Shakira

This article is about the musician. For other uses, see Shakira (disambiguation).

Shakira

When Shakira was four, her father took her to a local Middle Eastern restaurant, where Shakira first heard the doumbek, a traditional drum used in Arabic music and which typically accompanied belly dancing. Before she knew it, Shakira was dancing on the table, as restaurant patrons responded by clapping enthusiastically. It was then that Shakira said she knew she wanted to be a performer. She enjoyed singing for schoolmates and teachers (and even the nuns) at her Catholic school, but in the second grade was rejected for the school choir because her vibrato was too strong. The music teacher told her that she sounded "like a goat". At school, she says she had been known as "the belly dancer girl", as she would demonstrate a number she learned every Friday at school. "That's how I discovered my passion for live performance," she says.

Between the ages of ten and thirteen Shakira was invited to various events in Barranquilla and gained some recognition in the area. It was at about this time that she met local theater producer Monica Ariza, who was impressed with her and as a result tried to help her career. During a flight from Barranquilla to Bogotá, Ariza convinced Sony Colombia executive Ciro Vargas to hold an audition for Shakira in a hotel lobby. Vargas held Shakira in high regard and, returning to the Sony office, gave the cassette to a song and artist director. However, the director was not overly excited and thought Shakira was something of "a lost cause". Vargas, not daunted, was still convinced that Shakira had talent, and set up an audition in Bogotá. He arranged for Sony Colombia executives to arrive at the audition, with the idea of surprising them with Shakira's performance. She performed three songs for the executives and impressed them enough for her to be signed to record three albums.

Career

1990-1994: Magia & Peligro

Shakira's debut album, ‘’Magia’’, was recorded with Sony Music in 1990, when she was only thirteen years old. The songs are a collection penned by her since she was 8, mixed pop-rock ballads and disco with electronic accompaniment, however it was hampered by a lack of recording and production cohesion. The album was released in 1991 and featured Magia and three other singles. Though it fared well on Colombian radio and gave the young Shakira much exposure, the album did not fare well commercially: only 1,200 copies were sold. and the music video for Magia became first national pop video in Colombia. After the poor acclaim of Magia, Shakira's label urged her back into the studio to release a follow up with more hit songs, to give the album potential.

Although little known outside of her native Colombia, Shakira was invited to perform at Chile's Viña del Mar International Song Festival in February 1993. The festival gave aspiring Latin American singers a chance to perform their songs, and the winner was then chosen by a panel of judges. Shakira performed the ballad "Eres" ("You Are") and won the trophy for third place. One of the judges who voted for her to win was then 20-year-old Ricky Martin.

The second studio album ‘’Peligro’’ of the same genre was released in 1993, but Shakira was not pleased with the final result, mainly taking issue with the production. The album was better received than ‘’Magia’’, though it was also considered a commercial failure, due to Shakira's refusal to advertise it. Shakira then decided to take a hiatus from recording so that she could graduate from high school. In the same year, Shakira starred in the Colombian TV Series "The Oasis", loosely based in the Armero tragedy in 1985.

1995–1997: Pies Descalzos

Shakira originally recorded the song ¿Dónde Estás Corazón? (later released on her album Pies Descalzos) for the compilation album "Nuestro Rock" in 1995, released exclusively in Colombia. ¿Dónde Estás Corazón? was the only hit off the album. This allowed Sony to give Shakira a third attempt at making an album.

Shakira returned to recording in 1995 with Luis F. Ochoa, using musical influences from a number of countries and an Alanis Morissette-oriented persona which affected some of her next albums, and made her third studio album, Pies Descalzos (English: ‘’Bare Feet’’). The album released on October 6, 1995 in Latin America and February 13, 1996 internationally. It debuted at #1 in 8 different countries. However, in the U.S. Billboard 200 the album reached #180 peak position and #5 in the U.S. Latin Albums Chart. The album spawned five ultimate hit-singles Estoy Aqui (U.S. Latin #2), ¿Dónde Estás Corazón? (U.S. Latin #5), Pies Descalzos, Sueños Blancos, Un Poco De Amor (U.S. Latin #6) and Se Quiere, Se Mata (U.S. Latin #8). In August 1996, RIAA certified the album platinum status.

