46 Fun Facts About Shakira

In which Colombian city was Shakira born?

Barranquilla unveiled a 21-foot bronze statue of her in December 2023, frozen in her trademark hip swivel.

Shakira's father is of which ancestry, a heritage she credits for her belly dancing?

Lebanese roots came through her father; at four she heard a doumbek drum in a Middle Eastern restaurant and climbed onto a table to dance.

Why was the young Shakira rejected from her school choir?

Her vibrato was too strong, the music teacher said, and she was told she sounded like a goat; at ten she entered a local TV talent contest anyway and came first.

What prize did a ten-year-old Shakira win in a local TV talent contest?

A bicycle was first prize; she then toured mining towns with a song-and-dance troupe, and by 13 Sony had signed her for three albums.

What was Shakira's first song, written at age eight, called?

Tus Gafas Oscuras ('Your Dark Glasses') was about her father, who wore them constantly in mourning for a son killed in a motorcycle crash; La Rosa de Cristal was her first poem.

Shakira's father, who went bankrupt when she was eight, worked in what trade?

Jeweler William Mebarak's business failed, and she came home from a stay with relatives in Los Angeles to find the family's two cars and most of the furniture sold.

After her second album flopped, teenage Shakira stepped away from music for about a year to do what?

Act in a telenovela: she spent about a year in the cast of Colombia's El Oasis before deciding her real dream was songwriting and heading back to the studio.

Which 1995 album was Shakira's breakthrough, later lending its name to her foundation?

Pies Descalzos ('Bare Feet') was the first album she steered herself, insisting on a hand in every part of its production after her first two records had flopped.

Which TV concert series gave Shakira a live album that won the 2001 Grammy for Best Latin Pop Album?

MTV Unplugged taped her in New York in August 1999; after that success she set about cracking the English-speaking market with her first English album.

How did novelist Gabriel García Márquez show his admiration for Shakira in 1999?

Wrote her magazine profile: the Nobel laureate said no one of any age could sing or dance with the innocent sensuality she seemed to have invented.

Which music couple backed Shakira's 1998 album, the husband as its executive producer?

Gloria and Emilio Estefan hosted the sessions at their Miami studio. Emilio became her manager and predicted she would be the next big crossover star.

What was the Spanish-language title of 'Whenever, Wherever'?

Suerte means 'luck', and it is the first word of the song's much-quoted line, the one about her small and humble breasts not being confused with mountains.

Critics heard a Beatles-influenced brass arrangement on which Laundry Service hit?

Underneath Your Clothes pairs brass that reviewers called Beatles-influenced with a melody they said was borrowed from the Bangles' 'Eternal Flame'.

Which soft-drink brand signed Shakira to a global endorsement deal as her English-language crossover began?

Pepsi signed her just as the crossover took off. Her new manager, Freddy DeMann, had spent 14 years steering Madonna's career.

Shakira sang at MTV's 2002 Icon tribute to which rock band, then covered its hit on tour?

Aerosmith heard her sing 'Dude (Looks Like a Lady)' at the tribute. She then took it on tour, right before a pole-dancing take on AC/DC's 'Back in Black'.

Shakira named her first world tour after which animal?

Mongoose was her symbol because it can beat a venomous snake with one bite, and she wanted people to bite back at hatred the same way. The stage curtain showed one squaring up to a cobra.

Which Spanish balladeer features on 'La Tortura'?

Alejandro Sanz sings the straying boyfriend begging to come back, while she wavers between taking him back and dumping him for good.

Who is the featured artist on 'Hips Don't Lie'?

Wyclef Jean first cut the tune as 'Dance Like This'. Rebuilt with Shakira around a reggaeton beat and a salsa trumpet loop, it topped charts around the world in 2006.

'Hips Don't Lie' began as a song meant for the reunion of which hip-hop trio?

Fugees were meant to have it: the trio tried the song for a comeback, Lauryn Hill walked away, and it was rebuilt for Shakira around a Jerry Rivera salsa trumpet sample.

Which guitarist features on 'Illegal', a quiet ballad from Oral Fixation, Vol. 2?

Carlos Santana threads his instantly recognisable licks through the hushed, country-tinged ballad. Reviewers split on it, and Rolling Stone called them somewhat disruptive.

Shakira's duet 'Beautiful Liar' was with which singer?

Beyoncé had little time to learn the video's choreography, so Shakira, who created most of the routine, taught her how to belly dance.

In 2008 Shakira signed a ten-year, all-in deal with which touring giant?

Live Nation took her tours, sponsorship and merchandise at once, while she still owed Epic three more albums.

At Obama's 2009 'We Are One' inauguration concert, Shakira and Usher sang with which star?

Stevie Wonder led them through his own hit 'Higher Ground'. HBO, normally for subscribers only, opened its signal that day so any home with cable could watch free.

Which South African band joined Shakira on the 2010 World Cup song 'Waka Waka'?

