album. This is how "¿Dónde estás corazón?" was born, becoming a requested success on the radio. The song also began to be heard outside of her native Colombia.

In 1995, Shakira published her first official studio album, entitled Pies descalzos (recorded the previous year), which thanks to the collaboration of Luis Fernando Ochoa in the production work, would make her a a figure of the Spanish-American musical field. She making herself known with the single "Where are you, heart? », a song that appeared on the compilation "Nuestro rock" and which led listeners to find the single «I am here». The songs "Un poco de amor", "Pies descalzos, sueños blancos", "Antología", and "Se quiere, se mata" were also popular hits. The album reached sales of over 4 million copies, which increased even more with the remixes of his album Pies descalzos. Her first remix album, entitled The Remixes, was released in 1997 and also included some Portuguese versions of her best-known songs, and sold around 500,000 units worldwide.

1998-2000: Where are the thieves?

In September 1998, Shakira released her second studio album, entitled ¿Dónde están los ladrones?, with a production cost close to three million US dollars, and it is estimated that it has sold more than 10 million copies, extending his fame to other markets and countries such as France, Switzerland and, especially, to the United States, since in that country alone he sold more than 1 million copies. The singles were especially successful. Blind, deaf-mute», «You», «Inevitable» and «Eyes like this».

Due to the success of the album, Shakira was invited by MTV in 1999 to produce her first live album, entitled MTV Unplugged, which includes all the songs from ¿Dónde están los ladrones ? (Except the song "Que vuelvas"). La desenchufado de ella de ella or unplugged was the first to be broadcast in the United States, being performed by a Latin artist and in Spanish. The album sold more than 5 million units worldwide. It was released in February 2000.

In March 2000, he began a three-month tour called the Tour Anfibio, which included concerts in Latin America and the United States. The tour began in Peru and concluded in Argentina. In August 2000, she won an MTV Video Music Award in the defunct category of "International Audience Award" with the song "Ojos así". In 2020, The Rolling Stone magazine ranked his album Where are the thieves? among the «500 Greatest of All Time, respectively at position 496, being the only rock album in Spanish on the list".

2001-2004: Laundry service and international success

Shakira in 2002 Laundry service.

In November 2001, the singer published her third studio album and the first "bilingual", titled Laundry Service (known as Laundry Service in Latin America and in Spain), which fused pop and rock with elements of Latin music (for example, tango and Andean music) or Arabic elements. The album also included four songs in Spanish, among them "Que me quedes tú" and "Te dejo Madrid", the only ones that were not translated from Spanish to English. Despite criticism regarding its adaptation to the English language, Laundry Service was a commercial success, with sales that would gradually exceed 13 million units worldwide, as stated in the Shakira's official page. Its first single was especially successful, "Whenever, Wherever" (its Spanish version was titled "Suerte") which reached number one on the charts of several countries, and reached number six on the Billboard Hot 100, the single was also successful in Europe, in countries like France or Switzerland, where the song remained in first place for 17 weeks in a row. The second single, "Underneath Your Clothes", was also successful in several countries in Europe, America and Asia, in the United States the single ranked number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100. For Spanish-speaking countries, "Te dejo Madrid" was released as the second single.

Months later, "Objection (Tango)" (whose version in Spanish is "Te aviso, te anuncio (tango)") became the third single from the album with moderate success. Finally, for Europe and Australia the song "The One" was released as a single, which did not have much impact. Meanwhile, for Spanish-speaking countries, "Que me quedes tú" was released.

In 2002, Shakira released a compact disc with her biggest hits in Spanish up to that time, containing songs from her albums Pies descalzos, ¿Dónde están los ladrones?, MTV Unplugged and Laundry Service and whose title was simply Greatest Hits. It achieved sales of more than 3.5 million copies.