In March 1996, Shakira went on to her first international tour named simply “Tour Pies Descalzos”, that was saddended by death of three girls because of uncontrolled crowd of 50,000 people at the concert in the singer’s native city of Barranquilla. A year later, Shakira received three Billboard Latin Music Awards for Album of the Year (Pies Descalzos), Video of the Year (Estoy Aqui) and Best New Artist.

Pies Descalzos sold over 5 million copies, prompting the release of a remix album, titled simply The Remixes. The Remixes also included Portuguese versions of some of her best-known songs, which were recorded as a result of her success in the Brazilian market, where Pies Descalzos sold nearly one million copies.

1998–2000: ¿Dónde Estan Los Ladrones? and “MTV Unplugged"

Having received World Music Award as the best selling Latin artist, Shakira already prepared some of new material of her second international record. She was chosen among dozens of Latin singers to grace the cover of Time magazine in the article titled “Era of the Rockera”.

Her fourth album, ‘’¿Dónde Están Los Ladrones?’’ (English: ‘’Where Are The Thieves?’’) produced entirely by Shakira herself and Emilio Estefan, Jr. as the executive, was released on September 28, 1998. On the day of its official release in Miami the album sold to 300,000 copies in one day. All Music Guide and Rolling Stone gave to the album 4,5 stars of 5 and ’’Donde Estan Los Ladrones’’ has reached #131 peak position in the U.S. ‘’Billboard 200’’ and charting 11 weeks top spot on the ‘’Billboard Latin Albums Chart’’. Though it sold over 1,500,000 copies in the U.S. alone, making it one of the best selling Spanish albums in the U.S. Eight of the album's eleven tracks became singles, including Ciega, Sordomuda (U.S. Latin #1), Moscas En La Casa (U.S. Latin #25), No Creo (U.S. Latin #9, U.S. #74), Inevitable (U.S. Latin #3), Tú (U.S. Latin #1, U.S. #95), Si Te Vas, Octavo Día, and the world-famous, Arabic tinged Ojos Así (U.S. Latin #22). The latter two songs won Shakira one Latin Grammy each.

Eventually, ‘’Donde Estan Los Ladrones’’ has sold close to ten million copies worldwide. Shakira also received her first Grammy Award nomination in 1999 for Best Latin Rock/Alternative Album.

Shakira's first live album, ‘’MTV Unplugged’’ was recorded in New York City on August 12, 1999. Highly acclaimed by American critics, it is rated as one of her best-ever live performances. Acoustic album earned the Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Album in 2001 and gained sales of 3 million CD’s worldwide.

In March 2000, Shakira embarked on her Tour Anfibio, a two-month tour of Latin America and the United States. In August 2000, she won an MTV Video Music Award in the now-defunct category of People's Choice - Favorite International Artist for ‘’Ojos Asi’’.

On September 9, 2000, Shakira performed ‘’Ojos Así’’ at the inaugural ceremony of Latin Grammy Awards, where she was nominated in five categories: Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album for ‘’MTV Unplugged’’, Best Female Rock Vocal Performance for ‘’Octavo Dia’’, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best Short Form Music Video for ‘’Ojos Asi’’. But she won only in two of them. Shakira's performance of ‘’Ojos Asi’’ was voted as the Greatest Latin Grammy performance of all time.

2001–2004: Laundry Service

Upon the success of ¿Dónde Están Los Ladrones? and MTV Unplugged, Shakira began working on a crossover album to English. Thanks to other successful crossover acts, most notably that of Ricky Martin and Enrique Iglesias, the crossover of Spanish artists to the English market had a great surge of popularity in the mainstream music and it was as the next logical step in singer’s career. Shakira worked for over a year on new material for the album.

Whenever, Wherever (Suerte in Spanish countries) was released as the first and lead single from Shakira's first English album in October 2001. The song takes heavy influence from Andean music, including the charango and panpipes in its instrumentation. The track was produced by Shakira, and it was an international success. The single became the biggest hit of 2002 worldwide.

