Shakira was born on February 2, 1977 in Barranquilla, Colombia. She is the only child of Nidia Ripoll and William Mebarak Chadid. Her paternal grandparents emigrated from Lebanon to New York City, where her father was born. From her mother, Nidia Ripoll, she has Spanish (Catalan and Castilian) and Italian descent. She has eight older half-siblings from her father's previous marriage. Shakira spent much of her youth in Barranquilla, a city located in northern Caribbean coast of Colombia. Shakira wrote her first poem, titled "La Rosa De Cristal" ("The Crystal Rose") when she was only four years old. As she was growing up, she was fascinated watching her father writing stories on a typewriter, and asked for one as a Christmas gift. She got a typewriter at the age of seven and continued writing poetry since then. These poems eventually evolved into songs. When Shakira was two years old, an older half-brother was killed in a motorcycle accident and at the age of eight, Shakira wrote her first song, titled "Tus gafas oscuras" ("Your dark glasses"), which was inspired by her father, who for years wore dark glasses to hide his grief.
Shakira |
Shakira's debut album, Magia, was recorded with Sony Music Colombia in 1990 when she was only fourteen years old. The songs are a collection made by her since she was 8, mixed pop-rock ballads and disco uptempo songs with electronic accompaniment, however it was hampered by a lack of recording and production cohesion. The album was released in June 1991 and featured "Magia" and three other singles. Though it fared well on Colombian radio and gave the young Shakira much exposure, the album did not fare well commercially as only 1,200 copies were sold worldwide. After the poor performance of Magia, Shakira's label urged her to return to the studio to release a follow-up record. Although little known outside of her native Colombia, Shakira was invited to perform at Chile'sViña del Mar International Song Festival in February 1993. The festival gave aspiring Latin American singers a chance to perform their songs, and the winner was then chosen by a panel of judges. Shakira performed the ballad "Eres" ("You Are") and won the trophy for third place. One of the judges who voted for her to win was then 20-year-old Ricky Martin.
Shakira's second studio album Peligro was released in March, but Shakira was not pleased with the final result, mainly taking issue with the production. 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 from recording so that she could graduate from high school. In the same year, Shakira starred in the Colombian TV Series "The Oasis", loosely based on the Armero tragedy in 1985. Since then, the albums have been pulled from release and are not considered official Shakira albums but rather promotional albums.
Shakira originally recorded the song "¿Dónde Estás Corazón?" (later released on her album Pies Descalzos) for the compilation albumNuestro Rock in 1995, released exclusively in Colombia.The album Pies Descalzos brought her great popularity in Latin America by the hit singles "Estoy Aquí," "Pies Descalzos, Sueños Blancos" and "Dónde Estás Corazón." Shakira also recorded three tracks in Portuguese titled "Estou Aqui", "Um Pouco de Amor", and "Pés Descalços".
Shakira returned to recording music under Sony Music along with Columbia in 1995 with Luis F. Ochoa, using musical influences from a number of countries and an Alanis Morissette-oriented persona which affected two of her next albums. These recordings spawned her third studio album and major-label debut Pies Descalzos. Recording for the album began in February 1995, after the success of her single "¿Dónde Estás Corazón?". Sony gave Shakira $100,000 to produce the album since they predicted that the album would not sell past 100,000 copies. Starting with this album, Shakira began producing her own music, perfecting her vocals and most of all, practicing creative control over her music. Highly influenced by the American alternative market and British groups such as [[The Pretenders]', the album's songs are melodic, musically surprising and gritty, with intellectual lyrics and an electronic/acoustic blend that effectively broke the formulaic mold of Latin pop with an authentic sound that had not been heard before.
The album, Pies Descalzos, was released in February 1996. It debuted at number one in eight different countries. However, it only managed to reach number one-hundred-eighty on the U.S.Billboard Hot 100 but reached number five on the U.S. Billboard Top Latin Albums chart. The album spawned six hit singles, "Estoy Aquí" which reached number two on the U.S. Latin chart, "¿Dónde Estás Corazón?" which reached number five on the U.S. Latin chart, "Pies Descalzos, Sueños Blancos" which reached number eleven on the U.S. Latin chart, "Un Poco de Amor" which reached number six on the U.S. Latin chart, "Antología" which reached number fifteen on the U.S. Latin Pop Songs chart and "Se quiere, Se Mata" which reached number eight on the U.S. Latin chart. In August 1996, RIAA certified the album platinum status.
