|
|
 |
Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll (born February 2,
1977), known simply as Shakira, (pronounced /ʃəˈkiːrə/
in English, Arabic: شاکیرة ), is a Colombian
contralto singer-songwriter, musician, record
producer, dancer and philanthropist who has been a
major figure in the pop music scene of Latin America
since the mid-1990s. She speaks fluent English,
Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish, some Arabic, French
and Italian. In 2001, she broke through into the
English-speaking world with the release of Laundry
Service, which sold over fifteen million copies
worldwide. Shakira is the highest-selling Colombian
artist of all time, having sold more than 50 million
albums worldwide, according to BMI. She has also won
numerous awards worldwide, including two Grammy
Awards, seven Latin Grammy Awards, fifteen Billboard
Music Awards, three MTV Video Music Awards and a
People's Choice Award. She is also the only artist
from South America to reach the number-one spot on
the Billboard Hot 100, the Australian ARIA chart,
the United World Chart and the UK Singles Chart.
Additionally, she is one of the only artists to have
10 Spanish singles chart on the Billboard Hot 100.
According to the United World Chart, Shakira is as
of 2008 the 6th most successful artist so far for
the last decade, in terms of single sales. She is
also the only artist to have two songs in the top
ten of the most successful singles since 1999.
Early life
Shakira was born on February 2, 1977 in Barranquilla,
Colombia. She is the only child of Nidya del Carmen
Ripoll Torrado, a Colombian of Spanish and Italian
ancestry, and William Mebarak Chadid who is of
Lebanese Maronite descent.[6] She has 8 older half
siblings from her father's previous marriage, but
she often omits the half in interviews because they
are so close to her.
Shakira means "thankful" (شاكِرة) in Arabic. It is
the feminine form of the name Shakir. Her second
name, Isabel, is also that of her paternal
grandmother, meaning beautiful. Her family name
Ripoll is Catalan. She spent much of her youth in
Barranquilla, a city located in northern Colombia.
Shakira is widely noted for her keen intellect and
is reported to have an IQ of 140.
Shakira wrote her first poem, entitled "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 her
wish at age seven and continued writing poetry.
These poems eventually evolved into songs. At the
age of eight, after an older half-brother was killed
in a motorcycle accident (she was only two when this
happened), Shakira wrote her first song entitled "Tus
gafas oscuras" ("Your dark glasses"). The
inspiration came from her father, who for years
after the accident wore dark glasses, to hide his
grief.
When Shakira was four, her father took her to a
local Middle Eastern restaurant, where Shakira first
heard the doumbek, a traditional drum used in Arabic
music and which typically accompanied belly dancing.
Before she knew it, Shakira was dancing barefoot on
the table, as restaurant patrons responded by
clapping enthusiastically. It was then that Shakira
said she knew she wanted to be a performer. She
enjoyed singing for schoolmates and teachers (and
even the nuns) at her Catholic school but in the
second grade was rejected for the school choir
because her vibrato was too strong. The music
teacher told her that she sounded "like a goat". At
school, she says she had been known as "the belly
dancer girl", as she would demonstrate a number she
learned every Friday at school. "That's how I
discovered my passion for live performance," she
says.
Between the ages of ten and thirteen Shakira was
invited to various events in Barranquilla and gained
some recognition in the area. It was at about this
time that she met local theater producer Monica
Ariza, who was impressed with her and as a result
tried to help her career. During a flight from
Barranquilla to Bogotá, Ariza convinced Sony
Colombia executive Ciro Vargas to hold an audition
for Shakira in a hotel lobby. Vargas held Shakira in
high regard and, returning to the Sony office, gave
the cassette to a song and artist director. However,
the director was not overly excited and thought
Shakira was something of "a lost cause". Vargas, not
daunted, was still convinced that Shakira had
talent, and set up an audition in Bogotá. He
arranged for Sony Colombia executives to arrive at
the audition, with the idea of surprising them with
Shakira's performance. She performed three songs for
the executives and impressed them enough for her to
be signed to record three albums.
Music career
1991-1994: Magia & Peligro
Shakira's debut album, Magia, was recorded with Sony
Music in 1991, when she was only fourteen years old.
The album did not fare well commercially, selling
less than one thousand copies. After the poor
acclaim of Magia, Shakira's label urged her back
into the studio to release a follow up with more hit
songs, to give the album potential. The album
Peligro was released in 1993, but Shakira was not
pleased with the final result. The album was better
received than Magia, though it was also considered a
commercial failure, due to Shakira's refusal to
advertise it. Although little known outside of her
native Colombia, Shakira was invited to perform at
Chile's Viña 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 then decided to take a hiatus from
recording so that she could graduate from high
school.
[edit] 1995–2000: Pies Descalzos & Donde Estan Los
Ladrones?