The third international, the fifth studio and the first English language album ‘’Laundry Service’’ (‘’Servicio De Lavanderia’’ in Spanish countries) was released on November 13, 2001. The album debuted at number three on the U.S. ‘’Billboard 200’’ Albums chart. Seven tracks became international singles: ‘’Whenever, Wherever’’ (U.S. #6) / ‘’Suerte’’ (U.S. Latin #1), Underneath Your Clothes (U.S. #9), Objection (Tango) (U.S. #55) / Te Aviso, Te Anuncio (Tango) (U.S. Latin #16), The One, Te Dejo Madrid, Que Me Quedes Tú (U.S. Latin #1) and Poem To A Horse, as the main theme of Shakira’s worldwide tour, the Tour of the Mongoose. Because the album was created with the intent of selling to an English language market, the rock and Spanish dance-influenced album gained mild critical success: some critics claimed that her English skills were too weak for her to write in it with ‘’Rolling Stone’’ stating “she sounds downright silly” or “Shakira’s magic is lost in translation”. Shakira also was criticized by her Latin fans for seemingly abandoning her folk and rock roots in favor of contemporary American pop music. Despite this fact, the album became the best selling album of 2002 worldwide, selling extremely well – more than 20 million copies worldwide and became the most successful album in singer’s career. Around this time, Shakira also released four songs for Pepsi for her promotion in the English markets: "Ask for More", "Pide Mas", "Knock on My Door" and "Pideme El Sol".

At Aerosmith's MTV Icon in April 2002, Shakira performed ‘’Dude (Looks Like a Lady)’’. Also in 2002, Shakira joined the likes of Cher, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Mary J. Blige, Anastacia and the Dixie Chicks for ‘’VH1 Divas Live Las Vegas’’. In September 2002, Shakira won the now-defunct International Viewer's Choice Award at the MTV Video Music Awards with ‘’Whenever, Wherever’’. Shakira also won the ‘’Latin Grammy Award’’ in the category of ‘’Best Short Form Music Video’’ for the Spanish version of this video. In October of that year, she won 5 MTV Video Music Awards Latin America for ‘’Best Female Artist’’, ‘’Best Pop Artist’’, ‘’Best Artist—North (Region)’’, ‘’Video of the Year’’ (for ‘’Suerte’’), and ‘’Artist of the Year’’. ‘’Laundry Service‘’ was certified triple platinum by ‘’RIAA’’ in June and thus helped to establish Shakira's musical presence in the mainstream North American market.

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Shakira meeting the President of the Dominican Republic on October 9, 2002

In November 2002, Shakira’s label ‘’Sony BMG’’ also released her Spanish greatest hits compilation ‘’Grandes Éxitos’’ representing Shakira to non-Spanish audience. A DVD and ten-track live album, called Live & Off the Record, was also released in 2004, reaching sales of 3 million CDs worldwide, and commemorating ‘’Tour of the Mongoose’’, with the worldwide audience of 1.2 million people.

2005-2007: Fixations Era

Shakira stayed out of the spotlight for over two years. Many possible dates of release were delayed and she announced the ‘’Oral Fixation’’ project in early 2005 with Rick Rubin as the ‘’executive producer’’. ‘’Fijación Oral Vol. 1’’, the first album of the project, was released on June 3, 2005 in Ireland, on June 6, 2005 in Europe, and on June 7, 2005 in North America, Latin America and Australia. The lead single from the album, La Tortura, which features the Spanish balladeer Alejandro Sanz, was released as a single in April and achieved large-scale success in different radio and chart formats. It spent a record of twenty-five weeks at number one on the ‘’Billboard’’ Hot Latin Tracks chart. Shakira became the first artist to perform Spanish language song at the ‘’MTV Video Music Awards’’.

Despite to low expectations, ‘’Fijación Oral Vol. 1’’ was very well received by the public. It debuted at number four on the ‘’Billboard 200’’ chart on the week of June 15. According to that publication, the album sold 157,000 copies in its first week of release in the U.S., becoming the highest debut ever for Spanish language albums. In Latin America, on the very day of its official release in Venezuela, it went Platinum, in Colombia, triple Platinum and in Mexico, it was sold-out. The album sold over one million copies in three days. There are another four singles released following ‘’La Tortura’’: No (U.S. Latin #11), Dia De Enero (Colombia #1), La Pared (Spain #1) and 2007’s Las De La Intuición, which became the final single reaching #1 position in Spain and Argentina for several weeks and featuring Shakira with a bright purple wig and black tie in some hyper-sexualized scenes in her music video with Jaume de Laiguana as the director.

On February 8, 2006, Shakira won her second ‘’Grammy Award’’. She was awarded in the category of ‘’Best Latin Rock/Alternative Album’’ (‘’Fijación Oral Vol. 1’’). Another five Latin Grammy Awards Shakira received on November 2, 2006: Record of the Year and Song of the Year for ‘’La Tortura’’, Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Engineered Album for ‘’Fijación Oral Vol. 1’’. Award for Best Short Form Music Video for ‘’La Tortura’’ she lost to Calle 13. ‘’Fijación Oral Vol. 1’’ sold over five million copies worldwide.

