Shakira

 

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll (born: February 2, 1977) known simply as Shakira, in Arabic (English pronunciation Portuguese is a Colombian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, dancer and philanthropist who emerged as a musical prodigy 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, Portuguese and Italian.

Her 2005 album could’ve been called Aural Fixation, because Shakira’s unique version of sexy, heartfelt Latin pop has turned her into a mass-market obsession. The hip-shaking singer released her first Spanish-language album as a teenager, and by the late ’90s, her albums – and a role on the soap opera El Oasis – had made Shakira a huge star throughout Latin America and Spain.