Like other chart-dominating pop stars, Shakira doesn't really need a last name.
But there's more to know about the pop diva than her catchy songs and her supernaturally
gifted hips.
This is the stunning transformation of Shakira.
On Feb. 2, 1977, Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll was born in the small town of Barranquilla,
Colombia.
The child of a Lebanese jeweler and a native Colombian woman, Shakira enjoyed a relatively
calm middle class life until her father went bankrupt and had to sell everything they owned
to pay off his debts.
That, along with the tumultuous conditions in Colombia at the time, left a lasting impact
on Shakira, and understandably so.
She shared in an interview with The Guardian,
"When you're born in a country where there is huge social strife, and a few people have
a lot and a lot of people have nothing, you grow up intolerant to that inequality."
On Fridays, Shakira and her Catholic school classmates would go into the impoverished
neighborhoods of Columbia in order to tutor young children, most of whom lived in squalid
conditions.
She told The Guardian,
"It was so unfair that some kids were able to go school and university, but for others
that wasn't an option.
I had to succeed, make money, become someone relevant in society, because I felt that only
that way could I do something."
When Shakira was only 4 years old, she decided then and there that she was going to be a
famous entertainer.
The revelation was the result of a visit to a restaurant, where a belly dancer captured
Shakira's undivided attention.
By the next year, Shakira couldn't keep herself from moving her body.
She revealed in an interview with The Guardian,
"I was five years old, I got addicted to being on stage, it felt like it was the most wonderful
place on Earth, performing in front of an audience, who in this case were a bunch of
classmates, kids my age."
But her passion didn't manage to snag her a spot in the school choir, as the teacher
said that her vibrato was goat-like and wouldn't blend with the group.
Fortunately her parents were 100 percent supportive of their daughter's ambitions.
Just as Shakira decided that she was going to be a superstar when she was young, she
also started writing songs as a child.
Her first was entitled "Your Dark Sunglasses," which she composed when she was 8 years old.
It was inspired by her father's sunglasses, but it was dedicated to an imaginary boy.
She explained in an interview with Rolling Stone,
"At that time, I did not have a boyfriend, I was eight years old.
But I always wrote romantic songs, always.
Even when I was a little child, the subjects of my songs were romantic."
Our girl was a lover from the start!
In a particularly endearing move, Shakira's father did everything he could to nurture
her talent, going so far as to protect her songs officially.
She recalled in an interview with The Guardian,
"My dad used to take them to the notary and register them so that nobody could steal them
from me.
Who does that?
What parent takes a treasure in his child's scribbles?"
Apparently her father did, and he wasn't wrong!
The next step in Shakira's career was clear to her, so she threw everything she had into
manifesting her ambitions.
She recalled in an interview with The Guardian,
"Always I was dreaming of a record contract.
From 10 to 13 it was all I could think of.
I worked hard for this dream.
Nobody could say I didn't try."
As luck would have it, when she was around 13 years old, she and her family heard that
there was a record exec heading to town.
Far be it for Shakira to miss such an opportunity, so she ambushed him in his hotel lobby and
treated him to an impromptu performance then and there.
Miraculously, she was signed with Sony within the week.
Was Shakira surprised, as you might think she'd be?
Well, no, as she put it to The Guardian,
"There was no doubt for me, ever.
Call it a premonition, call it an instinct.
I was born to do this, to connect with a wide audience.
The calling I have is the same reason why a dog barks.
I always knew I would be a big performer and a public figure."
For as much as Shakira has been a trailblazer in her own career, she's also been a leader
in her charitable works.
Amazingly, she was only 18 years old when she founded her charity Pies Descalzos, Spanish
for "bare feet," and also the name of Shakira's third album.
The charity builds schools in needy regions in Colombia.
she shared in an interview with The Independent,
"It's in an area where there's a huge population of displaced people, refugees in their own
country.
It's a very impoverished area, where kids have no access to a high-quality education
programme."
That is, until Shakira starting turning all of that around.
"Millions of kids have never been to a school.
There are 40 million children and young people in Latin America in the street.
Literally in the street."
The charity has seen dramatic results, too, something that Shakira is incredibly proud
of.
"It's already having an enormous social impact on this area.
Before this school, there was no paved roads, or potable water, or electricity.
And now all of this has changed, because of this alliance that we have created between
our foundation, the private sector, and the [national] and local governments."
She added that the gang activity in the area has also dramatically decreased, showing just
how effective the initiative has been.
After landing a record contract and becoming famous in the Latin music industry, Shakira
desired to bring her ambitions to the United States.
She was determined to learn English and cut a record for the American audience, something
that Gloria Estefan helped her accomplish.
Estefan explained in an interview with the Latin Times,
"When Shakira began to work with us she did not know English.
So I had to translate the songs from the album Laundry Service for her and convince her that
she could do a triumphant job."
At first the record company wasn't on board with an English album, something Estefan had
to push back on.
"They wanted her to just throw a couple of songs in English on a Latin record, and I
fought hard.