Before the release of ‘’Oral Fixation Vol. 2’’, the second CD of the ‘’Oral Fixation’’ project, Shakira appeared at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2005 in Lisbon, Portugal, where she performed Don't Bother, the lead single from the album, just minutes before winning an award in the category of Best Female Artist.

‘’Oral Fixation Vol. 2’’ was released on November 29, 2005 in North America, Australia, and continental Europe. The album debuted at number five on the U.S. ‘’Billboard 200’’ Albums chart. Two tracks from the album, How Do You Do and Timor, sparked some controversy at the time of its release in the Muslim countries. The cover of the album that features Shakira in the image of Eve with forbidden fruit was also considered controversial, and had to be altered in several countries. ‘’Don't Bother’’ failed to peak within the top 40 in the United States (U.S. #42). In the beginning of 2006, Haitian rapper Wyclef Jean joined Shakira to record the second single for the album. Hips Don't Lie, the biggest hit of the 21st century, became Shakira's first number one single on the U.S. ‘’Billboard Hot 100’’, in addition cracking number one in at least 55 countries. Shakira and Wyclef Jean also recorded Bamboo version of this song for official theme of FIFA World Cup 2006. Shakira along with Red Hot Chili Peppers received the most number of nominations for the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards with ‘’Hips Don't Lie’’, but she won only the award for Best Choreography. Shakira also released the third and the last single Illegal featuring Carlos Santana, that reached top positions in some European countries and in the dance charts in the U.S. On February 10, 2007, Shakira performed on the 49th Grammy Awards for the first time ever and earned the nomination Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for ‘’Hips Don’t Lie’’ with Wyclef Jean. Finally, ‘’Oral Fixation Vol. 2’’ sold approximately to ten million copies worldwide.

Shakira embarked on her fourth longest tour, the Oral Fixation Tour, in June, 2006. The tour had 125 shows between June 14, 2006 and July 9, 2007. She performed on 5 continents: Asia, Europe, North America, Latin America, and Africa with the worldwide audience of over 2.5 million people. During this tour, Shakira performed a free concert in Mexico City on May 27, 2007 with over 210,000 in attendance. This concert sets the record for the highest attendance of any concert in Mexican history. On November 12, 2007, the "Oral Fixation Tour (DVD) was released (November 13 in North America). It is also available in High Definition Blu-Ray format.

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Shakira in Milan Italy

2008-present: Next studio album

During an online chat with her fans in "El Heraldo", she revealed that she was going to start writing her New Album in February 2008. No official release date has been announced. Furthermore, at the CD release party for Shakira's singer-songwriter cousin Isa Mebarak in Colombia, Shakira's father William Mebarak stated that Shakira is currently at work beginning to write and produce new songs for her upcoming album. This is being done in "her own studio", which many fans thought to mean the studio at her home in the Bahamas. Shakira recorded 2005's Fijación Oral Vol. 1 and Oral Fixation Vol. 2 there, as well).

However, according to an exclusive interview in "El País", an Uruguayan newspaper, Shakira has begun working on her forthcoming album in Uruguay, where she has a built-in studio on her estate. She worked there in early February for twenty days.

Early in the morning on April 3, Shakira arrived at Miami International Airport and told a waiting reporter who asked about the album that she was "still cooking" and would be heading to her studio in the Bahamas later that week. She also said she was preparing a trip to China, although whether she has gone yet and if this was for album-related or for other reasons is unknown.

On April 27, 2008, Shakira arrived in her hometown of Barranquilla, Colombia to help oversee the plans for the new, massive school her foundation is building there. She told reporters in an interview with RCN news that because of her visits to Washington D.C. before the U.S. Congress, she has been very busy and has only worked on the new album for "exactly four days" in the month of April. She confirmed the album should be out this year.

On July 2, 2008, Shakira signed a multimillion dollar contract with Live Nation, the international touring giant that has begun signing up marquee names for lucrative all-purpose contracts. After months of speculation, Shakira, who is a strong international touring draw, has signed a 10-year deal with ‘’Live Nation’’ that will encompass tours, recordings, sponsorship and merchandise throughout the world, she announced. Neither Shakira's representatives nor Live Nation would confirm the value of the deal, but people close to the negotiations said that depending on Shakira's performance over the 10 years, it is likely to be worth $100 million. Shakira's contract with Epic Records calls for three more albums – one in English, one in Spanish, and a compilation of greatest hits – but the touring and other rights of the Live Nation deal would begin immediately.

