Shakira
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Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( shə-KEER-ə, Spanish: [ʃaˈkiɾa isaˈβel meβaˈɾak riˈpol]; born 2 February 1977) is a Colombian singer-songwriter and dancer. Referred to as the "Queen of Latin Music", she has had a significant impact on the musical landscape of Latin America and has been credited with popularizing Hispanophone music on a global level, which in turn contributed to increased learning and use of the Spanish language worldwide. The recipient of various accolades, she has won 4 Grammy Awards and 15 Latin Grammy Awards, including 3 Song of the Year wins. Shakira made her recording debut with Sony Music Colombia at the age of 14. Following the commercial failure of her first two albums, Magia (1991) and Peligro (1993), she rose to prominence with the next two, Pies Descalzos (1995) and Dónde Están los Ladrones? (1998). Shakira entered the English-language market with her fifth album, Laundry Service (2001), which sold over 13 million copies worldwide, becoming the best-selling album of all time by a female Latin artist. Her success was further solidified with the Spanish-language albums Fijación Oral, Vol. 1 (2005), Sale el Sol (2010), El Dorado (2017), and Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran (2024), all of which topped the Billboard Top Latin Albums chart, making her the first woman with number-one albums across four different decades. Her English-language albums Oral Fixation, Vol. 2 (2005), She Wolf (2009), and Shakira (2014) received platinum certifications in various countries worldwide. Shakira is one of the world's best-selling musicians. She scored numerous number-one singles and other top songs worldwide, including "Estoy Aquí", "Antología", "Ciega, Sordomuda", "Ojos Así", "Whenever, Wherever / Suerte", "Underneath Your Clothes", "Objection (Tango)", "La Tortura", "Las de la Intuición", "Hips Don't Lie", "Beautiful Liar", "She Wolf", "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)", "Loca", "Rabiosa", "Can't Remember to Forget You", "Dare (La La La)", "La Bicicleta", "Chantaje", "Te Felicito", "Monotonía", "Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53", and "TQG". Shakira served as a coach on two seasons of the American singing competition television series The Voice (2013–2014), had a voice role in the animated films Zootopia (2016) and Zootopia 2 (2025), and executive produced and judged the dance competition series Dancing with Myself (2022). She is credited with opening the doors of the international market for other Latin artists. Billboard named her the Top Female Latin Artist of the Decade twice (2000s and 2010s). Shakira has written or co-written a vast majority of the material she recorded or performed, music and lyrics, during her career. Noted to be an "international phenomenon" whose music, story, and legacy "resonate in every corner of the globe", Shakira has been described as an artistic link between the West and the East for popularizing Middle Eastern sounds in the West, and Western sounds in the East. For her philanthropic and humanitarian work, such as the Barefoot Foundation, and her contributions to music, she received the Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year and Harvard Foundation Artist of the Year awards in 2011. Shakira was appointed to the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics in the United States in 2011, and was granted the honor of Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government in 2012. She has been an advocate for equitable development of the Global South, the rights and interests of children, the Latino minority in the U.S. and Canada, women, and other under-represented groups.