Due to the success of Laundry Service, between 2002 and 2003 the tour Tour de la Mongosta was held, with which Shakira performed 61 international concerts. According to Shakira herself, the name of the tour comes from the fact that "The mongoose is the only animal that is immune to the venom of the cobra. To me, the cobra symbolizes all the hate, sickness, and negativity in the world. We should be more like the mongoose and attack the cobra's head". In concerts, referring to this, a projection appeared showing how the mongoose defeated the cobra. The video was divided into two sections and ended at the end of the concert with the caption "Bite the neck of hate. Kill death".

Shakira published in February 2004, a compilation DVD as a document of that tour at a concert in Rotterdam; along with an audio disc, titled Live & Off The Record (Live and in private). The DVD contained fifteen live songs and a documentary; and only ten songs were included on the audio CD. Sales reached 4 million units.

2005-2008: Oral fixation vol. 1 and vol. 2

Shakira during his Tour Oral Fixation in 2007.

Shakira took a year and a half to prepare this project. Her decision to release two albums simultaneously was not premeditated, however, the excess of material composed made her make this decision. Shakira considers this project as hers of her "graduate thesis" .

Four years after the release of Laundry Service, Shakira released her fourth studio album, titled Fijación oral vol. 1, during the month of June 2005 in Europe, North America, Australia and Latin America. The album reached first place in sales in Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Spain and several Latin American countries. In the United States, Oral Fixation vol. 1 debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 chart.

The first single was titled «La tortura» with the collaboration of the Spanish singer Alejandro Sanz. The song is basically Latin pop but with some Jamaican dance-hall influences. This song led her to occupy the first places on the music charts in several countries and remained at number one on Billboard's Hot Latin Tracks for 25 consecutive weeks. The second single was "No", a ballad that did not have as much international presence as its predecessor. "Día de enero" (released only in Latin America) and "La pared" would become the next two singles. "La pared" was number one in Spain for 4 weeks and "Día de enero" was quite successful in Latin America.

In 2005, Shakira became the first Latina singer to perform a song in Spanish at the MTV Video Music Awards ceremony and to be nominated for a video for a song in Spanish.

In 2006 she was awarded her second Grammy Award in the category of "Best Latin Rock/Alternative Album". In that same year, she won four Latin Grammy Awards for this album.

As the main theme of the then new SEAT automobile campaign, “Las de la intuición” began to be played in Spain in 2007, a country where this theme became the second most popular theme of Fijación oral vol. 1, after "La tortura", and remained at the top of the hit list of the station "Los 40 Principales" for eight non-consecutive weeks. In certain parts of Europe its English version, "Pure Intuition", had some presence. It was the last single from Fijación oral vol. 1.

Shakira in Rock in Rio in Madrid (2008).

On November 28, 2005, the singer released her fifth studio album and her first entirely in English, titled Oral Fixation vol. 2 , a follow-up to her album Oral Fixation vol. 1. It debuted at number five in the United States on the Billboard 200, but quickly sank on the chart, precipitating a reissue six months later. Even so, the album came back reaching position 23 as one of the best-selling albums of 2006 in the United States.

At the beginning of 2006, he received the certification of thirteen gold records from different countries (Canada, Mexico, Spain, Argentina, Chile, India, Germany, Austria, Italy, Portugal, Norway, Hungary and his native Colombia).

Their first single was "Don't Bother" which achieved moderate success in Europe, but did not have the expected success in the Anglo-Saxon market, which led to a reissue half a year later, which was reinforced with the addition of "Hips Don't Lie" to Oral Fixation Vol. 2 which was the second single. In those six months, there was no single from Oral Fixation Vol. 2.

"Hips Don't Lie", which achieved great success worldwide, becoming the most downloaded song on the Internet, is a song with a mixture of cumbia, Latin pop, reggaeton, salsa and hip hop, originally written by Haitian rapper and producer Wyclef Jean and whose title was "Dance Like This". Shakira decided to cover it with the help of Wyclef himself. The single has become Shakira's most successful song in English, it reached number one on the popularity charts of several countries, in the United States, it was Shakira's first song to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. With the release of "Hips Don't Lie" as a bonus track on the album, he increased sales of Oral Fixation Vol. 2 even further around the world, but especially in the United States where It jumped from position number 98 to number 6 on the Billboard 200, which led to its being awarded a platinum record on April 4, 2006, having sold more than a million units in the United States. With the release of "Hips Don't Lie" ('Hips Don't Lie'), Shakira became the first South American artist in history to position a number one song on the Billboard Hot 100, The Rolling Stone ranked it #41 out of the top 50 songs l most successful hits of all time.

