Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll (born February 2, 1977), known professionally as Shakira (pronounced /ʃəˈkɪərə/, Spanish: [tʃaˈkiɾa] or [ʃaˈkiɾa]), is a Colombian singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, dancer, and philanthropist who emerged in the music scene of Latin America in the early 1990s. Born and raised in Barranquilla, Colombia, Shakira revealed many of her talents in school as a live performer, demonstrating her vocal ability with rock and roll, Latin and Middle Eastern influences with her own original twist on belly dancing. Shakira is a native Spanish speaker and also speaks fluent English and Portuguese.
After commercial flops with local producers on her first two albums, and being little-known outside Colombia, Shakira decided to produce her own brand of music. In 1995 she released Pies Descalzos, which brought her great fame in Latin America and Spain, and her 1998 album ¿Dónde Están los Ladrones? was a critical success. Since then she has gained many fans in semi-Hispanophone countries, and many non-Spanish-speaking countries, especially the United States. In 2001, aided by the extreme popularity of the music video for "Whenever, Wherever", she broke through into the English-speaking world with the release of Laundry Service, which sold over 13 million copies worldwide. Four years later, Shakira released two album projects called Fijación Oral Vol. 1 and Oral Fixation Vol. 2. Both reinforced her success, particularly with the best selling song of the century to date, "Hips Don't Lie".
She has won two Grammy Awards, seven Latin Grammy Awards, twelve Billboard Latin Music Awards and has been Golden Globe-nominated. She is also the highest-selling Colombian artist of all time, and the second most successful female Latin singer after Gloria Estefan, having sold over 50 million albums worldwide according to BMI. Additionally, she is the only artist from South America to reach the number-one spot on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, the Australian ARIA chart, and the UK Singles Chart. Shakira is to be given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as well. In the fall of 2009, Shakira released her sixth album She Wolf worldwide.
Shakira's latest track is the successful "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)", the official song for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, along with its Spanish language version, titled "Waka Waka (Esto es África)". The song has received generally positive critical reception, and has become a worldwide smash hit. On YouTube, the english version of the music video is the fourth most watched video, and third most watched music video of all-time with over 170 million views.
Her next studio album, the bilingual Sale el Sol, is due for an October 19, 2010 release, and will see her return to pop rock music.
Source : Wikipedia.com