I said, 'Listen, this is her shot.
You can't do it halfway.'"
Fortunately Estefan prevailed, and the album wound up selling millions of copies.
Shakira had successfully crossed over!
While Laundry Service was Shakira's big debut in the English-speaking market, led by the
super danceable single "Whenever, Wherever," it was "Hips Don't Lie" that truly cemented
Shakira as a global pop superstar.
Featuring Wyclef Jean, the song spent time at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and it
became one of the most popular singles in American pop music.
So what's the origin story behind one of the catchiest songs ever recorded?
Shakira shared in an interview with Women's Health,
"The reason why I named that song that is because, when I'm in the studio, I know when
a song is ready and it can be taken out of the oven, and it's exactly when my hips start
moving.
So I used to say to my musicians, 'my hips don't lie!
Are they moving?
They're not moving!
So this is not ready.'"
Thus an anthem was born.
Although Shakira continued to enjoy commercial success in the 2010s, the once-religious singer
found herself having a bit of a crisis.
She lamented in an interview with Elle,
"I even had lost my faith for a while.
I was becoming…agnostic."
She added that she believes the existence of God can only be proven through love.
That was not an easy situation for Shakira to find herself in, as her faith had always
been super important to her.
She continued,
"It was really hard, because I was always very religious, and for a few years, maybe
because, it sounds so corny, I was not feeling the love like it was supposed to be.
I started to think that there was no God."
Fortunately, all of that changed when she met her partner, Spanish soccer player Gerard
Piqué.
As Shakira tells it, he brought the sun back into her life, and the pair have been together
ever since.
Shakira didn't stop doing charitable work when she became an international superstar,
quite the opposite, actually.
Over the years, she has continued to advocate for childhood education, which caught the
attention of former President Barack Obama in 2013.
She explained in an interview with The Independent,
“He has appointed me as a commissioner to consult his administration on educational
excellence for Hispanics in the US.
We try to find ways to improve the education system for Hispanics in America, to achieve
excellence."
Working with Obama came quite naturally for Shakira, as she felt that he really understood
what her goals were.
She continued,
"He's a champion on early-childhood development strategies.
So I like the work he's doing, and I support it, and I realize that he's one of very few
political leaders around the world that actually has early-childhood development strategies
at the top of his agenda."
2013 was a big one for Shakira and her partner, as they welcomed their first child, a baby
boy named Milan, that year.
A second child, Milan’s little brother Sasha, followed in 2015.
But don't think that Shakira found motherhood to be easy, despite all she's accomplished
in her life, that's not the case.
She confessed in an interview with the Guardian,
"[Motherhood] is the hardest job I've ever done.
I'm never sure if I'm doing it right.
I'm always second-guessing myself."
Fortunately, Shakira and her partner have found their stride together in parenting,
though it's still not without its difficulties.
She continued,
"I love being a mother but it's challenging to keep the balance, to not let motherhood
prevent you from reading a good book, going out with your boyfriend-slash-husband, having
an adult conversation.”
She added that she's also had to work to keep prioritizing her creative space.
Although motherhood is the most difficult job that Shakira has ever taken on, the scariest
thing in her life didn't happen until 2017, when she had a hemorrhage in her vocal cords
and lost her voice.
She shared in an interview with the Guardian,
"I always thought there were going to be things in my life that would go away, like beauty,
youth, all of that stuff.
But I never thought that my voice would leave me, because it's so inherent to my nature.
It was my identity."
Understandably, Shakira was depressed, so much so that she could barely get out of bed.
While doctors recommended surgery, Shakira wasn't confident that it would help.
So she turned to her spirituality to try and reclaim her voice, even making a visit to
Lourdes to get holy water.
Thank goodness her voice eventually started to return on its own without any surgical
intervention.
She told the newspaper,
"It felt like I was having some kind of religious experience."
In 2020, both Shakira and Jennifer Lopez were invited to perform on stage at one of the
biggest events in the United States: the halftime show at the Super Bowl.
Given what a huge accomplishment this is, it's definitely a cause for celebration!
As for what kind of message Shakira hoped to send during the performance, well, this
time it's personal.
She said in an interview with CBS News,
"Listen, I'm a woman.
I'm a Latina.
It wasn't easy for me to get to where I am.
And being at the Super Bowl is the proof that everything is possible."
With all that Shakira has in her life, her career, her partner, her children, and her
charitable work, you may be tempted to think that she has checked off every item on her
bucket list.
But as it turns out, that's not quite the case.
She revealed in an interview with the Guardian,
"There are so many other things that I still want to achieve.
Like one day waking up on a farm and being able to just mow the lawn, and milk some cows.
One day I want to have a farm life."
While that may sound a little out of character for a worldly superstar, Shakira does have
a hankering for the quiet life that she dreams about.
She continued,
"I don't think I could ever be bored of being in nature.
Eat all I want.
Sometimes I think there's going to be more to life than my actual life."
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