Shakira Sculpture in Barranquilla (Colombia)

S by Shakira. Logo used in your perfume line.

Shakira was chosen to sing a special version of "Hips Don't Lie" (Bamboo version) at the closing ceremony of the 2006 Soccer World Cup in Germany, this being the first time in history that a Latina female singer sings at this event.

In November 2006, he released "Illegal" as his last single. It is a ballad that has the participation of Carlos Santana. It was moderately successful in Europe and its release as a single was canceled in the United States. In the same month, a statue of Shakira was placed outside the Metropolitan soccer stadium in her hometown of Barranquilla, donated by German-born artist Dieter Patt.

In the summer of 2006, the Oral Fixation Tour began, a tour that took her to different countries on five continents, this being the most successful of the Colombian, who with her Mongoose Tour toured 61 locations. The tour was presented in 125 places around the world, in several of which she broke attendance records. Europe has been the continent in which this tour has been most successful, thanks above all to two important places, Spain with 15 presentations and Germany with 10. In Latin America, Mexico was the country with the largest number of presentations (21 in total), 10 of them on a first visit in 2006 and the rest on their closing return in 2007 gave a concert in the Zócalo where they had an audience of more than 210,000 people, the largest concert in the history of Mexico City, followed by Colombia and Puerto Rico, with three each. The tour officially ended on July 14, 2007 in Nigeria, at the Thisday Festival. But in December 2007 she held one last concert in Georgia, which was free.

Although she was not part of the tour, Shakira performed at Live Earth in Germany, where she performed four songs, one of them with the collaboration of Argentine singer Gustavo Cerati.

In 2008, he signed an agreement with the Spanish fashion and perfume company Puig for the marketing of perfumes that bear his name.

2009-2012: Loba and Sunrise

Shakira during his tour Sun World Tour in 2010.

She Wolf / Loba is the sixth studio album by Shakira. In the Colombian singer's own words, the album is "electronic, with a lot of fusion and very danceable". On June 29, 2009, the Spanish version of the first single from the album entitled "Loba" ("She Wolf" in English) was released. Loba was written by Shakira (in the Spanish version Jorge Drexler collaborated) and co-produced between Shakira and John Hill. On July 31, 2009, the music video for "She Wolf" was released, which was directed by Jake Nava. The album cover was unveiled on August 9, 2009. The album was released in October 2009 in most countries and in November 2009 in the United States, it received positive reviews from critics. The album has been a chart success and has since been certified Gold in Russia, Ireland, Switzerland, Poland, France, Argentina, Greece and Hungary, Platinum in Spain, UK and the Middle East, 2x Platinum. in Colombia and Mexico, and 3 times Platinum in Taiwan. Subsequent singles, "Did It Again / Lo hecho esta hecho", "Give It Up to Me", and "Gypsy/Gitana", received moderate success on the charts.

During the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa, Shakira became the interpreter of the official song of the sporting event. The song, called "Waka Waka (This Time For Africa)", uses fragments of an African military song, used this time with the aim of uniting people through music and football. Shakira performs it with the collaboration of the South African group Freshlyground. The song becomes one of Shakira's biggest hits in Latin America, Spain and the rest of Europe, having moderate success in countries like the United States and the United Kingdom.

Shakira singing the hymn of Colombia during the Sixth Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia.

