Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll (born February 2 1977), known simply as Shakira ( in English, Arabic: شاکیرة ‭ ), is a Colombian contralto singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, record producer, dancer and philanthropist who has been a major figure in the pop music scene of Latin America since the mid-1990s. She speaks fluently English, Portuguese (Brazilian Portuguese), Spanish, some Arab, French and Italian. In 2001, she broke through into the English-speaking world with the release of Laundry Service, which sold over fifteen million copies worldwide. Shakira is the highest-selling Colombian artist of all time, having sold more than 50 million albums worldwide, according to BMI. She has also won numerous awards worldwide, including two Grammy Awards, seven Latin Grammy Awards, fifteen Billboard Music Awards, three MTV Video Music Awards and a People's Choice Award. She is also the only artist from South America to reach the number-one spot on the Billboard Hot 100, the Australian ARIA chart, the United World Chart and the UK Singles Chart.

According to the United World Chart, Shakira is as of 2007 the 6th most successful artist so far from the 2000s. She is also the only artist to have two songs in the top ten of the most successful singles since 1999.

Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll (born February 2, 1977), known simply as Shakira, is a ten-time Grammy Award-winning Colombian singer-songwriter, musician, composer, record producer, dancer and Golden Globe nominee who has sold over fifty million copies of her albums worldwide. She has been in the music industry since 1991 and she wrote her first song at age 8. In 2001, she broke through into the English-speaking market with the release of her first album in that language, Laundry Service, which s