Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll is a Lebanese-descended Colombian singer, songwriter, dancer, and musician. Widely regarded as one of the most successful artists in Latin America, she has become one of the most influential female vocalists of the 21st century thanks to her distinctive voice, unique musical style, and dance performances enriched with Orientalist figures. Strengthening her friendship with Nobel Prize–winning author Gabriel García Márquez through a foundation they established to help impoverished children, Shakira has achieved global fame with hit songs such as Ojos Así, Whenever Wherever, La Tortura, Hips Don't Lie, and Beautiful Liar.

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll was born on February 2, 1977, in Barranquilla, Colombia, as the only child of Italian-descended Colombian Nidia del Carmen Ripoll Torrado and Lebanese-descended American William Mebarak Chadid. She has eight half-siblings from her father’s previous marriage. The name Shakira means “grateful” in Arabic. Growing up in Barranquilla, she wrote her first poem, “La Rosa De Cristal,” at the age of four. Awarded with a typewriter, she continued writing poetry and later began transforming her words into songs.

At the age of eight, Shakira lost one of her brothers and dedicated her first song, Tus Gafas Oscuras, to his memory. Her passion for dance also emerged early; during a visit to an Arab restaurant with her father, she encountered the darbuka drum, climbed onto a table, and began dancing. She later stated that this was the moment she realized she wanted to become a dancer. Despite being rejected from her school choir because a music teacher compared her voice to a goat’s bleating, she continued performing, presenting Oriental dance shows every Friday, which she later described as her first live performances.

Between the ages of 10 and 13, Shakira was invited to dance at numerous events in Barranquilla. A major turning point in her life came when she met producer Monica Ariza, who arranged a meeting for her with the Colombian office of Sony Music. After impressing executives with three songs, she signed a three-album contract. In 1991, her debut album Magia was released. Although it did not achieve the expected success, she followed it with her second album Peligro in 1993, which performed better but still left her dissatisfied.

Her breakthrough came at the Viña del Mar International Song Festival in Chile, where she performed the song Eres. The jury, which included then-20-year-old Ricky Martin, awarded her first place, and Martin was deeply impressed by her performance. After taking a short break to complete her college education, Shakira returned to the stage in 1995. Influenced heavily by Alanis Morissette, she released her third studio album Pies Descalzos, which brought her widespread recognition across Latin America.

In 1996, Shakira appeared as Luisa Maria in the television series El Oasis. Following the success of her albums, she collaborated with producer Emilio Estefan on her next Spanish-language project, ¿Dónde Están Los Ladrones?, released in 1998. The album became an international success, and the hit single Ojos Así propelled her fame beyond South America. In 2000, she won the MTV Award for Best International Vocalist.

That same year, Shakira began a relationship with Antonio de la Rúa, the son of Argentine President Fernando de la Rúa, becoming a frequent subject of media attention. In 2001, she started working with Gloria Estefan on her first English-language album. Ultimately choosing to write entirely new material, she released Laundry Service, which included four Spanish-language tracks. The album’s lead single Whenever, Wherever became a global sensation, and the album sold over 15 million copies worldwide, featuring additional hits such as Underneath Your Clothes, Te Dejo Madrid, Objection (Tango), and The One.

In 2002, she released the Spanish compilation album Grandes Éxitos, winning an MTV Video Award with the song Suerte. She went on to collect MTV awards for Best Singer and Best Female Singer and participated in a concert album featuring prominent artists such as Celine Dion, Anastacia, Cher, and Dixie Chicks. In 2005, Shakira introduced her new project Oral Fixation Vol. 1, which included the hit duet La Tortura with Alejandro Sanz. The album featured songs like Día De Enero and No, dedicated to her then-fiancé Antonio de la Rúa, and earned her a Grammy Award on February 8, 2006.

In the same year, she co-founded a foundation with Gabriel García Márquez to support underprivileged children in Latin America. Also released in 2005, Oral Fixation Vol. 2 included international hits such as Hips Don't Lie and Don’t Bother. During her Oral Fixation Tour, Shakira met her Turkish fans on July 9, 2007.

Shakira gave an extensive interview published in July 2007 in Hürriyet newspaper, where she discussed her multicultural background, early struggles, musical influences ranging from Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd to The Cure, her views on fame, learning, gratitude, and the music industry. She emphasized that her success was not overnight but the result of years of persistent effort and gradual progress.

Since 2010, Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll has been in a relationship with Spanish footballer Gerard Pique. The couple has two sons: Milan Pique, born in January 2013, and Sasha Mebarak Pique, born on January 29, 2015.

Source: Biyografiler.com