It was initially announced that Shakira would release a Spanish-language album in 2010 after the release of She Wolf, similar to what she had done with Las Fijaciones 1 & 2, but Shakira later indicated that the album would be a bilingual project, containing a majority of songs in Spanish and three in English. The album cover was unveiled early on September 1, 2010, as was the first single titled "Crazy". Her seventh studio album, titled Sale el sol , was released in October 2010, debuting in the top positions. Three more singles were officially released during 2010, among which are "Sale el sol", "Rabiosa" and "Antes de las seis", the latter promoting her DVD Shakira: Live from Paris, reaching high and medium levels. positions. In 2012, she released the single "Addicted to You". Shakira confirmed a world tour titled Sale el Sol World Tour. Her website announced that "The tour will bring Shakira's spectacular show to major venues and a host of cities throughout the summer and fall." The tour began in September 2010 and ended in October. of 2011, touring more than 40 countries in 106 dates, interpreting songs like "Años Luz" and "Chubby". In November 2011, Shakira received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and later at the Latin Grammys, the Academy honored Shakira as the winner of the prestigious award for her artistic achievements, as well as the philanthropic contributions of she. The 34-year-old singer is the youngest to receive the Person of the Year award, Shakira was also nominated for three more awards, including "album of the Year" which she won.

2013-2016: Shakira, the self-titled album

Shakira and Carlinhos Brown at the 2014 World Cup Closing Show.

Shakira was interviewed by Billboard about her next project. When she was asked about it, she replied:

"I've already started writing new stuff. I have started to explore in the recording studio whenever I have time in Barcelona and here in Miami. I'm working with different producers and DJs, and I try to eat off of that and find new sources of musical inspiration and motivation. I'm looking forward to getting back to the studio. My body is asking for it".

In mid-February 2012, it was confirmed through Roc Nation (Jay-Z's record company) that Shakira had signed a contract with that label. Shakira confirmed through her account on Twitter that he had started recording a new album, this album would be completely in English; In this possible eighth studio album, whose publication was scheduled for mid-2013, it would have a more dance and electronic sound, and would be produced by artists such as Ne-Yo, Afrojack, RedOne, William, among others.

In that same year, the artist signed a contract with the international mobile phone company T-Mobile with the purpose of establishing a mutual promotion of their products. On October 9, the singer offered a special concert in conjunction with the company to promote the new "Simple Global" cell phone service and in turn use it as a margin for her musical comeback. Later, the star attended an interview, as a complement to the agreement, expressing his support and interest with telecommunications and the proposals implemented by the company, and affirming his second participation in the singing program The Voice and the release of his first single from his new material by the end of said year. In December an alleged collaboration with Barbadian singer Rihanna came to light on the first single, which had already been postponed to the beginning of the first month of the following year. On January 6, 2014, Rihanna confirmed the name of the song when she responded via her Twitter account to a fan who had made a post announcing that the single would be called "Can't Remember to Forget You" and would be released. on the 14th of that month, although the singer suggested that it would be released one day earlier than expected (January 13). Days before, the Cuban-American rapper Pitbull had confirmed the collaboration of both when in an interview he claimed to have offered him a participation in his song "Timber" -which later obtained the collaboration of the singer Kesha- and she had denied it since she would collaborate in the Shakira's new musical work. The Colombian singer reconfirmed through her social networks hours after Rihanna's publication all the information about the single. Three days later she published the image of what would be the cover of the single. nine in the morning in the United States and finally on January 30 the official video was released on his VEVO account on YouTube; Also on January 13, in the afternoon, Shakira announced that March 25, 2014 would be the release date of her eighth official studio album. On January 22, in an open letter, the singer disclosed that her new production label will have a title of the same name (Shakira); two days later she published the cover of what will be the deluxe version of the album.On July 13, 2014, Shakira sang the song & # 34; La La La (Brasil 2014) & # 34; together with the Brazilian musician Carlinhos Brown at the closing ceremony of the Brazil 2014 Soccer World Cup at the Maracana Stadium. This presentation became the third consecutive appearance for her in the FIFA World Cup.

On August 14, 2015, at Disney's D23 Expo, it was announced that Shakira would play a character in Disney's animated film Zootopia, playing Gazelle, the biggest pop star in the world. zootopia. Shakira also contributed an original song to the film, titled "Try Everything", which was written by Australian singer Sia.