Speaking to "El Tiempo" newspaper in Madrid in the days prior to her top-bill performance at Rock In Rio 2008, Shakira said that the day after her performance (July 5) she would fly to London to meet with several producers with whom she is working on her new album.

After two weeks in London, Shakira flew to Colombia for a peace concert in Leticia (at the three way border of Colombia, Peru and Brazil) with Carlos Vives. Afterward, it was reported by Noticias Caracol in Colombia that Shakira returned to her home studio in the Bahamas and continued recording "a little something" with members of Vives' band.

In an exclusive interview with Elenco Magazine in Colombia, Shakira confirmed that she has already written nearly 30 songs for the new album but still continues writing, although it is still too early to reveal too much. It is known that Swedish-Moroccan producer RedOne is working on Shakira's upcoming album. He previously worked with Shakira on the "Bamboo Mix" of her hit "Hips Don't Lie" which she performed at the World Cup in 2006.

On her official forum [5], the Admin/moderator posted some new info on Shakira's new album. He said that Shakira is still doing some experimental phases of the album in various parts of the world (Miami, Florida with Wyclef Jean (producer), Vancouver, Canada (with Luis F. Ochoa), Los Angeles, California (with Red One), London, Uruguay and Bahamas). Her new album is scheduled to be released in Spring, 2009.

On November 30, a picture of Shakira and Pharrell Williams surfaced on the net. In the photo, the pair are seated together in a music studio. The blurb accompanying the photo offered no additional information as to what the two were recording, but it is assumed to be at least one track for her upcoming album. In the weeks after,pictures of Shakira with reggeaton duo Calle 13 and producer Toby Gad at her home in the Bahamas have also surfaced on her official message board. On January 15, Billboard confirmed Shakira's collaborations with Pharrell Williams, Calle 13, and Khaled. In contradiction to other sources, Billboard states that the new album will be arriving later this year. On January 23, a second Shakira & Pharrell picture was posted on her Myspace site.

Also, in some websites, a demo called "Fire" was leaked online and since then it has been available on YouTube. The song was mistaken for being a new single for Shakira's upcoming album, but it was revealed that it was from a 13-year old romanian girl named Sanziana Niculae.

Collaborations and other work

In 2003, Shakira wrote with musician Tim Mitchell a song called "Come Down Love" for the Hollywood movie "The Italian Job" starring South African actress Charlize Theron & Mark Wahlberg, but finally the song was not included on the soundtrack of the same.

In late 2006, Shakira and Alejandro Sanz worked together again in the duet "Te lo Agradezco, Pero No", which is featured on Sanz' album El Tren de los Momentos. The song was a top ten hit in Latin America, and topped Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart.

Shakira worked with Miguel Bosé in the duet "Si Tu No Vuelves", which was released in Bosé's album Papito, which celebrates his 30-year career.

In early 2007, Shakira worked with American R&B singer Beyoncé in the track "Beautiful Liar", which was released as the second single from the deluxe edition of Knowles' B'Day. In the week of April 7, 2007, the song jumped 91 positions, from 94 to 3, on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, setting the record for the largest upward movement in the history of the chart. It was also No. 1 on the official UK Singles Chart. The song earned them a Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. The song was one of Knowles' most successful worldwide.The song was particularly popular in Spanish-speaking countries such as Argentina and Spain, where it landed at #1.

According to Billboard, Shakira, along with Lil Wayne would collaborate on a new track for Carlos Santana's greatest hits CD titled Ultimate Santana. However, this collaboration has been cancelled, and Shakira and Lil' Wayne have been replaced by Jennifer Lopez and Baby Bash.

Shakira is featured on Annie Lennox's record "Sing", from the album Songs of Mass Destruction, which also features other twenty-three female singers such as Madonna, KT Tunstall, Faith Hill, Dido, Celine Dion, Melissa Etheridge, Joss Stone, Fergie, Anastacia and Pink.

In late 2007, Shakira and Wyclef Jean recorded their second duet “King and Queen”. This song is available on Wyclef Jean’s latest album Carnival Vol. II: Memoirs of an Immigrant.