Freshlyground were its South African voice, yet locals still objected to a Colombian fronting their World Cup anthem. Its chorus comes from a 1986 Cameroonian hit by Golden Sounds.

Which 2009 album, mostly electropop, had 'Loba' as its Spanish title track?

She Wolf translates 'Loba', Spanish for a female wolf. Its US release slipped from October to late November so a last-minute Timbaland track with Lil Wayne could go on it.

Shakira joined the panel of which TV talent show in 2013?

The Voice brought her in with Usher for season four while Christina Aguilera and CeeLo Green sat out. Both originals returned the next season, and Shakira came back for season six.

Which singer duets with Shakira on 'Can't Remember to Forget You'?

Rihanna sings only on the English single: for Latin radio Shakira recorded a Spanish version, 'Nunca Me Acuerdo de Olvidarte', and sang it alone.

What is the name of the character Shakira voices in Zootopia?

Gazelle is the city's biggest pop star. Shakira voiced her again in Zootopia 2 in 2025 and brought a new song, 'Zoo', co-written with Ed Sheeran.

'La Bicicleta', a Latin Grammy Record of the Year, paired Shakira with which Colombian singer?

The vallenato hit won both Record and Song of the Year; Maluma later remixed it before 'Chantaje'.

Why did Shakira push back the start of her 2017 El Dorado World Tour?

A vocal cord hemorrhage in her final rehearsals left her unable to sing. She refused the surgery doctors urged and opened the tour seven months late, in June 2018.

Which producer's studio session gave Shakira her record-breaking 2023 diss track?

Bizarrap's session has her rhyme that her ex swapped a Rolex for a Casio. Days later he drove to a broadcast in a Twingo, wearing a Casio he said would last a lifetime.

Shakira's record-breaking 2023 diss track was aimed at which ex-partner?

Gerard Piqué, the footballer she met while filming the 'Waka Waka' video in 2010, had been her partner for over a decade; they announced their separation in June 2022.

Which star sings 'TQG' with Shakira, her first Global 200 No. 1?

Karol G and Shakira entered the Global 200 at No. 1 in March 2023, a first chart-topper there for either Colombian, with both singers taking shots at their famous exes.

Which rapper features on 'Puntería', the opening track of Shakira's 2024 album?

Cardi B was the only rapper Shakira pictured on it. The two had just met at a Paris fashion show, so she sent the song over and Cardi jumped on it at once.

Shakira's sons Milan and Sasha sing and play piano on which 2023 ballad?

Acróstico hides both boys in its lyrics: the first letters of the opening lines spell Milan, and the second part spells Sasha. It came out just before Mother's Day.

With which other star did Shakira headline the Super Bowl LIV halftime show in 2020?

Jennifer Lopez shared the stage on Shakira's 43rd birthday. The tongue-wagging that became an instant meme was a zaghrouta, an Arabic cry of celebration.

Shakira played the halftime show of the 2024 Copa América final in which host city?

Miami Gardens saw halftime stretched well past soccer's usual 15 minutes to fit her set, the first halftime show in the tournament's history.

The father of Shakira's sons spent most of his football career at which club?

FC Barcelona was his club from 2008 until November 2022, when he announced his retirement in a video and played a farewell home match days later.

Shakira settled a tax fraud case in 2023, just as her trial was about to begin, in which country?

Spain's prosecutors had wanted eight years in prison and a fine of more than €23 million. She paid a fine of more than €7 million instead, saying she settled with her children's interests at heart.

Shakira's long-term partner in the 2000s, Antonio de la Rúa, was the son of which country's president?

Argentina's president Fernando de la Rúa resigned amid deadly riots in December 2001 and left the palace by helicopter. His son Antonio dated Shakira from 2000 to 2010.

In 2003 Shakira became a Goodwill Ambassador for which United Nations agency?

UNICEF hosted her online baby shower in 2013: instead of presents for her first child, she asked fans to buy $5 mosquito nets and $10 polio vaccines for babies in poor countries.

Which Nigerian star joins Shakira on 'Dai Dai', her 2026 World Cup song?

Burna Boy and Shakira use the lyrics to shout out legends of the game, among them Maradona, Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi. It came out in May 2026 as the tournament's official song.

Roughly two million people packed Shakira's free concert in May 2026 in which city?

Rio de Janeiro's City Hall stages free Copacabana Beach shows to lift tourism after Carnival. This one, on 2 May 2026, was expected to bring the city around $150 million.

In 2025 Shakira launched Isima, her first line of what?

Hair-care products, because she felt the market had overlooked Latina hair. The line, launched in June 2025, was designed around that hair's diversity.

Which honour did Shakira receive at the 2023 MTV VMAs?

Video Vanguard Award recipients have been invited since 2013 to mark the honour with a medley of their hits, and she performed hers that night.

Which 2024 album was Shakira's first in seven years?

Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran means 'women no longer cry', a line lifted from her 2023 diss track. Released in March 2024, it gathered songs that had already proved themselves as hits.