Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll is a Colombian singer-songwriter born in Barranquilla, Colombia on February 2, 1977. She is also an actress, music producer, fashion designer, perfumer, goodwill ambassador for UNICEF, and philanthropist.
Her contralto voice is her most distinctive hallmark due to the great sonority and range it brings to her songs. Since her debut in the Hispanic-American music market in 1995 with the album Pies descalzos, Shakira has sold over 75 million albums and singles. She is regarded as the Queen of Latin pop for being a global icon of this music, whose melodic and danceable roots are present in all her compositions. The influence of her Lebanese heritage from her father has also led her to blend Caribbean rhythms with those of Arab origin, as well as to create choreographies featuring the typical belly dance always present in her performances.
Three of her singles, "Chantaje," "La tortura," and "Suerte," are among the twenty most important in Billboard's history. In 2011, she became the youngest artist to receive the Person of the Year tribute.
One of Shakira's great passions is education, which is why in 1997 she created the Pies Descalzos foundation in her hometown of Barranquilla, aimed at providing support to the underprivileged children of Colombia and other developing countries. For her humanitarian work, she was appointed as a goodwill ambassador and was honored at the United Nations in 2006.
In 2009 and 2010, Shakira collaborated with the American of Cuban descent Pitbull on the singles "Lo hecho está hecho" and "Rabiosa," respectively. In 2012, they reunited with the song "Get It Started."
In October 2019, her song "La bicicleta," performed with Carlos Vives, became embroiled in some controversy after the Cuban Livam Rafael Castellanos appealed to the Spanish courts for the alleged plagiarism of a fragment from a song of his authorship from 1995 titled Yo te quiero tanto. Livam then claimed that he had sent Vives a sample of his song through Sony ATV for him to sing, indicating that the Colombian had reproduced a fragment without his consent.
The success of the controversial song occurred in 2017. The occasional duo reached the top spots in major global rankings and garnered nearly 800 million views on YouTube in just six months, as well as a Latin Grammy in the Song of the Year category. Ultimately, the lawsuit was dismissed.
In February 2020, following their participation in the famous Barranquilla Carnival, the Cuban duo Gente de Zona openly asked the Colombian artist for a collaboration: "Your land is asking for it," expressed Alexander Delgado.
In August 2020, Shakira made some statements about Trump through her social media, encouraging Americans to vote in the upcoming general elections with the aim of ousting Trump from the White House. “Donald Trump has shown that he is not the right person to lead the United States, or ‘why do they give psychological tests to pilots before letting them fly, but not to presidents?’” are some of her comments regarding the role of the current American leader.
On February 2, 2020, Shakira headlined the halftime show of Super Bowl LIV, alongside Jennifer López in Miami Gardens, Florida, which became one of the most viewed halftime shows of all time.
