History of Shakira

Born on 2 February 1977 in Barranquilla, Colombia.

Shakira's debut album, Magia, was recorded with Sony Music Colombia in 1990 when she was only 13 years old.The songs are a collection made by her since she was eight, mixed pop-rock ballads and disco uptempo songs with electronic accompaniment; however, it was hampered by a lack of cohesion in both its recording and the production. 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.

Though she was little known outside of her native Colombia at the time, 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 the then 20-year-old Ricky Martin.

Shakira's second studio album, titled 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 had been, though it was also considered a commercial failure due to Shakira's refusal to advertise or promote it. Shakira then decided to take a hiatus from recording so that she could graduate from high school.

In 1994, Shakira starred in the Colombian TV series The Oasis, loosely based on the Armero tragedy in 1985.

Shakira returned to recording music under Sony Music along with Columbia Records in 1995 with Luis F. Ochoa,These recordings spawned her third studio album, and her major-label debut, titled Pies Descalzos,which was released in February 1996. It only managed to reach number one-hundred-eighty on the U.S. Billboard 200 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 11 on the U.S. Latin chart, "Un Poco de Amor" which reached number six on the U.S. Latin chart, "Antología" which reached number 15 on the U.S. Latin chart, and "Se quiere, Se Mata" which reached number eight on the U.S. Latin chart.

In February 27, 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.

Her fourth studio album was titled Dónde Están los Ladrones? This, 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 filled with her written lyrics was stolen, became a bigger hit than Pies Descalzos. The album has reached a peak position of number 131 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and held the top spot on the U.S. Latin Albums chart for 11 weeks. It has since sold over 7 million copies worldwide 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", and "No Creo", which became her first single to chart on the U.S. Billboard Billboard Hot 100, "Inevitable", "Tú", "Si Te Vas", "Octavo día", and "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 12 August 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.

Upon the success of Dónde Están los Ladrones? and MTV Unplugged, Shakira began working on an English crossover album. She learned English with the help of Gloria Estefan. She worked for over a year on new material for the album. "Whenever, Wherever", called "Suerte" in Spanish-speaking countries, was released as the first and lead single from her first English album and fifth studio album in August 2001.

Shakira's fifth studio album and first English language album, titled Laundry Service in English-speaking countries and Servicio De Lavanderia in Latin America and Spain, was released on 13 November 2001.

In November,2002, 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 and Wyclef Jean also recorded a Bamboo version of the song to serve as the closing ceremony song of the FIFA World Cup 2006.

Shakira performed "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)" at the closing ceremony of the cup, which would take place before the Final match, on 11 July at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg. The single later reached the top 20 in Europe, South America and Africa and the top 40 in the U.S. , It became the biggest-selling World Cup song of all time.