Shakira, born in Colombia in 1977, is known as the “Queen of Latin Music”. She has won four Grammy Awards and fifteen Latin Grammy Awards.
From Barranquilla to a Record Deal at 14
Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll was born on 2 February 1977 and made her recording debut with Sony Music Colombia at the age of 14. She became prominent in Latin America with the albums Pies Descalzos (1995) and Dónde Están los Ladrones? (1998).
Crossing Into English
Her first English-language album, Laundry Service (2001), sold more than 13 million copies worldwide and is the best-selling album by a female Latin artist. Singles such as “Whenever, Wherever”, “Hips Don’t Lie” and “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)” followed, and she has been involved with the FIFA World Cup at various points since 2006.
Records and Recognition
Spanish-language albums including Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 (2005), Sale el Sol (2010), El Dorado (2017) and Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran (2024) all topped Billboard’s Top Latin Albums chart, making her the first woman with number-one albums in four different decades. She was nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2026.
Away from music she coached on two seasons of The Voice (2013–2014), voiced a character in Zootopia (2016) and Zootopia 2 (2025), and runs the Barefoot Foundation (see below).
The Barefoot Foundation and Business
Shakira founded the Colombian charity Fundación Pies Descalzos (the Barefoot Foundation) in October 1997. It builds and maintains schools for underprivileged children in Colombia, providing teaching and meals, and the United Nations honoured her for establishing it on 3 April 2006. As of 2026, its education programmes had benefited more than 282,000 young people.
In 2010 she launched her first beauty product, S by Shakira, with the fragrance company Puig; by 2019, 30 fragrances had been released. She also voiced the pop star Gazelle in Zootopia.
Image: Shakira performing at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington, 18 January 2009 (file photo). Photo: Yeoman 1st Class Donna Lou Morgan, US Navy / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
