Shakira

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll, born in Barranquilla, Colombia on February 2 1977, known simply as Shakira (meaning "Woman of Grace" in Arabic), is an internationally famous singer and songwriter.

Biography

On February 2, 1977, in Barranquilla, Colombia, Shakira was born to an American father of Christian Lebanese descent and a Colombian mother. She moved to Bogotá at the age of thirteen, and released her first album, Magia (Magic) a year later on the Sony label. The album achieved moderate success in her native country.

Related Topics:
American - Christian - Lebanese - Colombian - Bogotá - Magia - Sony

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When her next release Peligro (Danger) did not fare better than its predecessor, Shakira turned to acting and played a role in a Colombian telenovela ("El Oasis"), but failed as an actress. She was approached by her record company to write a song for a Rock en Español compilation album, and, during her cab ride to the meeting with the music executives, wrote the song "Donde Estas Corazon" to present to them. She returned to the music business in 1995 with the album Pies Descalzos (Barefeet), which included this song and established her commercial success. The hit Estoy Aquí became known internationally. The Remixes was created and featured remixes from the songs on Pies Descalzos, with some songs redone in Portuguese.

Related Topics:
Peligro - Colombia - Telenovela - 1995 - Album - Pies Descalzos - The Remixes - Portuguese

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Following this, Shakira met Emilio Estefan, Jr., who would become the executive producer of her next album. ¿Dónde Están Los Ladrones? (Where are the thieves?) was a huge production on which over US$3 million were spent. It was a huge success which gained wide critical acclaim and which many consider to be her best album ever. The most notable singles from the album were "Inevitable" and the worldwide mega-hit, "Ojos Así". The album's successful blend of rock and Latin soundscapes made it an immense success. Shakira also produced Shakira MTV Unplugged, a live album based on ¿Dónde Están Los Ladrones?.

Related Topics:
Emilio Estefan, Jr. - ¿Dónde Están Los Ladrones? - US$ - Rock - Latin - MTV

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Shakira then focussed on the English-speaking market, improving her English enough to begin writing Laundry Service. With a more rock-edged feel, the album was aimed at the international English-speaking market, although it contained some Spanish songs. Some people claimed that Shakira's English skills were too weak for her to write in English, but Laundry Service was nevertheless a big success, best known for the infectious single "Whenever, Wherever" (English version of "Suerte"), and for being one of the top albums of 2002. Shakira is well known for intense, athletic live performances involving belly dancing, Arabic rhythms and other sensual movements. The single "Whenever, Wherever" includes the now-famous lyric, "Lucky that my breasts are small and humble so you don't confuse them with mountains."

Related Topics:
Laundry Service - 2002 - Belly dancing - Breast - Mountain

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In 2002, Shakira also released the greatest hits volume Grandes éxitos. Shakira: Live & Off the Record, a DVD and a 10-song CD from her 2002-03 world tour (the "Tour of the Mongoose"), was released March 30 2004. The name of the tour was derived from the fact that mongoose can defeat a cobra without being killed by its poison. The concerts were interspersed with visuals of a mongoose fighting a cobra.

Related Topics:
Grandes éxitos - Live & Off the Record - March 30 - 2004 - Mongoose - Cobra

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Shakira's latest project has been split into two volumes. The first album, the Spanish-language Fijación Oral 1 was released in June 2005. The follow-up, the English-language Oral Fixation 2, is slated for a November 15 2005 release.

Related Topics:
Fijación Oral 1 - June - 2005 - Oral Fixation 2 - November 15

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She co-writes and co-produces her songs with Luis Fernando Ochoa and Lester Méndez. Vocal co-compilation, as well as direction of background vocal sessions by Rita Quintero.

Related Topics:
Luis Fernando Ochoa - Lester Méndez - Rita Quintero

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Shakira is considered by many to be a great talent. As Gabriel García Márquez once wrote of her, "Shakira's music has a personal stamp that doesn't look like anyone else's and no one can sing or dance like her, at whatever age, with such an innocent sensuality, one that seems to be of her own invention."

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Since 2000, she has been engaged to Antonio de la Rúa, the son of the disgraced former president of Argentina Fernando de la Rúa. In light of the humanitarian and social crisis in Argentina, many members of the press lampooned the relationship as frivolous and arrogant. In response, Shakira gave a nonprofit concert in Buenos Aires and further promoted her humanitarian children's foundation "Pies Descalzos" (Bare feet), named after her third album. This was decried by many as a simple celebrity public relations move, even though such foundation was started by the singer shortly after the success of the Pies Descalzos album (1995-1996). Shakira has since built three elementary schools in Colombia to aid children that were displaced due to the guerrilla wars in her country. In October 2003 UNICEF named Shakira a Global Goodwill Ambassador for the organization. She was 26 at the time, making her the youngest UNICEF Ambassador in its history.

Related Topics:
2000 - Antonio de la Rúa - Fernando de la Rúa - Argentina - Buenos Aires - Public relations

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