Shakira

Profile
Name: Shakira
Birth Name: Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll
Height: 4' 11"
Sex: F
Nationality: Colombian
Birth Date: February 2, 1977
Birth Place: Barranquilla, Colombia
Profession: Musician
Education: La Ensenanza School in Barranquilla
Relationship: Antonio de la Rúa (son of former President of Argentina, Fernando de la Rúa; dated since 2000; engaged in March 2001)
Father: William Mebarak Chadid
Mother: Nidia del Carmen Ripoll Torrado
Half Sister: Ana, Lucy (older; surgeon), Patricia (special education teacher)
Half Brother: Alberto (older; lawyer), Edward (younger), Moises (older), Tonino (younger; Shakira's road manager), Robin
Cousin: Valerie Dominguez Tarud (fashion designer and Miss Colombia 2006)
Claim to fame: Her album Laundry Service with the worldwide hit 'Whenever, Wherever' and single 'Underneath Your Clothes' in 2001

Biography
Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll known simply as Shakira, is a Colombian Latin pop singer-songwriter. She is best known for songs such as "Estoy Aqu�", "Tu", "Ciega, Sordomuda", "Ojos As�", "Whenever, Wherever", "Underneath Your Clothes", "Objection", "Don't Bother", "La Tortura", "Hips Don't Lie" and her dancing style which primarily features her hips. She is in the Guiness Book of Records: Most #1 weeks on Billboard Latin Singel Charts,for La Tortura. In 2007 she will be added as best selling single in a week for Hips Don't Lie. Shakira was born in Barranquilla, Colombia to a Colombian mother, Nidia del Carmen Ripoll Torrado, of Catalan and Italian decent, and an American born father of Lebanese descent, William Mebarak Chadid. Shakira, means "graceful or full of grace" in Arabic, is named after her grandmother. She was one of seven siblings, one of whom is her road manager. Shakira began writing and composing music at the age of eight. One of her first songs was called "Tus Gafas Oscuras" (Your Dark Glasses), which was about her father's grief over his son who had died in a car accident. At the age of ten, Shakira tried out for her school choir, but she was not taken because her voice was "too strong." 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. After Magia, Shakira released Peligro (Danger) in 1993. The album was better received than Magia, but Shakira decided to take a hiatus from recording so that she could graduate from high school. Shakira returned to recording in 1995, supported by a new confessional and Alanis Morissette-oriented persona that affected some of her next albums, and made her third studio one, Pies Descalzos (Bare Feet), bring her great fame in Latin America. The singles "Estoy Aqu�" (I'm Here), "Pies Descalzos, Sue�os Blancos" (Bare Feet, White Dreams), and "D�nde Est�s Coraz�n?" (Where Are You, My Heart?) became pop culture icons. Pies Descalzos sold more than 4 million copies, which prompted the release of a remix album, titled simply The Remixes, which sold more than a million copies. The Remixes also included Portuguese versions of some of her best-known songs, which were recorded because of her success in the Brazilian market. Shakira was the most nominated artist of the year for this year's MTV Video Music Awards '06. Her seven nominations were for "Hips Don't Lie", including Video of the Year and Best Female Video[citation needed]. She won only one award for Choreography. Shakira also performed "Hips Don't Lie" to the dance moves of popular Indian Choreographer Farah Khan. The award show was held on August 31st 2006 in Radio City Music Hall.

Filmography
2004 Shakira: Live and Off the Record
2002 MTV Unplugged: Shakira
2001 Saturday Night Live: Derek Jeter.

Discography
Albums | Compilations | Singles | Videos | Other
2006 Oral Fixation, Vol. 2 [Bonus Track]
2005 Oral Fixation, Vol. 2
2005 Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 [DualDisc]
2005 Fijación Oral, Vol. 1
2004 Live & Off the Record
2004 Laundry Service [Japan]
2002 Laundry Service [Washed and Dried]
2001 Laundry Service
2000 MTV Unplugged
1998 Dónde Están los Ladrones?
1997 Remixes
1996 Pies Descalzos

Awards
MTV Video Music Awards (Latin America)
Year : 2002
Category : Artist of the year ; Video of the year; Female artist of the year; Pop artist of the year;
Won

Latin Grammy Award
Year : 2002
Category : Best Music Video
Won

Grammy Awards
Year : 2000
Category : Latin Pop Album
Won

Trivia

Along with famous novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez, she formed the foundation ALAS, the Latin America In Solidarity Action, to combat the awful conditions that kill 350,000 children in the Panama region each year. (December 13, 2006)

Will donate the proceeds from a concert in her hometown Barranquilla to build an arts school for 1,800 children who became homeless as a result of Colombia's civil war. (October 7, 2006)

Her hit ''Hips Don't Lie,'' featuring rap artist Wyclef Jean, became the most played song in pop radio history. (June 7, 2006)

Closed the 2006 World Cup of football at Olympic stadium in Berlin, with a show before the final match in July 2006

Is to become the first pop star to release a single only as a mobile-phone download. (March 20, 2006)

Is set to be honored with a giant steel statue in her hometown of Barranquilla. (March 20, 2006)

Fired her beauty staff after deciding she had become too obsessed with her appearance. (March 8, 2006)

Denies rumors that she and Robbie Williams have been sharing nights of passion in LA, insisting that they are just friends and that she is happily in love with her Argentinean fiance of four years, Antonio De La Rua. (March 3, 2006)

Does not think of herself as a feminist, just that she is a strong woman with masculine qualities.

Once so concerned about the size of her breasts, she has finally decided against having plastic surgery, insisting she is happy being natural. (January 30, 2006)

Is reportedly selling her $6m beach mansion in Miami. (January 24, 2006)

Was no. 8 on Blackwell's list of worst-dressed women of 2005.

Admits that she is very shy about her body and that her sexy videos do not represent her as the kind of woman she is. (November 15, 2005)

Says she's the very shy even though she's known for her sexy dance routines.

Became the youngest ever goodwill ambassador for the United Nations’ UNICEF on October 24, 2003

Postponed a concert in the Dominican Republic at the advice of her doctors because she was suffering from a throat infection -- The concert was scheduled for Wednesday night at Quisqueya Stadium in Santo Domingo, but it was postponed until Thursday night, promoter George Nader said. (March 21, 2003)

Donated 10,000 pairs of tennis shoes to her hometown of Barranquilla to impoverished children -- the donation was made through the Barefoot Foundation, named after one of Shakira's disks called Pies Descalzos in Spanish. (December 21, 2002)

Shakira proves to be a real doll – the singer has signed on with toy company Mattel, maker of Barbie, to license a collection of fashion dolls and accessories. (November 6, 2002)

Shakira has signed an endorsement deal with Reebok that will be marketed under the sportswear giant's Sounds & Rhythm Of Sport platform. (September 24, 2002)

Shakira is a walking, living, breathing, singing contradiction.

She's a child prodigy who wrote her first song at age eight, a blond-locked Colombian who speaks three languages and loves only in Spanish.

She's a perfectionist who spends hours in the studio; she needs to be close to nature but her passion is the crackle of electric guitars.

Made emergency helicopter landing. Bad weather forces the singer's chopper down over a baseball diamond in the Dominican Republic on Friday, August 2, 2002. She and family escaped injury.