Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll (born February 2, 1977), known mononymously as Shakira (of Arabic origin meaning "thankful"), is a Colombian singer-songwriter, dancer, record producer, choreographer and model who emerged in the music scene of Colombia and Latin America in the early 1990s. Born and raised in Barranquilla, Shakira began performing in school, demonstrating her vocal ability with rock and roll, Latin and Arabic influences with her own original twist on belly dancing. Shakira is a native Spanish speaker and also speaks fluent English and Portuguese as well as some Italian, Catalan and Arabic.
After a poor commercial reception with local producers on her first two albums, and being little-known outside Colombia, Shakira decided to produce her own brand of music. In 1995 she released Pies Descalzos, which brought her to prominence in Latin America and Spain; her 1998 album, Dónde Están los Ladrones?, was a critical success selling over 7 million copies worldwide.
In 2001, aided by the worldwide success of her first English single "Whenever, Wherever" that became the best selling single of 2002, she broke through into the English-speaking world with the release of Laundry Service, which sold over 15 million copies worldwide. Four years later, Shakira released two album projects called Fijación Oral Vol. 1 and Oral Fixation Vol. 2. Both reinforced her success, particularly with the best selling song of the 2000s, "Hips Don't Lie". In 1997, Shakira founded the Pies Descalzos Foundation. It is a Colombian charity with special schools for poor children all around Colombia. During her career, Shakira has performed at a large number of benefit concerts. Among the most famous are the Live 8 benefit concert in July 2005, the Live Earth concert, Hamburg where she headlined the show, as well as the "Clinton Global Initiative" created by former US President Bill Clinton. She was also invited to the Oval Office by President Barack Obama in February 2010 to discuss early childhood development.
In 2000, Shakira started dating Antonio de la Rúa. In a 2009 interview, Shakira stated their relationship already worked as a married couple, and that "they don't need papers for that." On January 10, 2011, Shakira announced on her website that after 11 years together, she and de la Rúa had separated in August 2010 after making "a mutual decision to take time apart from our romantic relationship." She wrote that the couple "view this period of separation as temporary and as a time of individual growth as we continue to be partners in our business and professional lives", with de la Rúa overseeing Shakira's "business and career interests as he has always done."
Shakira is currently in a relationship with Gerard Piqué, centre back for FC Barcelona and the Spanish national football team. Shakira officially confirmed their relationship on March 29, 2011, via Twitter and Facebook posting a picture of the two with a caption reading, "I present to you my sunshine." It was the first time she'd ever spoken of the relationship. In September 2012, Shakira confirmed that she and Piqué are expecting their first child together.