2017-2019: El Dorado

Shakira together with Chris Martin at the Global Citizen 2017.

Shakira began working on her ninth studio album in early 2016. In May of that year, she collaborated with Colombian singer Carlos Vives on the song "La bicicleta". At the end of October, Shakira released the single "Chantaje" in collaboration with the Colombian urban singer Maluma; Although the song was part of the album, it was not considered the main single. In March 2017, he released the single "Deja Vu" alongside Dominican-American singer-songwriter Prince Royce and the single "Comme Moi" alongside French rapper Black M; Later in April and May 2017, Shakira respectively released "Me enamoré" as the second official single and "Perro fiel" as the third single from her new album El Dorado, which was released on 26 on May 2017. The official release of "Perro fiel" as the third single took place in September 2017, the date the music video was released. After being released as a single, it was certified Gold in Spain for selling 20,000 copies. in August 2017.

The El Dorado World Tour was announced on June 27, 2017 and will be sponsored by Rakuten. Sol World Tour) and Citigroup, which are, respectively, the producer and credit card for the North American leg of the tour. As part of the tour's presentation, Live Nation posted a video via their official social media as an additional reminder.

The tour began on November 8 in Cologne, but due to issues related to the singer's vocal effort during rehearsals, the date was canceled a day early and rescheduled for a later date. For November 9 For the same reason, Shakira announced the postponement of the two presentations in Paris, as well as the following ones scheduled in Antwerp and Amsterdam. On November 14, she announced through her social networks that she had hemorrhaged her right vocal cord. at the end of October, during his last stage of rehearsals and that he needed to keep his voice at rest to heal, in this way, the entire European leg of the tour was postponed.

The dates for Latin America were later confirmed. There were plans to take the tour to countries such as the Dominican Republic. In addition, a journalist from the Brazilian version of the Portuguese newspaper Destak announced on his Twitter account that the Colombian singer would visit Brazil during the month of March. However, according to the same newspaper, due to the period that the singer requires to recover from the damage to her vocal cords, the dates in Latin America were postponed to the second half of 2018.

In January 2018, she won her third Grammy Awards with the album El Dorado, the only Latin artist to do so. She won it in the Best Latin Pop Album category. She celebrated it with the publication of the song Trap with Maluma. In the same month, she announced the final dates of her El Dorado World Tour, the European leg of which began on June 3 in Hamburg and ended on July 7 in Barcelona. He had a short stint in Asia, on July 11 and 13. She also confirmed her North American dates, beginning on August 3 in Chicago and ending on September 7 in San Francisco. Her last confirmation was in May, where she announced her dates in Latin America, which began on October 11 in Mexico City and ended on November 3 in Bogotá.

2020-present: 10th studio album and Super Bowl LIV

The singer is currently recording her tenth studio album.

On January 11, 2020, he announced through his Instagram account the premiere of a new single titled "Me gusta" with the collaboration of Puerto Rican singer Anuel AA. The song was released two days later.

On February 2, 2020, Shakira along with Jennifer Lopez headlined the Super Bowl LIV halftime show, which took place in Miami Gardens, Florida. The event was viewed by more than 103 million people worldwide. United States. On February 3, 2020, Live Nation announced through his Twitter account a new world tour of the singer for 2021, which could not take place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In January 2021, the artist sold the rights to 145 songs to the investment firm Hipgnosis Songs Fund.

On July 16, 2021, he released his song "Don't Wait Up".

On April 22, 2022, he released the single "Te congratulations", in collaboration with the singer Rauw Alejandro. After one day of release, the single received more than 3.2 million views on YouTube, quickly positioning itself at number one 2 in trends. Both Latin Grammy-winning artists came together for the first time in this combination of reggaeton and punk that has achieved great acceptance from fans worldwide. This single has been nominated at the Latin Billboard Music Awards for "Latin pop song of the year" among other achievements.

Shakira joins the Black Eyed Peas on June 20, 2022 and they release a new single titled Don't You Worry.

On October 19, 2022, he released the song "Monotonía", a duet with Ozuna.