Shakira originally recorded the song ¿Dónde Estás
Corazón? (later released on her album Pies Descalzos)
for the compilation album "Nuestro Rock" in 1995,
released exclusively in Colombia. ¿Dónde Estás
Corazón? was the only hit off the album. This
allowed Sony to give Shakira a third attempt at
making an album. Shakira returned to recording in
1995 with Luis F. Ochoa, 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 album, Pies Descalzos, which
brought her great fame in Latin America. Pies
Descalzos sold over five million copies, prompting
the release of a remix album, titled simply The
Remixes. The Remixes also included Portuguese
versions of some of her best-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 album, ¿Dónde Están Los Ladrones? was
released in 1998. She began to gain more fans in
non-Spanish-speaking countries like Turkey, France,
Switzerland, Canada, and especially the United
States. Eight of the album's eleven tracks became
singles, including "Ciega, Sordomuda", "Moscas En La
Casa", "No Creo", "Inevitable", "Tú", "Si Te Vas",
"Octavo Día", and the world-famous "Ojos Así".
Shakira's first live album, MTV Unplugged, was
composed of "Estoy Aquí" and all the songs from ¿Dónde
Están Los Ladrones? except Que Vuelvas.
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 now-defunct category of People's Choice
- Favorite International Artist.
2001–2004: Laundry Service
In 2001, upon the success of ¿Dónde Están Los
Ladrones? and MTV Unplugged, Shakira began working
on a crossover album to English. Collaborating with
Gloria Estefan, she wrote and recorded English
versions of the tracks from ¿Dónde Están Los
Ladrones?. However, she later decided against using
translations of older songs for the album and worked
for over a year on new material for the album.
Around this time, Shakira also released four songs
for Pepsi and for her promotion in the English
markets: "Ask for More", "Pide Mas", "Knock on My
Door" and "Pideme El Sol". In November 24, 2001,
Laundry Service was released, although Shakira chose
to exclude the four Pepsi songs. Although it was
created with the intent of selling to an English
language market, the rock and Spanish
dance-influenced album also featured four Spanish
songs, including "Que Me Quedes Tú" (As Long as You
Stay with Me). Some critics claimed that Shakira's
English skills were too weak for her to write in it.
The album sold extremely well and was certified
triple platinum in the US(denoting sales exceeding 3
million copies) and thus helped to establish
Shakira's musical presence in the mainstream North
American market.The album has sold approximately 13
million copies worldwide.
Shakira meeting the President of the Dominican
Republic on October 9th 2002
Shakira meeting the President of the Dominican
Republic on October 9th 2002
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, reaching sales of 3 million
CDs worldwide, and commemorating Shakira's world
tour, the Tour of the Mongoose.
In September 2002, Shakira won the now-defunct
International Viewer's Choice Award at the MTV Video
Music Awards with "Suerte". In October of that year,
she won 5 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. At Aerosmith's MTV Icon in
2002, Shakira performed "Dude (Looks Like A Lady)".
Also in 2002, Shakira joined the likes of Celine
Dion, Anastacia, Cher, and the Dixie Chicks for VH1
Divas Live Las Vegas.
2005-2007: Oral Fixations
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 on June 3, 2005 in
Ireland, on June 6, 2005 in Europe, and on June 7,
2005 in North America, Latin America and Australia.
The lead single from the album, "La Tortura", which
features Alejandro Sanz, was released as a single in
April and achieved large-scale success in different
radio and chart formats. It spent a record of
twenty-five weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot
Latin Tracks chart. "La Tortura" is the most
successful song in spanish worldwide having peaked
at number 2 at the United World chart.
Fijación Oral Vol. 1 was very well received by the
public. It debuted at number four on the Billboard
200 chart on the week of June 15. According to that
publication, the album sold 157,000 copies in its
first week of release in the U.S., becoming the
highest debut ever for a Spanish language albums. In
Latin America, on the very day of its official
release in Venezuela, it went Platinum, in Colombia,
triple Platinum and in Mexico, it was sold-out. The
album sold over one million copies in three days.
The second single from the album, "No", was released
in July 2005, and peaked at number one in Argentina,
Spain and Colombia, there for 14 non-consecutive
weeks. This single was number one in several
countries in Latin America, but it did not have the
same success of the previous two singles in the
United States.
On February 8, 2006, Shakira won her second Grammy
Award. She was awarded in the category of Best Latin
Rock/Alternative Album.
In late 2006, Shakira released "La Pared" as the
fourth single from Fijación Oral Vol. 1. The song
reached number one in her native Colombia, Argentina
and Spain. Later in 2007, "Las de la Intuición" was
released as a single in Spain and Latin America. It
became an instantaneous success, topping the radio
chart Los 40 Principales for eight non-consecutive
weeks and peaking at number one, charting just four
weeks in Argentina. In mid-April, Shakira filmed a
video for the song in Miami, which was then
premiered via the internet on May 7. The video,
inspired by the work of photographer Helmut Newton,
features Shakira with a bright purple wig,
alternating between wearing a tight black corset and
either a black shirt with a white tie or a white
shirt with a black tie. According to Mexican media,
"Las de la Intuición" is to be the fifth and final
single from Fijación Oral Vol. 1.
