Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll (born February 2, 1977), known simply as Shakira, is a Colombian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer who has been a major figure in the pop music scene of Latin America since the mid-1990s. In 2001, she broke through into the English-speaking market with the release of her first album in that language, Laundry Service, which has sold over 3.5 million copies in the United States and 15 million copies worldwide. Shakira is the highest selling Colombian artist of all time, having sold nearly fifty million copies of her albums, and the only artist from that country to reach the number-one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 and UK Singles Chart.

Shakira is half Lebanese and half Colombian. She was born to a Colombian mother of Catalan and Italian descent, Nidia del Carmen Ripoll Torrado, and a Lebanese father, William Mebarak Chadid, in Barranquilla, Colombia, where she says she grew up among the Lebanese and Italian communities. Her father was born in Lebanon, and immediately after that, his family migrated to New York, but he soon migrated to Colombia. Shakira, which means "graceful" in Arabic (Shakira -????? ), is named after her paternal grandmother. She is one of seven siblings, one of whom is her road manager. Shakira attended a Catholic school and in second grade was rejected for the school choir because her vibrato was too strong, and the music teacher told her that she sounded "like a goat". She began writing and composing music at the age of eight and later choreographed dance routines. At school, she says she had been known as "the belly dancer girl", as she would demonstrate a number she learned every Friday at school. "That's how I discovered my passion for live performance," she says. One of the first songs she wrote was called "Tus Gafas Oscuras" (Your Dark Glasses), which was about her father's grief over a son who had died in a car accident.

Between the ages of ten and thirteen Shakira was invited to various events in Barranquilla and gained some recognition in the area. It was at about this time that she met local theater producer Monica Ariza, who was impressed with her and as a result tried to help her career. During a flight from Barranquilla to Bogotá, Ariza convinced Sony Colombia executive Ciro Vargas to hold an audition for Shakira in a motel lobby. Vargas held Shakira in high regard and, returning to the Sony office, gave the cassette to a song and artist director. However, the director was not overly excited and thought Shakira was something of "a lost cause". Vargas, not daunted, was still convinced that Shakira had talent, and set up an audition in Bogotá. He arranged for Sony Colombia executives to arrive at the audition, with the idea of surprising them with Shakira's performance. She performed three songs for the executives and impressed them enough for her to be signed to record three albums.

Shakira returned to recording in 1995, supported by a new confessional and Alanis Morissette-oriented persona affected some of her next albums, and made her third studio one, Pies Descalzos (Bare Feet), bring her great fame in Latin America. The singles "Estoy Aquí" (I'm Here), "Pies Descalzos, Sueños Blancos" (Bare Feet, White Dreams), and "¿Dónde Estás Corazón?" (Where Are You, My Heart?) became pop culture icons. Pies Descalzos sold over four million copies, prompting the release of a remix album, titled simply The Remixes, which sold more than a million copies. The Remixes also included Portuguese versions of some of her best-known songs, which were recorded because of her success in the Brazilian market, where Pies Descalzos sold nearly one million copies.

In March 2000 Shakira embarked on her Tour Anfibio, a two-month tour of Latin America and the United States. In August 2000 she won an MTV Video Music Award in the now-defunct category of People's Choice - Favorite International Artist.

In 2001, upon the success of ¿Dónde Están Los Ladrones?, Shakira began working on a crossover album to the English language.

Collaborating with Gloria Estefan, Shakira wrote and recorded English versions of the tracks from ¿Dónde Están Los Ladrones?. However, Shakira later decided against using translations of older songs for the album and worked for over a year on new material for the album. The result was Laundry Service.

Although it was created for the intent of selling to an English language market, the rock and Spanish dance-influenced album also featured four Spanish songs, including "Que Me Quedes Tú" (I Hope You Stay With Me). Some critics claimed that Shakira's English skills were too weak for her to write in it, but Laundry Service was a success, with more than 13 million sales worldwide, yielding the worldwide hit "Whenever, Wherever" and singles "Underneath Your Clothes" (a Canadian number-one), "Te Dejo Madrid" (I Leave You Madrid), "Objection (Tango)", and "The One".The album and its singles helped to establish Shakira's musical presence in the mainstream North American market.

In 2002, Shakira also released her Spanish greatest hits volume Grandes éxitos. A DVD and ten-track compilation album called Live & Off the Record, was also released in 2004 reaching sales of 3 million CDs worldwide, commemorating Shakira's 2002-2003 world tour, the Tour of the Mongoose.

In October of that year, she won 5 MTV Video Music Awards Latin America for Best Female Artist, Best Pop Artist, Best Artist—North (Region), Video of the Year (for Suerte), and Artist of the Year. At Aerosmith's MTV Icon in 2002, Shakira performed "Dude (Looks Like A Lady)". Also in 2002, Shakira joined the likes of Celine Dion, Anastacia, Cher and The Dixie Chicks for VH1 Divas Live Las Vegas.