At the beginning of November, she was confirmed to be part of the opening ceremony of the Qatar 2022 World Cup, which took place on November 20, 2022, along with BTS and the Black Eyed Peas, however, she canceled her presentation days before of the presentation.

At the end of December 2022, some alleged concert dates were leaked, which could indicate that in September 2023 the artist would start a new world tour to promote her new album that is expected in early 2023.

On January 9, 2023, small planes appeared in different cities with a banner that read: "A she-wolf like me is not here' guys like you 01/11/23". What ended up being the preview of the new "session" from Bizarrap, Shakira: BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 53, which was highly publicized due to her references to the end of her relationship with Gerard Piqué.

Art

About her music, Shakira has said that “my music, I think, is a fusion of many different elements. And I'm always experimenting. So I try not to limit myself, put myself in a category, or... be the architect of my own jail." Shakira has frequently stated that she is inspired by oriental music and Indian music, which influenced in many of her earlier works. She has also been influenced by her Arab heritage, which was a major inspiration for her worldwide smash hit "Eyes Like This". She told Portuguese television: "Many of my movements belong to the Arab culture." She also cites her parents as major contributors to her musical style, She is also heavily influenced by Andean music and South American folk music, using her native instrumentation for her Latin dance-pop songs.

Her previous Spanish-language albums, including Pies descalzos and Dónde están los ladrones?, were a mix of folk music and Latin rock. Their English crossover album, Laundry Service, and subsequent albums were influenced by pop rock and Latin pop. Laundry Service is primarily a pop rock album, but also it draws influences from a variety of musical genres. The singer attributed this to her mixed ethnicity, saying, "I'm a fusion. That is my person. I am a fusion between black and white, between pop and rock, between cultures, between my Lebanese father and my mother's Spanish blood, Colombian folklore and Arabic dance. I love American music.”"

The Middle Eastern and Arab elements that were so influential in Where Are the Thieves? are also present in Laundry Service, most notably in "Eyes Like Yours" / "Ojos Así". Musical styles from different South American countries emerge on the album. Tango, a fast-paced ballroom dance style that originated in Argentina, is evident on "Objection (Tango)", which also combines elements of rock and roll. The uptempo track features a guitar solo and a bridge in which Shakira offers rap voices.

"She Wolf" is primarily an electropop album that combines influences from the musical styles of various countries and regions, such as Africa, Colombia, India, and the Middle East. Shakira called the album an "experimental sonic journey" and he said he researched folk music from different countries to "combine electronics with world sounds, tambourines, clarinets, oriental and Indian music, dancehall, etc." His 2010 album, Sale el sol, is a return to her beginnings that contains ballads, rock songs, and Latin dance songs like "Loca". In 2017, Deutsche Welle journalist Kate Müser commented on Shakira's "globalized sound": "[her ] Latin rhythms, spiced with elements of the Middle East and other elements of the world and made comfortably familiar by being churned through the pop machine, make you feel like a citizen of the world."

Led Zeppelin, Shakira's greatest influence at the beginning of his career.

As a child, Shakira was influenced by rock music, listening a lot to rock bands such as Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Nirvana, The Police and U2, while her other influences included Gloria Estefan, Madonna, Sheryl Crow, Alanis Morissette, Marc Anthony, Meredith Brooks and The Cure.

Dance

Shakira is well known for her dancing in her music videos and concerts. Her distinctive dance style is said to blend Latin dance with Middle Eastern belly dance, which derives from her Lebanese heritage and her hip tremor is mentioned in songs, such as in the song "Brave, Honest, Beautiful" by the band Fifth Harmony. She is characterized by using minimal production, usually going on stage with minimal makeup and natural hair, and without background dancers in her performances, preferring to focus on her voice, dance moves, and stage presence. She often performs barefoot, a dance form she learned as a teenager to overcome her shyness. She also mentioned in an MTV interview that she learned to belly dance by trying to flip a coin with her belly.