Before the release of Oral Fixation Vol. 2, the
second CD of the Oral Fixation project, Shakira
appeared at the 2005 MTV Europe Music Awards in
Lisbon, Portugal were she performed "Don't Bother",
the lead single from the album, just minutes before
winning an award in the category of Best Female
Artist.
Oral Fixation Vol. 2 was released on November 29,
2005 in North America, Australia, and continental
Europe. Two tracks from 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 had to be altered in
several countries. "Don't Bother" 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 number one single on the U.S.
Billboard Hot 100. On March 28, 2006, the album was
re-released and featured "Hips Don't Lie". Shakira
received the most number of nominations for the 2006
MTV Video Music Awards with "Hips Don't Lie", but
she won only the award for Best Choreography.
Shakira embarked on her longest tour, the Oral
Fixation Tour, in June, 2006. This tour was used to
help promote her albums Fijación Oral Vol. 1 and
Oral Fixation Vol. 2. The tour had 125 shows between
June 14th, 2006 and July 9th, 2007. She performed on
5 continents: Asia, Europe, North America, Latin
America, and Africa. During this tour, Shakira
performed a free concert in Mexico on May 27th, 2007
with over 210,000 in attendance. This concert set
the record for the highest attendance of any concert
in Mexican history. On November 12th, the "Oral
Fixation Tour" DVD was released (November 13th in
North America). It is also available in High
Definition Blu-ray format.
2008-present: Next studio album
During an online chat with her fans in "El Heraldo",
she revealed that she was going to start writing her
new album in February 2008. No official release date
has been announced. Furthermore, at the CD release
party for Shakira's singer-songwriter cousin Isa
Mebarak in Colombia, Shakira's father William
Mebarak stated that Shakira is currently at work
beginning to write and produce new songs for her
upcoming album. This is being done in "her own
studio," (which many fans thought to mean the studio
at her home in the Bahamas. Shakira recorded
2005's Fijación Oral Vol. 1 and Oral Fixation Vol. 2
there, as well).
However, according to an exclusive interview in "El
País," an Uruguayan newspaper, Shakira has begun
working on her forthcoming album in Uruguay, where
she has a built-in studio in her own private estate.
She has been at work there since early February.
Early in the morning on April 3rd, Shakira arrived
at Miami International Airport and told a waiting
reporter who asked about the album that she was
"still cooking" and would be heading to her studio
in the Bahamas later that week. She also said she
was preparing a trip to China, although whether this
is album-related or for other reasons is unknown.
On April 27th, Shakira arrived in her hometown of
Barranquilla, Colombia to help oversee the plans for
the new, massive school her foundation is building
there. She told reporters in an interview with RCN
news that because of her visits to Washington D.C.
before the U.S. congress, she has been very busy and
has only worked on the new album for "exactly four
days" in the month of April. She confirmed the album
is due out in December of this year.
Collaborations and other work
In late 2006, Shakira and Alejandro Sanz worked
together again in the duet "Te lo Agradezco, Pero
No", which is featured on Sanz' album El Tren de los
Momentos. The song was a top ten hit in Latin
America, and topped Billboard Hot Latin Tracks
chart.
Shakira worked with Miguel Bosé in the duet "Si Tu
No Vuelves", which was released in Bosé's album
Papito, which celebrates his 30-year career.
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. The song earned them a
Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Collaboration
with Vocals.
According to Billboard, Shakira, along with Lil
Wayne would collaborate on a new track for Carlos
Santana's greatest hits CD titled Ultimate
Santana.[20] However, this collaboration has been
cancelled, and Shakira and Lil' Wayne have been
replaced by Jennifer Lopez and Baby Bash.
Shakira is featured on Annie Lennox's record "Sing",
from the album Songs of Mass Destruction, which also
features other twenty-three female singers such as
Madonna, KT Tunstall, Faith Hill, Dido, Celine Dion,
Melissa Etheridge, Joss Stone, Fergie, Anastacia and
Pink.
[edit] Love in the Time of Cholera soundtrack
Shakira wrote the lyrics and co-wrote the music for
two new songs that are featured in the movie Love in
the Time of Cholera, based in the acclaimed novel by
Colombian author Gabriel García Marquez. García
Marquez himself asked Shakira to write the
songs.[24] The songs are called "Pienso en ti", a
song from Shakira's breakthrough album Pies
Descalzos, "Hay Amores" and the Golden Globe
nominated "Despedida." All the songs can be
downloaded via iTunes, as well as the score by
Antonio Pinto.
It was rumored that the song would also be nominated
for an Academy Award, but it was not, with many
newspapers and critics calling the fact that it was
left off the ballots the Academy's "worst snub." |
|
|
|
[ 1 ]
[ 2 ] |
|