In March 1996, Shakira went on to her first international tour named simply the Tour Pies Descalzos. The tour consisted of 20 shows and ended in 1997. Also in that year, Shakira received three Billboard Latin Music Awards for Album of the Year for Pies Descalzos, Video of the Year for "Estoy Aqui" and Best New Artist. Pies Descalzos later sold over 5 million copies,prompting the release of a remix album, simply titled The Remixes. The Remixes also included Portuguese versions of some of her well known songs, which were recorded as a result of her success in the Brazilian market, where Pies Descalzos sold nearly one million copies.
Her fourth studio album, Dónde Están los Ladrones?, produced entirely by Shakira herself and Emilio Estefan, Jr. as the executive producer, was released in September 1998. The album, inspired by an incident in an airport in which a suitcase full of her written lyrics was stolen, became a bigger hit than Pies Descalzos. The album has reached a peak position of number one-hundred-thirty-one on the U.S. Billboard 200 and held the top spot on the U.S. Latin Albums chart for eleven weeks. It has since sold over seven million copies worldwide[35][36][clarification needed] and 1.5 million copies in the U.S. alone, making it one of the best selling Spanish albums in the U.S. Eight singles were taken from the album including "Ciega, Sordomuda", "Moscas En La Casa", "No Creo" which became her first single to chart on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, "Inevitable", "Tú", "Si Te Vas", "Octavo día", and the "Ojos Así". The latter two songs won Shakira one Latin Grammy each with six of the eight singles reaching the top 40 on the U.S. Latin chart.
Shakira also received her first Grammy Award nomination in 1999 for Best Latin Rock/Alternative Album. Shakira's first live album,MTV Unplugged was recorded in New York City on August 12, 1999. Highly acclaimed by American critics, it is rated as one of her best-ever live performances. The live album earned the Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Album in 2001 and gained sales of five million worldwide. In March 2000, Shakira embarked on her Tour Anfibio, a two-month tour of Latin America and the United States. In August 2000, she won an MTV Video Music Award in the category of People's Choice — Favorite International Artist for "Ojos Así". In September 2000, Shakira performed "Ojos Así" at the inaugural ceremony of the Latin Grammy Awards, where she was nominated in five categories: Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album for MTV Unplugged, Best Female Rock Vocal Performance for "Octavo Día", Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best Short Form Music Video for the video for "Ojos Así". She won two Grammy awards.
In 2002, at Aerosmith's MTV Icon in April 2002, Shakira performed "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)". She also joined the likes of Cher, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Mary J. Blige, Anastacia, and the Dixie Chicks for VH1 Divas Live Las Vegas. In September, she won the International Viewer's Choice Award at the MTV Video Music Awards with "Whenever, Wherever". She also won the Latin Grammy Award for the category of Best Short Form Music Video for the Spanish version of the video. In October, she won five MTV Video Music Awards Latin America for Best Female Artist, Best Pop Artist, Best Artist – North (Region), Video of the Year (for "Suerte"), and Artist of the Year. In November, she embarked on the Tour of the Mongoose with 61 shows occurring by May 2003. The tour was also her first worldwide tour, as legs were played in North America, South America, Europe and Asia. Shakira's label Sony BMG also released her Spanish greatest hits compilation Grandes Éxitos. A DVD and ten-track live album, called Live & Off the Record, was also released in 2004, reaching sales of 3 million worldwide, and commemorating the Tour of the Mongoose.
Shakira's sixth studio album, Fijación Oral, Vol. 1, was released in June 2005. The lead single from the album, "La Tortura" reached the top 40 of on the Hot 100. The song featured the Spanish balladeer Alejandro Sanz. Shakira became the first artist to perform a Spanish language song at theMTV Video Music Awards in 2005. Contrary to low expectations, the album was extremely well received. It debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 157,000 copies in its first week. It has since sold over two million copies in the U.S., earning a 11× Platinum (Latin field) certification from the RIAA. Due to its first week sales, the album became the highest debut ever for a Spanish language album. After only a day of release in Latin America, the album earned certifications. In Venezuela, it earned a Platinum certification, in Colombia, a triple Platinum certification while in Mexico, the album exceeded shipments and was unavailable after only one day of release. The album sold over one million copies in three days worldwide. Four other singles were also released from the album. "No", "Día de Enero", "La Pared" and "Las de la Intuición", with each single reaching number one in countries worldwide. Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 has since sold over 4 million copies worldwide.