Song

Shakira is known for her "unique and fascinating" singing voice, which includes her "trademark" yodeling. Discussing Shakira's version of "Je l'aime à mourir", voice teacher Beth Roars he also noted Shakira's use of singing, explaining that there is a "heaviness at the bottom of her tone" that "becomes "the voice in her head", as well as her ability to execute "complex" melismas. She also noted Shakira's use of "Arabic scales", later stating that she uses "harmonic minor scales instead of pentatonic scales".

Political Activities

Shakira together with Usher and Stevie Wonder at President Barack Obama’s inaugural presentation in 2009.

In October 2010, he expressed his disagreement with French President Nicolas Sarkozy's policy of expelling Romanian gypsies from the country. In the Spanish edition of the magazine GQ she also dedicated a few words to Sarkozy: “we are all gypsies”. In the interview he made his point of view very clear. "What is happening now to them (the gypsies) will happen to our children and our children's children. We must resort to citizen action for the fundamental rights of the human being and denounce everything that seems to us to be denounceable, & # 34;, he sentenced.

In October 2011, former United States President Barack Obama appointed her as an advisor to the Commission for Hispanic Educational Excellence.

On November 2, 2018, during a visit to his native Barranquilla to lay the first brick in the construction of a mega-school for his Pies Descalzos Foundation, he spoke about the education policies of the government of Iván Duque (Colombian president, 2018-2022). Against the government's attempt to reduce the education budget from 13% of the national budget to 7%, he said, "This is unacceptable, it shows that instead of going forward we are going backwards." We have to invest more in education and we have to build more schools where there are none”; he also spoke about social inequality and unschooling.

Charity Activities

Brazil's president Dilma Rousseff receiving a guitar for Shakira's charity auction (2011).

Shakira and Alejandro Sanz, as members of ALAS, met with the king of Spain at the Summit of Presidents of El Salvador.

Shakira also stands out for being a person enrolled in charity, thanks to the foundation that she herself established in the city of Barranquilla at the end of the 1990s. This non-profit institution is called Fundación Pies Descalzos and was created with the aim of providing help to the entire unprotected child community in Colombia and third world countries. Thanks to this humanitarian work, the Colombian artist was named ambassador by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). of good will. In April 2006, Shakira was awarded by the United Nations (UN), a mention she received thanks to her humanitarian work and the creation of the Pies Descalzos Foundation. In said ceremony the singer declared: "Let's not forget that at the end of the day when everyone goes home, 960 children will have died in Latin America."

Also in 2003, he collaborated with an interview in Miami for the campaign in favor of needy children in Latin America together with Gloria Estefan and Laura Pausini.

On the other hand, the Spanish automobile brand SEAT associated with Shakira to manufacture a car called SEAT León Pies Descalzos, a vehicle that would bear the name of the foundation and that was finally auctioned in 2007. The event was held at the Geneva Motor Show and was witnessed by the president of the Spanish brand Erich Schmitt. Shakira received a check for the sum of 16,000 Swiss francs for her notable humanitarian contribution; shortly after he managed to raise 16,000 francs, money received at an auction and by the AMAG company (Swiss importer of Porsche cars) which donated 10,000 francs. The singer was also invited to an event organized by then-President of the United States Bill Clinton, an event that dealt with issues related to climate change and philanthropy. Shakira donated 40 million dollars, money with which they benefited Peruvian and Nicaraguan indigenous communities due to natural tragedies that occurred in both countries and 5 million more for investments in educational projects in Latin America.

At the beginning of 2009, the Pies Descalzos Foundation educational institution and community center was inaugurated. part children and young people. The creation of this school was in charge of Shakira, the German television channel RTL Televisión, the Community of Madrid and the automobile manufacturer SEAT. Nearly 1600 children are received in this mega school. In October of that same year, Shakira represented Colombia in a campaign broadcast worldwide for the One Drop Foundation, an organization that fights poverty through free access to water. The event included the presentation of various artists and personalities from around the world. artists such as the Irish band U2, Lila Downs, Salma Hayek, the Canadian entertainment company Cirque du Soleil, the then Vice President of the United States Al Gore and other people. world-class purposes. This act was broadcast on the foundation's website, in the United States, Canada and other countries around the world.

