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 its great sonority and wide range that she 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, being a global icon of this music, whose melodic and danceable roots are evident in all her compositions. The influence of her Lebanese ancestry on her father's side has also led her to fuse Caribbean rhythms with those of Arab origin, as well as to create choreographies that highlight the typical belly dance, always present in her performances.
Three of her singles, "Chantaje," "La tortura," and "Suerte," rank among the top twenty most significant in Billboard history. In 2011, she became the youngest artist to receive the Person of the Year honor.
One of Shakira's great passions is education, which is why in 1997 she founded the Pies Descalzos foundation in her hometown of Barranquilla. The aim was to provide support to the entire underprivileged child community in Colombia and in third-world countries. For her humanitarian work, she was named a goodwill ambassador and was honored by the United Nations in 2006.
In 2009 and 2010, Shakira collaborated with the Cuban-American artist 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 alongside 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 he authored in 1995 titled "Yo te quiero tanto." Livam claimed that he had sent Vives, through Sony ATV, a sample of his song for him to sing, asserting that the Colombian had reproduced a fragment without his consent.
The success of the song in question occurred in 2017. The occasional duo reached the top positions in major global rankings and in just six months garnered nearly 800 million views on YouTube and a Latin Grammy in the category of Song of the Year. Ultimately, the lawsuit was dismissed.
In February 2020, following their participation in the famous Barranquilla Carnival, the Cuban duo Gente de Zona openly requested a collaboration from the Colombian artist: "your land is calling for it," expressed Alexander Delgado.
In August 2020, Shakira, through her social media, made some statements about Trump while encouraging Americans to vote in the upcoming general elections with the goal 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 are psychometric tests given to pilots before allowing them to fly, but not to presidents?'” are some of her remarks about the role of the current American president.
On February 2, 2020, Shakira headlined, alongside Jennifer López , the halftime show of Super Bowl LIV in Miami Gardens, Florida, which became one of the most watched halftime shows of all time.
