View larger images by clicking on individual pictures
All images are available for purchase in various formats ($6.95 flat rate shipping for any order)
Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll (born February 2, 1977), known simply as Shakira, is a two-time Grammy Award-winning Colombian singer, songwriter, producer, dancer and occasional actress. She has been a major figure in the Latin America music scene 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 around fifty million albums worldwide. Shakira is also known for her intelligence, having an IQ of 140; and for her ability to speak five languages.
Shakira is the only child of Nidia del Carmen Ripoll Torrado, a Colombian of Catalan-Italian descent, and William Mebarak Chadid, an American-born Catholic of Lebanese descent. Her father also had eight children with his former wife. One of her siblings is also her road manager. Shakira, which means "grateful" or "thankful" (شاكِرة) in Arabic, is named after her paternal grandmother. She spent much of her youth in Barranquilla. She has stated to have grown among Lebanese, Jewish and Italian communities.
Shakira wrote her first poem, entitled "La Rosa De Cristal", when she was only four years old. After receiving a typewriter as a gift, she began to write poems constantly. Her poems eventually evolved into songs. At the age of eight, after an older brother was killed in a motorcycle accident, Shakira became inspired to write her first song, which is entitled "Tus Gafas Escuras" and documents her father's grief.
Between the ages of ten to thirteen Shakira was invited to various events in Barranquilla and gained some recognition in the area. She met local theater producer Monica Ariza, who was impressed. Ariza convinced Sony Colombia executive Ciro Vargas to listen and was intrigued. Vargas introduced Shakira's music to a Sony Columbia artist director who was not overly excited and thought Shakira was something of "a lost cause". Vargas, not daunted, set up an audition in Bogotá. He arranged for Sony Colombia executives to arrive at the audition, with the idea of surprising them. Shakira performed three songs for the executives and impressed them enough for her to be signed to record three albums.
Shakira's debut album, Magia, was recorded with Sony Music in 1991, when she was only fifteen years old. The album did not fare well commercially, selling less than one thousand copies. After the poor acclaim of Magia, Shakira released Peligro in 1993. 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 so that she could graduate from high school.
Shakira returned to recording in 1995, 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 one, Pies Descalzos, which brought her great fame in Latin America. The singles "Estoy Aquí", "Pies Descalzos, Sueños Blancos", and "¿Dónde Estás Corazón?" became pop culture icons. Pies Descalzos sold over five million copies, prompting the release of a remix album, titled simply The Remixes, which sold more than a million copies.
Her fourth album, ¿Dónde Están Los Ladrones?, was released in 1998. It was produced by Emilio Estefan, reportedly cost US$3 million, and had more of a polished sound than Pies Descalzos. It was even more successful and solidified her as one of the major Latin artists of the 1990s. She began to gain more fans in non-Spanish-speaking countries, especially the United States. Eight of the album's eleven tracks became singles, including the world-famous "Ojos Así". Shakira's first live album, MTV Unplugged, was composed of "Estoy Aquí" and the songs from ¿Dónde Están Los Ladrones?.
In 2001, upon the success of ¿Dónde Están Los Ladrones?, Shakira began working on a crossover album to English. Collaborating with Gloria Estefan, she worked for over a year on new material. The result was Laundry Service. While the intent was to sell to an English language market, the rock and Spanish dance-influenced album also featured four Spanish songs. Some critics claimed that Shakira's English skills were too weak, but Laundry Service was a success, with more than 15 million sales worldwide, yielding the smash hits "Whenever, Wherever" and "Underneath Your Clothes". The album and its singles helped to establish Shakira's musical presence in the mainstream North American market.
In 2002, Shakira also released her Spanish greatest hits volume Grandes éxitos. A DVD and ten-track compilation album, called Live & Off the Record, was also released in 2004, commemorating Shakira's world tour, the Tour of the Mongoose. Also in 2002, Shakira joined the likes of Celine Dion, Anastacia, Cher and the Dixie Chicks for VH1 Divas Live Las Vegas.
Shakira stayed out of the spotlight for over two years. She announced the Oral Fixation project in early 2005. Fijación Oral Vol. 1, the first album of the project, was released in June 2005 . The lead single from the album, "La Tortura" and achieved large-scale success. It spent a record of twenty-five weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart.
Oral Fixation Vol. 2 was released on November 29, 2005. Two tracks of the album, "How Do You Do" and "Timor", sparked some controversy at the time of its release. The cover of the album was also considered controversial, and it had to be altered in several countries. While "Don't Bother" was warmly received by music critics as the lead single from the album, it failed to peak within the top 40 in the United States. "Hips Don't Lie", the second single released from the album, became Shakira's first (and, to date, only) number one single on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and UK Singles Chart. On March 28, 2006, the album was re-released and featured "Hips Don't Lie".
In early 2007, Shakira worked with American R&B singer Beyoncé Knowles in the track "Beautiful Liar", which was released as the second single from the deluxe edition of Beyoncé's 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.
With her musical diversity, boundless energy and exotic good looks, Shakira will surely remain a pop culture fixture for years to come! 
View a Huge Collection of Shakira Pictures and Posters!