Shakira performed on January 18, 2009 at the Lincoln Memorial "We Are One" festivities in honor of the inauguration of President Barack Obama. She performed "Higher Ground" with Stevie Wonder and Usher. She also performed during the evening of January 20, 2009 at the Neighborhood Ball for the President's inauguration. The song she performed was Van Morrison's "Bright Side of the Road". This song featured Shakira on harmonica.

Love in the Time of Cholera soundtrack

Shakira wrote the lyrics and co-wrote the music for two new songs that are featured in the movie Love in the Time of Cholera, based in the acclaimed novel by Colombian author Gabriel García Marquez. García Marquez himself asked Shakira to write the songs. The songs are called "Pienso en ti", a song from Shakira's breakthrough album Pies Descalzos, "Hay Amores" and the Golden Globe nominated "Despedida." All the songs can be downloaded via iTunes, as well as the score by Antonio Pinto.

It was rumored that the song would also be nominated for an Academy Award, but it was not, with many newspapers and critics calling the fact that it was left off the ballots the Academy's "worst snub."

Acting

Shakira appeared in the Colombian telenovela El Oasis in 1994, playing the character of Luisa Maria.

Personal life

During her teen years, she had a best friend in Barranquilla by the name of Olga Lucia de Burbano. In 2000, Shakira started dating Antonio de la Rúa, the son of then president of Argentina Fernando de la Rúa, a romance that made headline news throughout Latin America. In March 2001, he proposed to her. De la Rúa and Shakira remain engaged. She currently lives in The Bahamas. Shakira's future mother-in-law Inés Pertiné claimed the wedding would take place in September 2007 in the mansion which Shakira owns in the Dominican Republic (though this didn't happen). She also said that Shakira has already ordered Argentine designer María Pryor to design her wedding dress, All this was denied by Shakira herself in Mexico.

In June 2007, Latin American media speculated that the couple had finally split up and that Shakira was involved romantically with Army Specialist Erik Pepen since both were seen in a Los Angeles disco. This rumor was immediately denied by Shakira's assistants, stating that she was invited by Penélope Cruz, who later introduced Erik Pepen to Shakira. On the previous days, Shakira and Antonio were seen in a restaurant in New York City, facing and denying the rumors one more time.

Shakira is intensely interested in world history. She frequently studies the history and languages of the countries she visits. After her Oral Fixation tour ended in summer 2007, Shakira audited a class in Los Angeles at UCLA, on the History of Western Civilization. She used her middle and last names, Isabel Mebarak, and told the professor she was visiting from Colombia so as to avoid being recognized as a celebrity.

Shakira is a cousin of model and 2005-2006 Miss Colombia, Valerie Dominguez, who is likewise of Lebanese descent.

Dancing

Dancing during the Oral Fixation Tour 2006

‎Shakira is well known for her dancing in various music videos and in concert. Her moves are based on the art of Arabic belly dancing, a part of her Lebanese heritage: her father has a Lebanese background but was raised in Colombia. She often performs barefoot. Shakira says she learned this form of dance as a young teen to overcome her shyness. She also mentioned in a MTV interview that she learned how to belly dance by trying to flip a coin with her belly. The intense training has afforded her a fluidity in her body movement most seen in the videos to her hits "Ojos Así", "La Tortura", "Hips Don't Lie" and "Beautiful Liar" including "Suerte". She has had several belly dance choreographers, including award-winning Bellydance Superstar Boženka. As the MTV Making the Video for "La Tortura" reveals, she worked with Jamie King on the choreography, but ended up creating most of it herself.

Philanthropy and humanitarian work

In 1995, Shakira founded the Pies Descalzos Foundation. It is a Colombian charity with special schools for poor children all around Colombia. It was funded by Shakira and other international groups and individuals. The name of the foundation is taken from Shakira's third studio album called Pies Descalzos, released in 1995.