On February 8, 2006, Shakira won her second Grammy Award with the win of Best Latin Rock/Alternative Album for Fijación Oral, Vol. 1. She received four Latin Grammy Awards in November 2006, winning the awards for Record of the Year, Song of the Year for "La Tortura", Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album for Fijación Oral, Vol. 1.
n early 2008, Forbes named Shakira the fourth top-earning female artist in music industry.Then, in July, Shakira signed a $300 million contract with Live Nation, an international touring giant, for ten years. The touring group also doubles as a record label which promotes but does not control the music their artists release. Shakira's contract with Epic Records called for three more albums as well – one in English, one in Spanish, and a compilation, but the touring and other rights of the Live Nation deal were confirmed to begin immediately.
In January 2009, Shakira performed at the Lincoln Memorial "We Are One" festivities in honor of the inauguration of President Barack Obama. She performed "Higher Ground" with Stevie Wonder and Usher. In March, Shakira appeared on the album Cantora 1 by the Argentinian folk singer Mercedes Sosa on the song "La Maza", which both singers sang at the ALAS concert in Buenos Aires in May 2008.
In October 2010, Shakira released her ninth studio album, Sale el Sol. The album debuted at number-seven on Billboard 200 in its first week, and at the top spot on the Billboard Top Latin Albums. The lead single "Loca" was number one in many countries. The album had sold over 1 million copies worldwide in 6 weeks, and over 4 million since its release. In September, Shakira embarked on The Sun Comes Out World Tour, in support of her two most recent albums. The tour visited countries in North America, Europe, South America, Asia, and Africa with 107 shows in total. The tour was met with positive reactions from critics, who praised Shakira's stage presence and energy during her performances. On November 9, 2011, Shakira was honored as Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year and performed a cover of Joe Arroyo's song "En Barranquilla Me Quedo" at the Mandalay Bay Events Center as a tribute to the singer who died earlier that year.
In November 2011 Shakira said about her tenth album: "I already started to write new material. I've begun to explore in the recording studio whenever I have time in Barcelona and here in Miami. I'm working with different producers and DJs, and I try to feed off from that and find new sources of inspiration and new musical motivation. I'm anxious to return to the studio. My body is asking for it". She worked with producers such as Benny Blanco, Tïesto, RedOne, Max Martin, Dr. Luke,LMFAO, Akon, Fernando Garibay, Sia, Ester Dean,[69] Skrillex, The Runners, The Dream, Shea Taylor and Billboard. She also collaborated with rapper Pitbull for the song "Get It Started" which is the lead single from Pitbull's upcoming album Global Warming. The single was released on June 28, 2012. She was also signed to Roc Nation under management purposes for her upcoming studio album. The first single from her upcoming album is expected to be "Truth or Dare". The music video was filmed in Lisbon on June 29, 2012. The second single will be a song titled "Beautiful Disaster".
Shakira substituted for Christina Aguilera in the fourth season of The Voice along with Usher, who substituted for Cee Lo Green. After Season 4 ended, Shakira returned to the recording studio in June 2013 with singer-songwriter/producer Carlinhos Brown to resume work on her tenth studio album.Aguilera and Green both returned for the fifth season, while Shakira and Usher are expected to return for the sixth season. On September 1, 2013, Shakira gave an update on her album, stating: "Amazing day in the studio! 2 years and I finally feel in these songs as comfortable as [I do] in my torn jeans!".. Peter Edge - the CEO of RCA Records - told Billboard magazine in October 2013: "[There's this] new song from Shakira that’s gonna be an event single, we plan on having it out before the end of [2013]" On November 23, 2013, Shakira stated that she is writing the final lyrics for the album. In December 2013, it was announced that Shakira's new single has been delayed until January 2014 and that the featured artist on the song is Rihanna.
Shakira sexy wallpaper |
Shakira wonderful wallpaper |
Shakira in bikni wallpaper |
Shakira hot wallpaper |
Shakira sexy wallpaper |