Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll is a Colombian singer-songwriter born in Barranquilla, Colombia on February 2, 1977. She is also an actress, record producer, fashion designer, perfumer, goodwill ambassador for UNICEF, and philanthropist.
Her contralto voice is her most distinctive hallmark, characterized by a great sound quality and a wide range of registers that she lends 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 considered the Queen of Latin pop, being a global icon of this music, whose melodic and danceable roots are present in all of her compositions. The influence of her Lebanese ancestry from her father has also led her to blend Caribbean rhythms with those of Arab origin, as well as to create choreographies that prominently feature the typical belly dance that is always present in her performances.
Three of her singles, "Chantaje," "La tortura," and "Suerte," are among the top twenty most important in Billboard 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 founded Pies Descalzos in her hometown of Barranquilla with the goal of providing support to the vulnerable child community in Colombia and other developing countries. For her humanitarian work, she was appointed a goodwill ambassador and 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 for the song "Get It Started."
In October 2019, her song "La bicicleta," performed with Carlos Vives, became involved in a certain controversy after the Cuban Livam Rafael Castellanos appealed to the Spanish courts regarding the alleged plagiarism of a fragment from a song he wrote in 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, stating that the Colombian had reproduced a fragment without his consent.
The success of the controversial song took place in 2017. The occasional duo reached the top spots in the major global charts and in just six months garnered nearly 800 million views on YouTube and 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 for a collaboration: "your land is asking for it," stated Alexander Delgado.
In August 2020, Shakira made some statements about Trump through her social media while encouraging Americans to vote in the upcoming general elections with the aim of removing 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 allowing them to fly, but not to presidents'” are some of her comments regarding the role of the current American president.
On February 2, 2020, Shakira, alongside Jennifer López , headlined the halftime show of Super Bowl LIV in Miami Gardens, Florida, which became one of the most-watched halftime shows of all time.