During her career, Shakira has performed at a large number of benefit concerts. In 2002 she sang at a Party in the Park concert fundraising for dsf Prince's Trust. That same year she performed at Divas Live which support VH1's Save the Music Foundation. On July 2, 2005 she performed her hits "Whenever, Wherever" and "La Tortura" on the Live 8 benefit concert at the Palace of Versailles, near Paris. On July 7, 2007, the singer opened the German leg of Live Earth in Hamburg. Her set included "Don't Bother", "Inevitable", "Día Especial" (with Gustavo Cerati) and "Hips Don't Lie". Shakira also performed at the "Clinton Global Initiative", where she performed her hits "Underneath Your Clothes", "Inevitable" and "Hips Don't Lie". On May 17, 2008 Shakira and twenty other Latin American and Spanish artists performed in Buenos Aires and Mexico City to raise money for Shakira's Latin America in Solidarity Action "America Latina en Accion Solidaria"(ALAS) charity. This concert attracted 150,000 people in Buenos Aires. Although tickets were free, the demand exceeded the supply; some fans who were fortunate enough to secure free tickets resold them.

Shakira is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and is one of their global representatives. "Shakira, like all our Goodwill Ambassadors, was chosen based on her compassion, her involvement in global issues, her deep commitment to helping children, and her appeal to young people around the world. We're very pleased to have Shakira join the UNICEF family. I know she'll help bring UNICEF's mission to the audience who will have the most impact on our future – young people themselves", said UNICEF's Executive Director Carol Bellamy.

On April 3, 2006, Shakira was honored at a United Nations ceremony for creating the Pies Descalzos Foundation. At the event, the singer said, "Let's not forget that at the end of this day when we all go home, 960 children will have died in Latin America."

Shakira was recently ranked at number 48 on the list of Top 50 Most Charitable Celebrities by OK! magazine. It reported that she donates approximately $55,000 to charity yearly.

On September 28, 2007 at the Clinton Global Initiative, it was revealed that Shakira donated $40 million to help the victims of natural disasters. An additional $5 million will be donated to four Latin American countries, to be spent on education and health. The charity was able to collect US$ 200 million from philanthropists Carlos Slim, Mexico’s richest man, and Howard Buffett, son of U.S. investment guru Warren Buffett, the singer announced on April 15, 2008.

In December 2007, Shakira visited Bangladesh to appeal for the victims of Cyclone Sidr. She spent 3 days with the victims and visited children affected by the disaster in schools built by Unicef and participated in the distribution of family kits and warm clothes. She said that little was left of the school she visited in the village of Mirzapur, but it still provided an "oasis" for the children. "I am more convinced than ever that education is the key to so many of the difficulties that our children face in countries like mine or in developing countries like this one. It's the key to a better and safer world," she said.

Shakira served as the Honorary Chairperson for "Action Week" 2008 (April 21-27). The event is sponsored by the Global Campaign for Education (GCE), to generate awareness about the Education for All Act. She spoke with the U.S. Congress, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and World Bank President Robert Zoellick to promote a move towards Global Education. Angelina Jolie served as last year's chair.

People En Español announced in their December 2008/January 2009 issue that Shakira is the "Humanitarian of the Year" as part of their "Las Estrellas del Año" (Stars of the Year) awards.

On her 32nd birthday, Shakira opened a new $6-Million school in her hometown Barranquilla, which was sponsored by herself and her Pies Descalzos Foundation. [6]

Style

Shakira in concert 2006

Music and voice

Shakira is known to have adopted many genres, including folk, mainstream pop and rock. In the interview to ‘’Rolling Stones’’ she said: My music, I think, is a fusion of many different elements. And I'm always experimenting. So I try not to limit myself, or put myself in a category, or . . . be the architect of my own jail. Her earlier Spanish albums, including Pies Descalzos and ¿Dónde Están Los Ladrones? were a mix of folk music and Latin rock, while her cross-over English album, Laundry Service and her later albums were influenced by Britpop and rock and roll.

Shakira’s songs are about survival and being alive, and involve self-analysis. Most of her songs are based on classic Latin folklore rhythms mixed to rock musical context with strong sophisticated lyrics. As she says, and as the Led Zeppelin-influenced guitar on some of her songs reflects, she is a pop artist with a rock & roll heart.

Shakira is recognized for her powerful, melismatic voice. Her 1999 MTV Unplugged performance recorded in New York was critically acclaimed by many American critics and is said to have paved her path towards the English-language markets.

Songwriting and producing

Shakira is known to write and produce all of her own music and is a self professed perfectionist.

Shakira has written the lyrics to every song she has recorded with two exceptions. The first one is her 2005 song "Día Especial". Its lyrics were written by Argentine rocker Gustavo Cerati and the music was co-written by Shakira, Cerati and Luis Fernando Ochoa. The second exception is her 2006 blockbuster collaboration with Wyclef Jean, "Hips Don't Lie". Although she is listed on the writing credits for the verses, the chorus was taken from Wyclef's earlier song "Dance Like This".

