About Shakira
Born Shakira Isabel
Mebarak Ripoll in
Barranquilla, Colombia
on the 2nd February
1977, Shakira released
two hit albums in her
native country with
Magia in 1990, followed
by Peligro in 1993.
Although both albums
were relatively
successful in Colombia,
Shakira enjoyed her
first taste of
international stardom
with her third release,
Pies Descalzos in 1996.
The album debuted at #1
in 8 predominately
Spanish speaking
countries and reached #5
in the US Billboard
Latin Album chart. From
the album six US Latin
Chart top twenty singles
were released, including
the title track and her
biggest hit single so
far, Estoy Aqui. The
album later went on to
sell 5 million copies
and earned platinum
status.
Shakira’s fourth album
release, Donde Estan Los
Ladrones?, which
translates into English
as Where Are The
Thieves?, went on to
become an even greater
success, going on to
reach #1 in the US
Billboard Latin Album
chart after being
released in 1998. Eight
singles were released in
the US, mostly achieving
moderate success in both
the Latin and Billboard
Top 100 charts. The
album went on to sell
seven million copies
worldwide and even
gained Shakira her first
Grammy nomination for
Best Latin
Rock/Alternative Album.
Shakira’s first live
album, MTV Unplugged,
was released in 2000 and
proved to be both a
critical and commercial
success, going on to win
two Grammy’s in 2000.
Laundry Service,
Shakira’s first English
album was released in
November 2001. The first
single release from the
album, Whatever,
Whenever, gave Shakira
her first major
international hit
single, reaching #6 in
the US and an impressive
#2 in the UK. The single
was followed by a
further two
international hit
singles, Underneath Your
Clothes (UK #3) and
Objection (UK #17). The
album became Shakira’s
biggest international
hit, selling more than
13 million copies
worldwide and reaching
#2 in the UK.
The next album release,
the Latin Fijacion Oral
Vol. 1 achieved moderate
success, especially in
the Latin markets,
however, the sister
album, Oral Fixation
Vol. 2, released in
November 2005 followed
up the international
success of Laundry
Service, going on to
sell over 8 million
copies world wide. This
success was mainly due
to the phenomenal
international success of
the second single
release Hips Don’t Lie,
a collaboration with
rapper Wyclef Jean. The
single went on to reach
#1 international single
of the 21st Century. The
year-long worldwide tour
to promote the album was
a major success,
highlighted by Shakira’s
performance in July 2006
at the FIFA World Cup
final in Germany.
Shakira went on to
collaborate with Beyonce
on a track for the
latter’s album, B’Day.
Entitled Beautiful Liar,
the single was released
in April 2007 and became
another international
hit, reaching #1 in
several countries,
including the UK.
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