In 2012, the Colombian singer was nominated for the 2012 Prince of Asturias Award for Cooperation and Concord for her charitable work.

On October 27, 2014, Shakira presented in Barcelona a collection of toys for children from 0 to 18 months with the Fisher-Price firm, called "First Steps", which were designed by her taking take into account the preferences of your son Milan. The sales of the toys will be for the benefit of "being able to continue generating benefits to develop more early childhood development initiatives in Latin America."

Personal life

Shakira was raised by her parents in a Catholic environment. She is a distant cousin of model Valerie Domínguez Tarud, Miss Colombia 2014 Ariadna Gutiérrez and Miss Universe 2014 Paulina Vega.

In 2000, she began a romantic relationship with Antonio de la Rúa, son of then-President of Argentina Fernando de la Rúa. In March 2001, Antonio proposed to her, but it never came to fruition. After months of rumors, in January 2011 he confirmed that their relationship had ended in August 2010 after being together for ten years, but that Antonio would continue working by his side as manager. Between 2012 and 2013, De la Rúa and Shakira they sued each other in court.

During the 2010 Soccer World Cup, held in South Africa, she began a sentimental relationship with Spanish soccer player Gerard Piqué, confirmed by the singer on March 29, 2011 via Twitter. The singer and soccer player have birthdays the same day (February 2), although 10 years apart.

In September 2012, Shakira confirmed that they were expecting their first child, giving birth to Milan on January 22, 2013, in Barcelona. Through Cosmopolitan Mexico magazine for the month of September 2014, she confirmed her second pregnancy with Piqué, giving birth to their second child, Sasha, on January 29, 2015, also in Barcelona.

During the covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and due to the strict confinement that was implemented in Spain, he took a four-week online course on ancient philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania.

On June 4, 2022, Gerard Piqué and Shakira confirmed their separation after twelve years. After days of speculation and doubts about the different reasons for the couple's breakup, in a joint statement they confirmed the decision to separate.

In November 2022, the former couple confirmed that they reached an agreement on the custody of their children, who will live in Miami as of 2023. On December 1 they met to ratify the agreement.

Legal issues

In the last few years since Shakira began to reside in Spain, she has been investigated for possible tax evasion since 2011. The Spanish Ministry of Finance confirmed that Shakira defrauded 14.5 million euros, between 2011 and 2014, debt previously paid. For this reason, the Prosecutor's Office requested 8 years in prison, pending the judicial resolution.

Shakira has accused the Spanish Ministry of Finance of "using her for exemplary purposes" and violating her right to privacy.

Filmography

Discography

Studio albums

• 1991: Magic
• 1993: Danger
• 1995: Feet barefoot
• 1998: Where are the thieves?
• 2001: Laundry service / Laundry Service
• 2005: Oral fixation vol. 1
• 2005: Oral Fixation vol. 2
• 2009: Loba / She Wolf
• 2010: The sun rises
• 2014: Shakira
• 2017: The Dorado

Compilation and Remix Albums

• 1997: The Remixes
• 2002: Great successes
• 2006: Oral Fixation Volumes 1 " 2

Live albums

• 2000: MTV Unplugged
• 2004: Live and private / Live & off the Record
• 2007: Tour Oral fixation / Oral Fixation Tour
• 2011: Live from Paris / Live From Paris
• 2019: Shakira In Concert: The Golden World Tour

Special Albums

• 2002: Gold Collection
• 2002: Laundry Service: Washed " Dried
• 2017: The Magic and the Danger of My First Successes

EP

• 2003: The Pepsi E.P.
• 2007: Love in the times of wrath / Love in the Time of Cholera

Music tours

• 1996-1997: Tour Descalzos
• 2000: Anfibio Tour
• 2002-2003: Tour de la Mangosta
• 2006-2007: Oral Fitting Tour
• 2010-2011: Sun World Tour
• 2018: The Golden World Tour
• 2023-2024: Shakira 2023-2024 World Tour