Shakira was born on February 2, 1977, in the coastal city of Barranquilla, one of the largest cities in Colombia.

Her full name is Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll; Mebarak is the surname of her Lebanese father, and Ripoll that of her Colombian mother.

Shakira’s first name is Arabic and means ‘grateful’. This mix of Latin American and Middle Eastern influences is reflected in both her music and her view of the world around her.

For instance, in July 2006, Shakira called on Israel to make peace with Lebanon. When she was born, Shakira had eight older half-siblings. One of her brothers died when Shakira was two years old, having been hit by a motorcycle.

When Shakira was eight years old, she wrote her first song: Tus gafas oscuras (Your Dark Glasses). She was inspired by her father, who had often worn dark glasses to hide his sadness since the death of his son. Her father is a writer and jeweler. When his business went bankrupt in 1985, they lost everything. Yet Shakira felt that their family was doing very well compared to other South American families.

Because of this, she felt called to give something back and began her singing career.

Shakira starred in the popular Colombian soap opera El Oasis. She won her first national talent show when she was only ten years old. This gave her the opportunity to record an album. She signed her first contract three years later.

Her first album was titled Magia (‘magic’). She wrote all the songs on that album herself between the ages of eight and thirteen. Most of them were written for her then-boyfriend, Oscar. The album was released by Sony Music Colombia.

She broke through in Brazil and Spain with the subsequent album Peligro (‘danger’). More than two million copies of that album were sold.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia