She was born on February 2, 1977 in Barranquilla, Colombia. The only daughter of William Mebarak, (American of Lebanese origin who emigrated to Colombia) and Nidia Ripoll Torrado del Carmen, (a Catalan Colombian descent). Shakira has eight older siblings from a previous marriage of his father.
If you translate the Shakira word from Arabic it means grateful or full of grace. She is fluent in Portuguese, Italian, English, Spanish and Arabic. As a child she composed songs and participated in children’s competitions. Her Lebanese grandmother taught her the Arabic art of belly dance.
When she was thirteen, a Sony Music manager got her the first record deal. In 1993 Shakira launched Danger, her second album and appeared as an actress in a television series called The Oasis in Caracol Television. Her third album, Pies Descalzos (1996), sold more than four million copies worldwide and had a tour that lasted two years. Two years later Shakira launhed the ¿Dónde están los ladrones? Record.
In 2000 the Colombian government appointed her as Goodwill Ambassador. A year later her record Laundry Service sold over ten million copies worldwide. On April 3, 2006 Shakira received an honorable mention in a ceremony of the Organization of the United Nations for the creation of the foundation called Pies Descalzos, which is accountable to support and guard youngsters who suffer from domestic violence in Colombia.
On April 27, during that same year Shakira won six Latin Billboard awards and was selected to perform her song hips don’t lie at the concluding ceremony of the Germany World Cup in 2006. In 2007, she collaborated with his friend Alejandro Sanz, on the album the train of moments in the song Te lo agradezco pero no, and during that same year, she released a song and music video titled Beautiful Liar with the American singer Beyoncé.