Shakira
Biography:
After achieving superstardom throughout Latin America,
Colombian-born Shakira became Latin pop's biggest
female crossover artist since Jennifer Lopez broke
down the doors to English-language success. Noted
for her aggressive, rock-influenced approach, Shakira
maintained an extraordinary degree of creative control
over her music, especially for a female artist;
she wrote or co-wrote nearly all of her own material,
and in the process gained a reputation as one of
Latin music's most ambitiously poetic lyricists.
When
she released her first English material in late 2001,
she became an instant pop sensation, thanks to her quirky
poetic sense and a sexy video image built on her hip-shaking
belly dance moves.
Shakira - preforming objection
Shakira
Mebarak (full name: Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll) was
born February 2, 1977, in Barranquilla, Colombia, into
a poor family. Her mother was a native Colombian and her
father was of Lebanese descent, and so as a child Shakira
soaked up music from both cultures; she also listened
heavily to English-language rock roll, listing her favorite
bands in later interviews as Led Zeppelin, the Beatles,
the Police, the Cure, and Nirvana. Shakira wrote her first
song at age eight, began entering (and winning) talent
competitions at age ten, and started learning the guitar
at age 11; one story runs that around this age, she was
kicked out of her school choir for singing too forcefully.
Shakira - "Objection"
In
1990, at age 13, Shakira moved to Bogotá in hopes
of pursuing a modeling career, but wound up signing a
record deal with Sony's Colombian division instead. Her
1991 debut album, Magia (Magic), was comprised of songs
she'd written over the past five or six years, including
some of her earliest efforts. Although it didn't break
internationally, the record started to make a name for
her in her home country. Dissatisfied with the pop inclinations
of the follow-up, 1993's Peligro (Danger),
Shakira
changed direction for a time, joining the cast of the
Colombian soap opera El Oasis in 1994
