Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll (born February 2, 1977 in Barranquilla, Colombia), known simply as Shakira, is a Colombian singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, record producer, actress and dancer who has been a major figure in the pop music scene of Latin America since the mid-1990s. In 2001, she broke through into the English-speaking market with the release of her first album in that language, Laundry Service, which has sold over fifteen million copies worldwide. Shakira is the highest-selling Colombian artist of all time, having sold almost fifty million albums worldwide. She is also the only artist from that country to reach the number-one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 and UK Singles Chart.
Shakira is of Colombian, Lebanese, and Macedonian descent.[2][3] She was born to a Colombian mother of Catalan and Italian descent, Nidia del Carmen Ripoll Torrado, and an American-born father of Lebanese-Macedonian Catholic descent, William Mebarak Chadid, in Barranquilla, Colombia, where she says she grew up among the Lebanese and Italian communities.[citation needed] According to Colombian feature writers, her father was born in New York, but he soon migrated to Colombia. Shakira, which means "graceful" in Arabic (Shakira -شاكرة ), is named after her paternal grandmother.[citation needed] She is one of seven siblings, one of whom is her road manager. A precocious writer even at an early age, Shakira wrote her first poem when she was four years old, entitled "The Crystal Rose." Armed with a typewriter given to her as a gift, Shakira began writing more and more, but her poems eventually evolved into songs. When a police officer arrived on her family's doorstep and announced that her older brother had been killed in a motorcycle accident, Shakira was inspired to write her first song when she was eight, called "Tus Gafas Oscuras" (Your Dark Glasses), which documented her father's grief over the son he had lost.
At a young age, in her father's favorite Middle Eastern restaurant, Shakira first heard the clarion call of the doumbek, a drum used typically in 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".[4][5] 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.[citation needed] "That's how I discovered my passion for live performance," she says.[6]
Between the ages of ten and thirteen Shakira was invited to various events in Barranquilla and gained some recognition in the area.[7] 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 motel lobby. Vargas held Shakira in high regard and, returning to the Sony office, gave the cassette to a song and artist director.[citation needed] However, the director was not overly excited and thought Shakira was something of "a lost cause".[citation needed] Vargas, not daunted, was still convinced that Shakira had talent, and set up an audition in Bogotá.[citation needed] He arranged for Sony Colombia executives to arrive at the audition, with the idea of surprising them with Shakira's performance.[citation needed] She performed three songs for the executives and impressed them enough for her to be signed to record three albums.[citation needed]
Magia (Magic) was Shakira's debut album, recorded with Sony Colombia in 1991, when she was 15. The album did not fare well commercially, selling less than one thousand copies.[citation needed] After Magia, Shakira released Peligro (Danger) in 1993. The album was better received than Magia, though it was considered a commercial failure, due to Shakira's refusal to advertise it.[citation needed] Shakira then decided to take a hiatus from recording so that she could graduate from high school.
Shakira is of Colombian, Lebanese, and Macedonian descent.[2][3] She was born to a Colombian mother of Catalan and Italian descent, Nidia del Carmen Ripoll Torrado, and an American-born father of Lebanese-Macedonian Catholic descent, William Mebarak Chadid, in Barranquilla, Colombia, where she says she grew up among the Lebanese and Italian communities.[citation needed] According to Colombian feature writers, her father was born in New York, but he soon migrated to Colombia. Shakira, which means "graceful" in Arabic (Shakira -شاكرة ), is named after her paternal grandmother.[citation needed] She is one of seven siblings, one of whom is her road manager. A precocious writer even at an early age, Shakira wrote her first poem when she was four years old, entitled "The Crystal Rose." Armed with a typewriter given to her as a gift, Shakira began writing more and more, but her poems eventually evolved into songs. When a police officer arrived on her family's doorstep and announced that her older brother had been killed in a motorcycle accident, Shakira was inspired to write her first song when she was eight, called "Tus Gafas Oscuras" (Your Dark Glasses), which documented her father's grief over the son he had lost.
At a young age, in her father's favorite Middle Eastern restaurant, Shakira first heard the clarion call of the doumbek, a drum used typically in 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".[4][5] 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.[citation needed] "That's how I discovered my passion for live performance," she says.[6]
Between the ages of ten and thirteen Shakira was invited to various events in Barranquilla and gained some recognition in the area.[7] 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 motel lobby. Vargas held Shakira in high regard and, returning to the Sony office, gave the cassette to a song and artist director.[citation needed] However, the director was not overly excited and thought Shakira was something of "a lost cause".[citation needed] Vargas, not daunted, was still convinced that Shakira had talent, and set up an audition in Bogotá.[citation needed] He arranged for Sony Colombia executives to arrive at the audition, with the idea of surprising them with Shakira's performance.[citation needed] She performed three songs for the executives and impressed them enough for her to be signed to record three albums.[citation needed]
Magia (Magic) was Shakira's debut album, recorded with Sony Colombia in 1991, when she was 15. The album did not fare well commercially, selling less than one thousand copies.[citation needed] After Magia, Shakira released Peligro (Danger) in 1993. The album was better received than Magia, though it was considered a commercial failure, due to Shakira's refusal to advertise it.[citation needed] Shakira then decided to take a hiatus from recording so that she could graduate from high school.
