Shakira Ripoll

Shakira was born in Barranquilla, Colombia. Shakira means "woman full of grace" in Arabic. Both her parents supported Shakiras ambition of becoming a singer, and by the time she was 8, she was already writing her own songs. Shakira also began playing the guitar when she was 11 years old. Shakira was even kicked out of her school choir because her voice drowned out the other choir singers. In 1991, at the age of 13, she released her debut album, Magia (Magic). The album contained songs written by Shakira whe she was between of 8 and 13.
Shakira knew early that she wanted to sing rock, despite Sony's original attempts to make her a pop singer. In 1995 Shakira's released the album, Pies Descalzos, which became a huge hit. The album featured her own rock, pop and Latin inspired tunes. Pies Descalzos went up to # no 1 in 8 countries, and sold over 4 million copies. The worldwide success sent Shakira on a 2-year international tour. Between 1994-1997 Shakira got a role on the Colombian soap opera El Oasis. But her true passion remained music. Shakiras fourth album, Donde Estan Los Ladrones?, was considered her breakthrough album, at least in the Latin genre. The album went multi-platinum in U.S., Central America, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, and went platinum in Spain.
Shakira was also chosen as the cover girl for Time Magazine's issue featuring the article Era of the Rockera. She got 2 Latin Grammys in 2000. And in 2001, she had her English recording debut, releasing the album: Laundry Service. In 2004, Shakira has been voted the 51:st sexiest woman of 2004 by readers of FHM magazine. In 2005, Shakira release two new CDs: Fijacion Oral 1 (a Spanish album) and Oral Fixation 2 (an English album). The first single; La Tortura, from the album Fijacion Oral 1, is a duet with Alejandro Sanz. The albums were recorded at both her home studio in the Bahamas, as well as Warehouse in Vancouver.