Table of Biography
Shakira is a renowned Latin pop icon, singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer, and philanthropist from Colombia. Shakira is widely, known for her hit singles such as “Whenever, Wherever,” “Hips Don’t Lie,” and “Underneath Your Clothes.”
Early Life
Born as Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, better known as Shakira was born in Barranquilla, Colombia, on 2 February 1977. As of 2023, she is 46 years old and has a sun sign of Aquarius.
She holds Colombian nationality and belongs to a mixed ethnicity of Lebanese-Colombian-Spanish-Indigenous-African-Catalan-Basque-Galician-Italian descent.
Caption: Shakira with her parents (Source: People)
Moreover, she was born to Nidia del Carmen Ripoll Torrado and William Mebarak Chadid. She was the only child of her parents. But, she has a lot of half-siblings named Tonino Mebarak, Patricia Mebarak, Moises Mebarak, Antonio Mebarak, Ana Mebarak, Alberto Mebarak, Edward Mebarak, and Robin Mebarak.
Childhood life
Shakira spent most of her childhood in Barranquilla, a city on Colombia’s northern Caribbean coast. She wrote her first poem, “La rosa de cristal” (‘The Crystal Rose,’ when she was four years old. She was enthralled as a child watching her father write stories on a typewriter and requested one for Christmas.
Moreover, she received the typewriter when she was seven years old and has been composing poems ever since. She also loves dancing and during her school days, she danced to entertain her teachers and schoolmates, and earned the nickname ‘the belly dancer girl.’
Shakira – Education
Moving on to her academics, she went to La Ensenanza School and then attended classes on the History of Western Civilization at UCLA Extensions.
Professional Career
Unfortunately, there are no records of when Shakira started her professional career. However, according to Wikipedia, she made her recording debut with Sony Music Colombia at the age of 13. After her first two albums, Magia (1991) and Peligro (1993), were commercial failures, she came to fame in Hispanic nations with her following two albums, “Pies Descalzos” (1995) and “Dónde Están los Ladrones?” (1998).
With her fifth album, “Laundry Service” (2001), she broke into the English-language market, selling over 13 million copies worldwide. The worldwide popularity of her hits “Whenever, Wherever” and “Underneath Your Clothes” cemented her profile as a top crossover artist. Broadcast Music, Inc. praised Shakira as a “pioneer” who expanded Latino performers’ appeal worldwide.
Continued to climb a successful career
She continued her successful streak with Spanish albums “Fijación Oral, Vol. 1” (2005), “Sale el Sol” (2010), and “El Dorado” (2017), all of which topped the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart and were certified diamond (Latin) by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Meanwhile, her English albums “Oral Fixation, Vol. 2” (2005), “She Wolf” (2009), and “Shakira” (2014) have received gold, platinum, or multi-platinum certifications in various countries across the world.
Some of her songs have charted at number one in multiple countries, including “Inevitable,” “Whenever, Wherever,” “La Tortura,” “Hips Don’t Lie,” “Beautiful Liar,” “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa),” “Loca,” “Rabiosa,” “Can’t Remember to Forget You,” “Dare (La La La),” “Chantaje,” “Me Gusta,” “Te Felicito,” “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53”, and “TQG.”
Caption: Shakira performing in the concert (Source: Billboard)
Apart from her musical works, she has served as a coach on two seasons of the American singing competition television series “The Voice” (2013–2014). The singer sold her catalog of 145 songs to Hipgnosis Songs Fund in January 2021. She released a single called “Don’t Wait Up” on July 16, 2021.
She released the song “Te Felicito” with singer Rauw Alejandro as the lead single off her upcoming twelfth studio album on April 21, 2022. Moreover, she served as an executive producer and co-creator for the dance reality competition show, “Dancing with Myself” which premiered on NBC. She released the single “Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53”, a collaboration with Argentine DJ Bizarrap on the 11th of January 2023.
Philanthropist
Shakira founded the Pies Descalzos Foundation to provide quality education to youngsters in her country Colombia. She is also a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and was recognized in 2010 by the International Labor Organization for her philanthropic work.
In 2011, she earned the Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year and the Harvard Foundation Artist of the Year honours for her charitable activities with her Barefoot Foundation and her contributions to music.
In 2011, she was nominated to the President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics in the United States, and the French government made her a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters in 2012.
Awards
The pop singer is considered one of the most successful singers from Colombia. She has received numerous awards and recognition for her work during her professional career as a singer. She is the recipient of three Grammy Awards and fifteen Latin Grammy Awards—the most for a female artist.
According to Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems, “Hips Don’t Lie” was the most-played pop song in a single week in American radio history, with 9,637 plays in one week. She has garnered over 700 nominations and won over 300 awards till now. Shakira has also performed on several high-profile occasions, including the 2020 Super Bowl halftime show alongside Jennifer Lopez.
Net Worth 2024
Shakira’s net worth in 2024 is expected to be $300 million according to Celebrity Net Worth. Her annual earnings vary depending on whether she goes on tour, releases new songs, or has other engagements (such as the World Cup or The Voice). Nonetheless, she has constantly been among the top earners in the music industry: Forbes projected her yearly income in 2012 to be $20 million, and in 2019, it is expected to be $35 million.
Relationship Status
This Colombian pop icon is possibly single and not dating anyone at the moment. Previously, she was married to Gerard Pique, a Spanish football player. The couple started to date in 2011 and officiated the news of her boyfriend via a Twitter post. With the marriage, the couple has two kids; Milan Piqué Mebarak and Sasha Piqué Mebarak.
Caption: Shakira with her two kids (Source: Instagram)
She and Pique agreed to call it quits after 12 years of marriage in June 2022. Their divorce was caused by her discovering he was cheating on her with another lady. In the past, she was also in a long-term relationship with a lawyer named Antonio de la Rúa (2000-2010).
Shakira – Controversies
On November 20, 2023, Shakira opted to pay a fine of 7.5 million euros (£6.5 million) to avoid a trial and a probable three-year jail sentence in a tax fraud case.
She was accused of cheating the Spanish state of 14.5 million euros ($15.7 million) on money obtained between 2012 and 2014. Initially, she denied the claims, claiming that she had migrated to Spain permanently in 2015. She eventually chose to settle by paying the fine, avoiding further legal proceedings.
Body Measurements
Caption: Shakira attending an MTV awards program (Source: Instagram)
The beautiful Colombian singer is 5 feet 2 inches tall (1.57 m) and weighs around 53 kg. In addition, she has a pair of dark brown eyes with brown hair colour.
Social Media
On her Instagram page ‘@shakira’ there are over 90.4 million followers. Likewise, there are over 53.7 million followers on her Twitter page ‘@shakira.’ And, over 124 million followers on her Facebook page. She also runs a self-titled YouTube channel, there are over 45.3 million subscribers as of writing this content.