Influences

Shakira has told many interviewers that she had grown fond to listening to oriental music, which influenced many of her earlier works. For example, Shakira used the Bollywood theme for her performance of ‘’Hips Don’t Lie’’ at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards in New York City. It also has influence partly for her Arabic heritage, which was a major inspiration for her breakthrough world hit Ojos Así. She also cites her parents as major contributors to her musical style.

In childhood, Shakira preferred ‘’rock and roll’’ music heavily listening her favorite rock bands like Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Nirvana, The Police and U2. She lists John Lennon as her #1 musical influence. She was also hardly influenced by Rolling Stones, AC/DC, The Who, The Pretenders, Scorpions, Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Cure, Tom Petty and Depeche Mode, Clash, Ramones, which influenced on her many prominent songs. In a recent interview to ‘’El Pais’’, she noted that in her opinion the perfect songs are Imagine by John Lennon and No Woman, No Cry by Bob Marley.

Shakira made several covers of prominent artists such AC/DC and Aerosmith, using them to sing in her tours, resulting in performances of Back in Black and Dude (Looks Like a Lady) during her ‘’Tour of the Mongoose’’. She also sang the classic Elvis Presley song Always On My Mind at the ‘’VH1 Divas Live Las Vegas’’.

She also has strongly influenced by Andean music and South American folk music, using her native instrumentation for the Latin dance-pop Whenever, Wherever and in more serious and mournful Despedida, marking it the ‘’song of my dreams’’.

Records, achievements and trivia

According to BMI, Shakira is the highest-selling Colombian artist of all time, having sold more than 60 million albums worldwide.

Shakira is the only artist from South America to reach the number-one spot on the Billboard Hot 100, the Australian ARIA chart, and/or the UK Singles Chart.

Laundry Service is the best selling album in Turkey.

Fijación Oral Vol. 1 holds the record for the highest debut ever for a Spanish language album in the United States (#4 debut having sold 157,000 copies in its first week of release). It is also the first Spanish album to top the German album chart.

La Tortura holds the record for most weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks, having spent 25 weeks at the top position. She was featured in the Guinness World Records for this accomplishment.

According to Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems, "Hips Don't Lie" was the most-played pop song in a single week in American radio history. It was played 9,637 times in one week.

Shakira became the first artist in the history of the Billboard charts to earn the coveted number one spots on both the Top 40 Mainstream and Latin Chart in the same week doing so with "Hips Don't Lie".

Discography

Main articles: Shakira discography and Shakira videography

Studio albums

• 1995: Pies Descalzos
• 1998: Dónde Están Los Ladrones?
• 2001: Laundry Service
• 2005: Fijación Oral Vol. 1
• 2005: Oral Fixation Vol. 2
• 2009: TBA

Live albums

• 2000: MTV Unplugged
• 2004: Live & Off the Record
• 2007: Oral Fixation Tour

Compilation albums

• 1997: The Remixes
• 2002: Grandes Éxitos
• 2002: Colección de Oro
• 2006: Oral Fixation Volumes 1 & 2

Soundtracks

• 2007: Love in the Time of Cholera (EP)

Tours

• 1996-1997: Tour Pies Descalzos
• 2000: Tour Anfibio
• 2002–2003: Tour of the Mongoose
• 2006–2007: Oral Fixation Tour

Awards

Main article: Shakira awards

See also

• List of Shakira awards
• Colombian people
• List of Lebanese people

References

• Oral Fixation World Tour 2006 (info) Template:Es icon[7]
• VH1 Driven: Shakira (article) [8]
• VH1 Driven: Shakira (video) [9]
• Book: Woman Full Of Grace by Ximena Diego [10]
• Pareles, Jon (Nov. 14, 2005). "Shakira, from lip to hip". New Straits Times, p. L3.
• "Shakira pertahan orang Arab". (Nov. 8, 2005). Berita Harian, p. 13.
• Frank Cogan's review of Laundry Service for The Village Voice [11]
• Chart Performance for "Don't Bother" from Billboard Hot 100 [12]
• Chart Performance for Oral Fixation 2 [13]
• Oral Fixation 2 Sales [14]

External links

• Official Website
• Shakira at IMDb